To annuitize or not to annuitize: that is the question that the author of today’s article tackles – and a question that he notes “nearly all retirees and soon-to-be-retirees face at one time or another.” Do annuities have a place in your retirement portfolio? Is there a better alternative when it comes to having a stream of income that is…
What happens if you have the bad luck to retire at a market peak, right before a brutal bear market (a scenario that many approaching retirement right now may be especially concerned about)? The author of today’s article runs the numbers to determine what effect this has on a portfolio’s value over the course of a retirement – and his…
The old three-legged stool for retirement consisted of a pension, Social Security and personal savings. However, with pensions now largely obsolete and the future of Social Security in question, the author of today’s article outlines “the new three-legged retirement stool”, which he sees as consisting of personal pre-tax savings, personal after-tax savings, and income from personal hustle. For more on…
The widely referenced 4% rule suggests that retirees can safely withdraw that amount from their retirement accounts each year. However, the author of today’s article notes that the “wisdom” of the 4% rule collapses when it slams into the reality of a market slump. Instead, he advocates for another strategy for funding your golden years: “investments paying outsized cash dividends…
Required minimum distributions from retirement accounts are generally unavoidable for retirees – unless they want to incur a substantial penalty for not taking them. For those who don’t need the money (or the tax bill), this can lead to resenting RMDs. Today’s article, however, outlines how, rather than being a necessary evil, RMDs can actually serve as an opportunity to…
When it comes to your 2018 taxes, the author of today’s article has some advice: Figure it out now. Why? He explains “I have a feeling the 2018 tax year is going to be a memorable one for many of us. Revisions to the tax code rushed through Congress in the dying days of 2017 have implications for almost everyone.…
Today’s article outlines a screening process whereby the over 7500 companies traded on U.S. exchanges are filtered down to five large-cap, dividend-paying companies currently trading at large discounts that may be especially attractive to investors over age 50 – or any income-seeking investor. Specifically, these five stocks “all have “A-” or better debt-rating, at least 10% dividend growth in the…
“A lifelong, low-cost investment strategy that I believe is likely to produce superior long-term returns without much attention from you” is what the author of today’s article lays out. The strategy in question is comprised of two “building blocks” – a target-date retirement fund at the core and a “booster fund” to generate higher long-term returns with little extra risk.…
High-deductible healthcare plans can be unappealing thanks to that high deductible. However, high-deductible healthcare plans are increasingly being offered along with health savings accounts – which, along with their traditional uses (as short-term vehicles to cover out-of-pocket healthcare costs and as long-term savings vehicles for the “wealthy and healthy”) can be used in other ways that get less attention. Specifically,…
At the recent Boot Camp for Investors, a panel of experts discussed considerations when planning for the new retirement – one that could last 20 to 30 years. For what the panel had to say about income investing, cash flow control, the value of ETFs (“So they’re cheap, they’re diversified all good news, but there are also some potentially nasty…