Learn from Your Money Mistakes – Identify Them

If you are determined to have a better financial year in 2010 than you did in 2009, it would help to learn from what went wrong. The best way to provide that learning is to carefully and deliberately look back at your 2009 finance activity. This can be painful, sort of like looking in a full body mirror when you know you are overweight. (Been there!) Read more

Which Financial Risks Should You Insure Against?

In many ways, personal finance is about managing risk. More particularly, financial planning must include plans for minimizing damage to your financial future caused by known but uncertain risks. These risks can affect your investments, your health, and your liabilities to others. Read more

Year End Retirement Planning Steps

What will a typical baby boomer be doing the last week of the year to advance toward a goal of a successful retirement? I don’t know how typical we are but here is a list of steps I will be taking this week, in no particular order. Read more

Merry Christmas from Your Fellow Baby Boomer

Go To Retirement has been quiet this week. I’ve been rehabbing my post-surgical knee and finishing up projects at work, all on top of the typical Christmas preparations. All is done now. We are at the lake with our three sons and one son’s significant other (whom we have grown quite fond of), and five dogs! It’s a human-canine circus but great fun for everyone. There is a fire blazing, the gifts are wrapped ahead of time (has never happened before), and we are relaxing towards our Christmas Eve traditions of cheese fondue, Christmas Eve Mass, and watching It’s a Wonderful Life.

We are content and grateful.  God has blessed us with a precious family near and far. I hope that each of you can find peace and joy this Christmas Season. Thanks so much for sticking around.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Understanding the Social Security Claim and Suspend Strategy

Personal finance writers and married baby boomers have been talking and thinking a lot about different ways to maximize total Social Security benefits for the married couple. One of the most frequently discussed approaches is the “claim and suspend” strategy. There is a lot of confusion about how this works. Read more

Low Cost Retirement in the Caribbean

Periodically I get the urge to write about retirement in a foreign country even though that is not high on our list. But I enjoy reading what others say and dream about living their golden years in a low-cost but perhaps exotic foreign location. Read more

Beware the Free Lunch Financial Seminars

Each month I receive at least one invitation to a free lunch at a local restaurant, courtesy of a local financial planner, insurance broker, or investment advisor. I am told that my attendance will be rewarded by an informative presentation on investing or retirement planning. I have never attended one of these “seminars” for good reason. They invariably are nothing more than thinly disguised sales presentations to a captive audience. Read more

Low Cost Retirement Towns

I enjoy reading Where to Retire magazine.  Although it is jam-packed with ads for retirement communities and the like, even that information is helpful to prospective retirees. The editorial content is good, providing useful facts and figures about different retirement locations. Read more

Predicting the Costs of Long Term Care

Imminent health care reform may include a long term care plan that consumers can buy into. The benefits offered are likely to be helpful but inadequate. How inadequate? You can find out by using an online long term care cost estimator. Read more

Free Christmas Music Online

I admit it. I am generally old school when it comes to Christmas entertainment. I imagine there are lots of other baby boomers like me. We own the It’s a Wonderful Life on DVD and watch it every year. I also enjoy traditional Christmas carols when performed well. However, it’s hard to justify spending a lot of money on music that doesn’t get played often. To the rescue: Free Christmas Music Online. Read more

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