retirement

About once every two weeks or so, on average, my wife will receive a mailer inviting her to a free steak dinner – apparently vegetarians aren’t good prospects – that promises to reveal the secret of not running out of money in her golden years. I used to receive the same ones when I worked at UK, so I assume that’s the list she’s on. As I scan the invitations I often skim to the bottom of the page where the fine print explains these firms don’t really offer investment, estate or tax advice. What do they sell? Insurance contracts called annuities. They imply they’re offering educational retirement planning workshops, but their real intent is to sell expensive annuities and life insurance policies.

How should you protect yourself against a market downturn right before or during retirement? This New York Times article recommends several actions, including hiring help - being careful to avoid a salesperson or a broker who call themselves advisors but get paid only when they sell you something – in the form of a Certified Financial Planner professional. Hint: I know one I really like.

It is rare but sometimes I read an article that I think is so spot on it makes more sense to share it than cover the same topic. So, here you go, edited for brevity with a link to the full article at the end.

The transition from working and saving to retirement and withdrawing can be stressful if you’re not ready for it. Consider this: If you are fortunate enough to live to age 65, your life expectancy is about age 85. If you’re married, there’s a 45% chance one of you lives to 90. So, how do you generate income over the next 20-30 years while ensuring you don’t outlive your assets? Here are four tips:

I have a faint memory of a family in our church when I was in middle school, probably, selling their house and all their possessions to buy a boat and sail around the world. I occasionally wonder what happened to them. Did they find happiness? Fulfillment? Adventure? Terror? Were the kids able to finish school? Are they, ahem, normal after such an experience?

I refer to those in their 40’s and early 50’s as the “financial sandwich generation.” Many are paying off student loan debt, possibly saving money for children’s education, maybe even helping aging parents – all while trying to save for their own retirement. Talk about a squeeze! Here is some advice to help put a little more jelly on that sandwich.

There’s a new movement, inspired by millennials, to supercharge one’s efforts to acquire enough money to retire early. And when I say early, I mean in their late 30’s and 40’s. This starts with a foundation with which we’re familiar: live beneath your means; save money; invest in a diversified portfolio of growth and income funds, etc. But, FIRE takes this a step further – actually an Evil Knievel jump further – and adds super saving through extreme steps to achieve an extraordinary goal. That goal is not to just retire early, like by age 55, but WAY early, when most of our careers are only just beginning. Here is how some are living their life. Is it for you?

“Americans are reaching retirement age in worse financial shape than the prior generation for the first time since Harry Truman was president”, says a recent Wall Street Journal article. There are several causes but us Baby Boomers are the first generation left mostly without pensions and with the responsibility to manage our own retirement savings. So, as you can imagine, some have flourished, some have struggled and more than some aren’t quite sure how they’ve done because they’re scared to look. Where do you fall?