This is possibly a difficult consideration. There are events that can severely impact retirement possibly changing the arc and altering direction. This blog post lists four: Stroke, Lung Disease, Death Of A Spouse, and Nursing Home Stay. Perhaps the death of a spouse is the most difficult to consider as the other three (and many more) may precede this. It may be almost unthinkable but nothing should be off the table. Here is a Kiplinger article on 13 things to do in the event your spouse dies. There is also the consideration as to who will take care of the survivor. This site is a proponent of ..read more

In a post on his web site this money manager proposes creating an annuity using Treasury Inflation Protected (TIP) bonds. A salient point is made in this footnote – [4] A laddered portfolio of US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) are the most like a real annuity that an investor could buy, and is a good candidate for the minimum risk asset an investor can buy. The greatest danger to a retiree is inflation or the erosion of buying power. TIPS are a relatively new product introduced in the 1990’s. TIPS can be purchased directly by individuals from the Treasury Department. These can ..read more

The Internet-Of-Things (IOT) is a popular topic that predicts everything will be tied into the internet to collect data. Why not us as well? Here is a general outline to determine the health of individuals who choose to age at home but who might have issues requiring observation. Essentially a virtual nursing home. Sensors and computing power have become inexpensive and widely available. See the previous post on Health Tech. So let’s hypothesize someone who might require looking after to determine if they should have a medical consultation. Here is a way of monitoring vital signs using a micro ..read more

It is a well worn cliche. “It is not a stock market but a market of stocks”. However one eminent money manager has an intriguing thesis going forward. Mohamed A. El-Erian makes the case that indexes will not provide any return but rather individual stocks, carefully chosen, are the preferred alternative. That is if the investor chooses to invest in equities at all. You can listen to the 7 minute interview below. One implication seems to be that those companies that survive (strongly implying there will be bankruptcies and delistings) will be stronger and will concentrate their industries. Iron ..read more

Do you now have or have had a financial advisor? Someone who can act in a fiduciary capacity? This site is a big fan of WealthTrack which is available on all mediums including public television. Retirement focused features are often presented with knowledgeable and experienced guests whose advice is useful and actionable. Is Retirement Income Certified Professional® the best designation for your self-interest and peace of mind? A recent episode feature advocated strongly for use of credentialed financial advisors (among other retirement advice ..read more

The basis for this is only possible in this era. These being home mortgage obligations and majority of pension assets in defined contribution plans. Here is an explicit example in Forbes entitled “Given Current Rates, Cashing Out Your 401(k) To Pay Off Your Mortgage Can Make You A Bundle.” The writer here creates very specific niche scenarios that can be boiled down to this simple equation. if your current mortgage rate is greater than your return on risk free assets than it might make sense to withdraw or borrow from you DC plan to pay down the difference. Perhaps this is the kind of thing pe ..read more

They say history does not repeat but it sometimes rhymes. Currently pundits are comparing the markets to 1929 or 1987 or some other similar stock chart pattern. What if there was a not totally dissimilar period almost exactly a century ago? Here is the Wikepedia entry for the depression of 1920-21. In the late stages of the first world war and the aftermath the Spanish Flu, of which many are certainly reminded of now, was raging. In combination this resulted in a short, shallow “depression“. The italics are used because it would be better to have equated this to a recession rather th ..read more

Social Security benefits can be taxable. The worst-case scenario is 85% of the benefit. If you are retired and collecting this comes as no surprise. However how can you do some kind of tax planning? This need not be rigorous so even a cursory kind of evaluation can provide some insight. The above-referenced title is from a Kiplinger feature. If the only source of income is Social Security then the federal tax liability is essentially zero. If you have individual retirement accounts or are obligated to take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) then there MAY be a tax consequence ..read more

The SECURE Act provided a gateway to get annuities into 401(k)s, and many plans could begin to incorporate those insurance products as soon as this year. This may seem counter-intuitive to boomers but this could be a realistic option for the upcoming generations of savers. Boomers might also want to at least consider. Even Tony Robbins book “Money: Master The Game” recommends them. By the way a very good book for someone looking to understand investing. However not everyone agrees on his trumpeting of indexed annuities (a specific type). Annuities are notorious for high fees and s ..read more

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