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…
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…
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…
There are many actions (and inactions) that can wreck retirement plans. As such, while the author of today’s article acknowledges that the $1 million figure frequently cited as how much one needs to amass for a comfortable retirement may be arbitrary, he stresses that “what is not arbitrary is it takes discipline and it requires avoiding mistakes and pitfalls to…
“We’ve invented a new approach to money management,” claims Matt Fellowes, Founder and CEO of United Income – which is pitching itself as a one-stop shop for helping Americans tackle all of the difficult financial questions that surround retirement. What does United Income’s comprehensive, personalized, “big data” approach to retirement planning offer that other firms, online retirement calculators and financial…
Are your savings working as hard for you as they can? Noting that “if you don’t save diligently, you are highly unlikely to amass a decent-size nest egg,” the author of today’s article proceeds to outline 10 questions to ask yourself in regards to your savings and saving practices – and identifies steps you can take to improve your savings…
There is a cobra that could potentially poison your retirement – and that cobra is bonds. The author of today’s article highlights the so-called cobra effect – how “individuals making decisions to cause one outcome to occur can accidentally cause the opposite” – and explains how this phenomenon can occur with retirees and bonds, increasing the probability that they will…
When it comes to assessing risk, the author of today’s article argues that “most people don’t really understand what their true risks are.” He proceeds to identify what he believes is the greatest risk most retirees face – one that is not getting the attention from retired (and retiring) baby boomers that it warrants. The risk in question is associated…