When it comes to retirement versus financial independence, the author of today’s article sees “both as interchangeable, because in essence, in both cases folks are having the financial flexibility to live life to their own terms, not being chained to a desk or a job they may dislike. In both situations, you have the option to leave one endeavor and…
It’s an important decision with potentially major consequences: how much do you take out of your portfolio each year when you retire. Take out too much and you risk running out of money down the line; take out too little and you are foregoing a better retirement lifestyle and experiences. In today’s article, the author runs some hypothetical numbers illustrating…
A critical part of retirement planning is figuring out how much you will need to have accumulated to fund your golden years – and one common approach to calculating this figure is to use a multiple of your ending salary. Fidelity, for example, recommends retirement savers have 10 times their ending salary saved by age 67. And while different entities…
When it comes to investing according to environmental, social, or corporate governance (ESG) standards, today’s article notes that “While returns can vary from year to year, ethical investors tend to perform better than investors who don’t use social or “sustainable” principles.” Thus, it is possible to generate good returns in your retirement portfolio while doing good with your retirement portfolio.…
The author of today’s article likens them to an “elite Navy SEALs team of retirement savers”: those with $1 million or more in their 401(k). And after membership in this elite group decreased in the final months of last year as volatility in the stock market took its toll, the number of 401(k) millionaires ticked back up in the first…
“Let me put it this way: you wouldn’t not take your mortgage interest deduction because… you didn’t feel like it? Or it was hard?” points out the author of today’s article. And yet a surprisingly large number of Americans are not taking advantage of major tax breaks available to them – including what the author refers to as “The one…
Believe it or not, Democrats and Republicans in Congress might actually get something done on a bipartisan basis in the coming weeks, and as today’s article notes, that something “has the potential to be a big win for individual investors”. More specifically, there’s a real chance that Congress could pass bipartisan retirement savings legislation that would be signed into law…
In a new survey conducted by Fidelity Investments, 75% of respondents reported feeling only somewhat confident to not confident at all about their retirement finances. Ultimately, those that lacked a financial plan for retirement lacked confidence, while those that had a plan also had confidence. As such, today’s article lays out “five small, practical steps you can take to boost…
When it comes to periods of extended market weakness, the author of today’s article notes that “Retirees…tend to experience [them] differently, and more viscerally, than their still-working counterparts” as they are living off the finite balances of their portfolios. So while those who are still working may be able to ride out – or even take advantage of – market…
Stress tests aren’t just for banks – they’re useful for retirement plans too! And a comprehensive stress test of your retirement plan involves more than just stress testing your portfolio: the author of today’s article advises that “you should stress test your venue, your retirement and income portfolios, and anticipated leisure pursuits.” For more on carrying out a comprehensive stress…