The accumulation stage of retirement planning (during one’s working years) can certainly be stressful enough in and of itself, but the decumulation stage (once in retirement) may be even more so. Get it wrong and you may run out of money before you run out of life (which happens to be a major fear of nearly two-thirds of Americans!). As…
The Trump tax reform plan has gotten a lot of attention (both positive and negative) of late. One aspect of the plan that has not gotten much notice, however, is a provision that the author of today’s article notes “would mark a landmark shift in the way that the government handles a key issue” – and this shift could ultimately…
Budgeting may be the cornerstone of financial success but two-thirds of Americans don’t have a budget (and the one-third that do undoubtedly don’t enjoy managing it). Given this, the author of today’s article outlines an alternative to monthly budget tracking: the First Step Cash Management System, “a cash flow system [that] almost runs itself.” For how this bucket-based system works,…
When it comes to calculating your “magic number” for retirement (how much you need to save in order to retire comfortably), various formulas have been suggested (Fidelity, for example, recommends that you save the equivalent of 10 times your final salary). The author of today’s article, however, sees this approach as “fatally flawed” and recommends using a “magic dividend number”…
Retirement is a time for “Steady-Eddie” dividend-paying stocks and not a time for growth stocks (and the volatility that is inextricably linked to them). Such is the common wisdom. However, the authors of today’s article believe that not all growth stocks should be painted with the same retirement-incompatible brush – and they proceed to highlight two growth stocks (which also…
Whether you are still young and have high risk tolerance, are middle-aged with moderate risk tolerance, or are at retirement and need reliable income, today’s article seeks to answer the following question: “How can you buy ETFs to build a comprehensive, long-term retirement portfolio?” For each of the aforementioned life stages, the author outlines the types of core – and…
If you even have a retirement plan at all you are undoubtedly ahead of most Americans. Still, even if you have taken this important step, the question needs to be asked: is the retirement plan you have drafted viable? The author of today’s article outlines how pre-retirees can go about assessing the adequacy of their savings rate – and how…
The author of today’s article used to joke that he had “the most depressing job in America”: writing about issues surrounding retirement. In fact, he argues that no progress has been made over the last two decades in improving the retirement picture for Americans, despite a variety of new laws and financial products introduced over this period that sought to…
The market’s sequence of returns matters – having weaker returns come early in one’s life cycle (when the amount invested is smaller) and stronger returns come later in one’s life cycle (when the amount invested is much larger) puts one in a much better position going into retirement than the reverse scenario. Unfortunately, while the sequence of returns matters a…
Dipping into your 401(k), taking out a loan, or turning to high-interest credit card debt when life throws one of its unpleasant (and expensive) little surprises your way has its cost. As the author of today’s article notes, “any of these steps will set you back in growing your net worth and hinder your ability to reach your goals.” Thus…