Calculating a Retirement Income Replacement Ratio

If you are like many not-yet-retired baby boomers, you want to know what percentage of your pre-retirement income you will need when you are retired. Some financial writers call this the “retirement income replacement ratio.” My advice? Do not use a percentage or ratio for this calculation. Let me explain. Read more

Health Care Costs in Retirement

A difficult task in retirement planning and budgeting is estimating health care costs. We know those costs will be significant compared to our earlier years. That is one of the downsides of growing old. But it is important to have some idea what you can expect to pay for health care as a retiree. Only by having that knowledge can you understand and project what your retirement income needs will be. Read more

Deadline Extended for Returning Required Mininum Distributions

Most retirees know by now that in the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, Congress waived required minimum distributions in 2009 from IRAs, 401(k) accounts, and certain other retirement plans. The intended benefit was to prevent retirees from being forced to sell invested assets during a severe market decline. Read more

Achieving Wealth, Retiring Abroad, and Other Boomer Readings

I enjoyed this short piece from AARP  which summarized a presentation speech at the AARP’s Vegas@50+ Member Event. First, the speaker identified the four different ways to accumulate wealth: marry it, inherit it, win the lottery,  or live beneath your means. Read more

Planning a Phased Retirement

I don’t have any statistics to cite but my belief is that more baby boomers are thinking about a phased retirement. There seem to be fewer folks who can financially or emotionally adjust to going from full-time employment to no employment in a single leap. I am in that category. Deciding when to retire is an important first step. Planning how that will happen is equally critical. Read more

National Save for Retirement Week

I hesitate to even mention “National Save for Retirement Week” for several reasons. First, every week should be save for retirement week. Second, some of the materials I’ve seen published in recognition of the week have been questionable in their accuracy. Read more

Improve Retirement Finances the One Car Family Way

If you still want to retire at a reasonable age, you are looking for ways to stretch the retirement income that is available to you. One future cost-cutting strategy I have been contemplating is becoming a single vehicle household. Before thinking “that’s impossible for us”, consider all of the angles. Read more

Boomer and Retirement Weekly Reader – Variable Annuity Edition

Baby boomers are understandably fearful of another market meltdown. They continue their search for investments that will provide retirement income security with preservation of capital. That’s hard to achieve in a single package. Read more

Improper Use of Target Date Funds

I was an early adopter of target date funds (also called retirement date funds). They seemed like an easy way to implement a long term investment strategy without having to regularly re-balance your portfolio. I’ve since changed my mind. Read more

Earn Higher Interest with a Rewards Checking Account

Internet banks have become a popular place to stash money that we don’t want to invest and may not need for everyday use. The original attraction of the online banks was that they paid higher interest rates on savings and money market accounts than we could find at traditional local brick and mortar banks. That is no longer the case. Some local and community banks now offer rewards checking accounts that pay interest at rates that are two or three times higher than an online savings account or even a typical CD rate. You just have to know where to find them. I can help. Read more

Next Page »