If you have a 401(k) you are probably invested in gun stocks – and in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting and the ensuing debate over gun control, some 401(k) participants are looking to take a stand by divesting from such stocks. Today’s article outlines some considerations for individual investors before making such a move, including what options…
While the author of today’s article believes that the bull market still has room to run, he advises that “it’s time for investors to think about how and when bull markets end, and what performs well during their twilight years.” He proceeds to examine groups that tend to do well in the late stages of a bull market, and highlights…
Is a financial crisis coming – and, if so, how can you protect your retirement savings before the economic implosion occurs? These are the issues tackled in today’s article, where the author warns of the possibility of a coming financial crisis as a result of “asset price bubbles, misplaced credit and excessive debt on a global scale.” Will the U.S.’s…
After sitting at near-record lows for quite some time, market volatility is back – and investors are contending with the question of what this means for them. Older investors nearing retirement (and who don’t have the luxury of time on their side) may be feeling especially anxious. On top of that, there is the question of where to turn for…
The retirement financing strategy highlighted in today’s article is sometimes referred to as “safety first” – a notion that may be taking on even greater importance for retirement savers in light of recent market gyrations. The strategy in question is the “floor-and-upside” strategy, where “the basic idea…is that a retiree devotes some of her retirement funding assets to building a…
If you’re retired (or approaching retirement), what’s your investment risk level? The author of today’s article notes that “Retirees will have a combination of different types of risk levels. The question to ask is what type of investment weightings one should have in each based on their risk profile.” As such, after outlining four retirement investment risk levels (zero, minimal,…
What’s the best way to ensure that your retirement funds will last as long as you do? A research team at Stanford sought to answer that question, and after analyzing 292 retirement income strategies, has identified what it believes is the best strategy – one which “produces more average total retirement income expected throughout retirement compared to most solutions… and…
The author of today’s article argues that people make a critical mistake when it comes to retirement income planning: “limiting their strategy to interest and dividends and neglecting the power of rebalancing to capture portfolio growth as an additional income source.” So how can rebalancing be used to create a paycheck in retirement? The author outlines an example of how…
Today’s article outlines a mutual fund portfolio for aggressive retirement savers – i.e. investors who are still many years away from retirement (or who are closer to retirement but already have their in-retirement income needs covered). As the author notes, these individuals can “reasonably hold more in potentially more volatile subasset classes, such as small-cap stocks and foreign stocks and…
While social security benefits, employer pensions and personal savings are the three traditional streams of retirement income, the author of today’s article points out that “there are…other potential sources of retirement income that are not mentioned often enough” – and he proceeds to outline three such nontraditional sources. For a discussion of these unconventional income sources and why they may…