Imagining Our Future Selves and the difference between lifespan and healthspan. Can you imagine yourself in six years? How old will you be? How will you be doing? Financial advisors are used to helping clients focus on the future by talking about life expectancies and how long their money will last once retired. But looking […]
When you Google “retirement planning” you typically get results about 401ks or investing. On the search topic of retirement, you get few results on how to plan for, transition into, and/or prudently sustain income once retired. The term “retirement” brings to mind, and Google finds results on, the savings and investing part. However, the use […]
Fundamentally Wade’s work, in his newest book, is a great summary of a lot of research so far in this nascent field of withdrawing from assets to supplement retirement income. “How Much Can I Spend in Retirement?: A Guide to Investment-Based Retirement Income Strategies (The Retirement Researcher’s Guide Series)” by Wade D Pfau, available at […]
What are the Phases of Retirement? I functionally label retirement into 3 Phases for couples: Phase I: Both of you are here. Phase II: One of you are here. Phase III: Neither of you are here. Each phase requires a bit of thought and planning. Most people focus on just Phase I (they’re both here): […]
What is the most sensitive factor in the computation of retirement income? Time! It is the one input that is largely ignored. Time … or better said, aging … has succumbed through the common use of a fixed age such as 95 or 100. You may click on the graph to enlarge it (hold shift key […]
Working or retired, the focus of most people is keeping their check book full of money for the monthly expenses they have. While working, the source of the money is obvious … it is from you working. While retired, the source of the money is less obvious … it is from your money working. So […]
Target Date Funds (TDFs) – either you love them or you hate them. If you lack any tools within your 4o1k, or don’t want to use a qualified adviser, then I guess they’re better than nothing. However, they’re as arbitrary as where the International Date Line (IDL) is … more on arbitrary later in pros and cons … […]
On occasion I change my mind on a topic when the facts have changed. Reverse Mortgages are in that category. The program has undergone many improvements as a result of the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act of 2013. Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) are called Reverse Mortgages for short. “HECMs help seniors remain financially secure by […]
Where did the idea of retirement at age 65 come from? Retirement is really a 20th Century concept since people worked on their farm until they passed away. “The story of retirement is ultimately a history of trends in labor force participation of older men (since women only entered the workforce in large numbers in […]
Many people focus on just returns, thinking that the higher the return the better their results. The consequences of such a focus while saving money are not felt as much (buying low) as they are once retired (selling low) and trying to manage the pot of money to give income for the rest of one’s life. Let’s take […]
