Asset allocation is the next step in the investment process. Your asset allocation involves two steps: Decide which index funds to include in your portfolio. Choose how much of your portfolio to place in each one. After you decide which investments to include in your portfolio, you need decide how you want to combine them. …
Are index funds good investments for retirement? If you’ve done any amount of reading on investment strategies, you have certainly heard about index investing. In this article I’m going to explain WHAT index investing is and WHY it is such a good strategy for your retirement. This article goes a little deeper into market theory, …
Social Security is a significant portion of most retirees total income. In fact, about a third of retirees get 90% of their income from Social Security. Such an important component of your income deserves some attention. In this article you will learn how your benefit is calculated so that you can get an idea of …
Is Social Security Going Broke? More importantly, will YOU be able to collect Social Security benefits when you retire? Well, to quote the 42nd President of the United States, that depends on what the meaning of the word is… is. That’s right. I said it. The point I want to make here is that there …
One withdrawal strategy that you could use for your retirement income is to withdraw a fixed percentage of your portfolio each year. Because of its simplicity this approach may be appealing to you. It is also very easy to implement.
What are the risks of relying on dividends for retirement income? Like most things used in moderation there isn’t anything wrong with dividends, or the stocks that pay them. In fact, higher-dividend paying stocks are usually older, established, and strong companies. They can be good components of retirement income plans and help provide some diversification …
What is a Roth conversion ladder and how can it help you fund early retirement? I’ve written before on the five year rules of Roth IRA’s. This strategy utilizes a specific rule that affects Roth IRA conversions, and provides a means of taking tax-efficient withdrawals from your retirement account BEFORE you turn 59.5.
The Hellhound of Wall Street – How Ferdinand Pecora’s Investigation of the Great Crash Forever Changed American Finance provides a narrative of the Senate hearings that followed the Great Crash. It is an interesting story for it’s lively details of the personalities involved but also illustrates how far our perceptions of the financial elite have come. …
If you withdraw money from your tax-deferred IRA or 401k accounts before you turn 59.5 you will owe a 10% penalty in addition to income tax. A 72(t) distribution is a way of accessing the money in your retirement account before you turn 59.5 without incurring the penalty. No doubt, you are aware that withdrawing …
One of the key considerations in a retirement income plan is the amount of money that you will withdraw from an investment portfolio. Your decision regarding how much income to take from your retirement account necessitates that you strike a balance between current consumption and future account value. In simple language, this means that you …
Adaptive Markets – Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought by Andrew Lo is a deep dive into market theory. This book is not a surface-level read on retirement planning or investing. It provides insight into how markets operate and change over time. The takeaway from the book is enhanced understanding of market behavior. I …
That’s not a typo. While asset allocation is a common investment term, asset location is an often overlooked aspect of retirement planning. That is unfortunate because asset location can significantly affect the after-tax value of your retirement income. I’ll explain what asset location means and how you can use that information to increase your retirement …
Retirement income is inherently dependent on many different factors. This is true because retirement income planning involves accounting for unpredictable variables over a long time horizon, and weighing them against the comfort level of the individual retiree. Inflation is one of those factors. Even for a given amount of retirement savings, different retirees can have …
Roth IRA’s are one of the most popular retirement accounts. Roth IRAs have many advantages over tax-deferred accounts, namely the ability to provide tax-free growth. The ability to provide tax-free growth is premised on making contributions with after-tax dollars. As I’m sure you are well aware, you must pay taxes on essentially each dollar you …
A bond ladder is a useful tool for providing security in retirement. A bond ladder can protect your investments from volatility and provide you with some peace of mind. Retirement planning is a comprehensive issue. What I mean by this is that there are a number of sub-components of retirement planning that are pretty distinct …
In How to Make Your Money Last – The Indispensable Retirement Guide, Jane Bryant Quinn provides an excellent comprehensive overview of retirement planning. If you want to understand the key areas that will affect your retirement this book is a good read. If you are managing your own retirement, or plan to, I highly recommend …
Bonds are a common asset in retirement accounts. Whether held individually or through an ETF, most retirement accounts contain bonds. Bonds are most often held because of their relative safety over equities, and for income through their contractual obligations to pay interest. However, bonds still exhibit market risk that needs to be managed. Buying bonds …
Yes, but with a nod to Paul Harvey, there is a “rest of the story”. It isn’t as simple as adding your benefit check to your taxable income and paying taxes at your marginal rate. Social Security retirement benefits are an important part of retirement. For about 62% of retirees, Social Security represents at least …
If you save for retirement using tax-deferred accounts then you need to understand the rules surrounding required minimum distributions (RMDs) in order to avoid some pretty steep penalties. For some retirees, the required minimum distribution is less than they would withdraw anyway, and is therefore not much of a planning concern. For others who intend …
The purpose of accumulating retirement savings with tax-advantaged retirement accounts is to withdraw an income that will last for the duration of your retired lifetime. Considering this could be thirty or forty years, it’s important to get this right. Efficient retirement account withdrawals can help stretch your savings and achieve this goal. Clearly then, you …
The most commonly cited method of withdrawing retirement income from an investment portfolio is “the 4% rule”. This rule comes from a very popular study conducted by William Bengen and published in The Journal of Financial Planning in 1994 as Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data. The short-hand version of the rule, and the basic conclusion …
What is sequence of returns risk? We often think of investment return as an average rate over some period, such as 10, 15, or 20 years. This is especially true regarding investment returns within a retirement planning context where the investment horizon is often very long. Anyone interested enough to be reading this knows that …
Tax reform stirred up a lot of debate. Fortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act did not greatly modify the retirement savings vehicles that often house index funds and a variety of other investments. However, prudent and intelligent investors will still want to stay educated about all of the tax bill’s implications to generate greater …
C.S. Lewis said, “You are never too old to set a new goal, or dream a new dream.” Is it possible he could have known about today’s retirement crisis? The truth is, no matter how much we prepare, sometimes, life happens. The closer we are to retirement age, the more strategy we need to employ …
As a self-employed solo entrepreneur, you need to save for retirement just like everyone else. However, you don’t have the benefit of a 401(k) retirement savings plan offered by an employer. It’s all on you to research, establish, and contribute to your own plan for retirement savings. Fortunately, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers several …
When you’re self-employed, the burden of saving for retirement falls entirely on you, which can be a bit daunting. At the same time, being self-employed allows you total freedom over your financial future; you can more-or-less decide how much to contribute to your retirement fund as well as what type of retirement account will best suit …
The primary difference between a 403b vs 401k retirement account is who uses them. A 401k is for people employed by a for-profit organization. In contrast, the 403(b) plan is for those who work for a non-profit organization. Some typical examples include teachers, members of religious organizations, and hospital employees. This is the key difference …
Being self-employed certainly has its perks; for the most part, you get to dictate your own schedule and enjoy a large amount of independence. At the same time, there are some potential drawbacks to being your own boss. One of the biggest headaches you might encounter as you transition into a self-employed or freelancing career …
Roth IRA’s can be an excellent retirement saving vehicle. Roth IRAs allow you to save $6,00 per year towards retirement if you are under 50. People who are 50 or older can contribute a “catch-up” contribution of $1,000 each year for a total Roth IRA contribution limit of $7,00 per year. Unlike Traditional IRA’s and …
The research on investor performance is clear. The average mutual fund investor tends to have worse returns than the average mutual fund. Behavioral factors have a lot do with this. People tend to be emotional, and can often react in precisely the most incorrect way possible when markets are volatile. Fear often causes investors to …
When someone passes away leaving money in a traditional IRA, the money will go to whomever is listed as the beneficiary of the retirement account. That is simple enough, and is accomplished by writing names in the appropriate blocks on the IRA form at opening. When this happens, the beneficiary has an inherited IRA. However, …
It is no secret that Americans have a tough time saving for retirement. This is particularly true of millennials. The Great Recession has delayed the beginning of well-paying careers for many 18 to 34 year olds. A recent Bankrate.com study showed that millennials fear running out of money in retirement, but if you are struggling to …
Have you thought about what you might be giving up by waiting to invest for long-term goals such as retirement? One of the greatest financial tools that young investors have is time. Time’s effect on long-term investment performance is much greater than financial savvy or a large income. So many younger would-be savers and investors …
There are several key points to consider if you’re interested in a non-traditional retirement or one involving a second career. With the booming innovation economy and rapidly expanding communication technology, people are no longer restricted to one career or even location. Traditional methods of financial planning focus on wealth and capital accumulation during the working …
In your twenties or thirties you know that you’ve got a number of years left in the workforce. How long do you want to work before traveling, learning to sail, or playing golf as a full-time job? How much would you like to save for retirement at age 50, 60, or 70? What would you do if you had the means to retire at 40? These are …
For most 20 to 30 year-olds, talk of retirement saving or planning makes their eyes glaze over. Some have so much student debt, they can’t even see the end of tunnel, much less any light that might be there. Others are just getting started in their careers and starting families, and don’t feel as though they …
An important consideration of any investment strategy is the ability of the strategy to provide satisfactory results. Sustainable or socially responsible mutual funds and investment strategies are not immune to this line of investigation. Arguably, most investors who choose SRI investing likely emphasize the altruistic traits of the investments themselves over investment performance. However, even …
So, you have decided to invest. Great. Presumably, you are investing for a purpose. Even better. If that purpose is for retirement you may have even spent time thinking about whether a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA is best. For 2017, Roth and Traditional IRA contribution limits both remain at $5,500. The key difference in …
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