You’ve heard of black swan events (events which are extremely rare and hard to predict but which can have severe consequences), but what about white swan events? As today’s article explains, these events can be just as devastating to financial plans, but, despite the fact that they are more common and foreseeable than black swan events, people spend little time…
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…
Despite being very conservative and diversified, the author of today’s article’s retirement portfolio did slightly worse than the Dow last year, with every single one of his holdings (other than cash) posting a loss – his worst return since 2008. Having lost 10% of his net worth, and believing that 2019 could be even worse for the markets than 2018,…
Are you trying to play catch up with your retirement savings? Looking to retire early? Whatever position you currently find yourself in relative to retirement, today’s article outlines ten “commandments” that may be worth following in the aim of ultimately achieving a comfortable retirement. For these ten commandments – relating to Social Security, estate plans, taxes, health care, pre-retirement lifestyle…
Of early retirement, the author of today’s article notes that, while the idea of it is appealing to most people, “the discipline and sacrifice needed to adequately prepare for it may be significantly less appealing.” So is early retirement a realistic prospect – or, for that matter, even a worthwhile one – for you? The author proceeds to outline a…
The FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement is growing as more and more workers seek to save enough so that they can leave full-time work in their 30s, 40s or 50s – and those that have achieved early retirement have developed some tools to help those who aspire to do so. Are you on track to retire early based on…
According to a recent report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, almost half of retirees end up leaving the workforce earlier than they had planned – and while this is often involuntary (the result of a layoff or illness), in a third of cases individuals make an early exit by choice, having achieved financial independence. Achieving early retirement is not…
“To do something extraordinary (like retiring at age 52), it takes extraordinary thinking,” states the author of today’s article, which seeks to identify the “money mindset” that can help one beat the odds and achieve the goal of retiring early. Using the example of her neighbor – who retired at 52 – as a guide, the author outlines a number…
“A very common goal is to retire early and lead the ‘easy, good life’ [but] many… are disappointed to learn that an early retirement may not be in their future.” Today’s article outlines five reasons why early retirement is not in the cards for many, including rising health costs, mortgage payments in retirement, and the status of Social Security. To…