Reallocating to a Real Asset Return Fund

I made a re-allocation move yesterday to a real asset return fund inside our 401k plan. I transferred money that I had been accumulating in a stable value return fund. I intend to use this money eventually to buy more TIPS for our guaranteed retirement income plan but the time just isn’t right for that now. Read more

Easter Joy, New Car, and Graduation Week Ahead

I hope all readers of this blog have a joyous Easter today. I encourage you to pause and reflect on this special day and what it celebrates. I certainly am. I was at Church for the 2.5 hour Easter Vigil last night plus two more Masses today. (Have I ever said that I am a Church musician? Well, “musician” may be too strong. Let’s just say that the musical liturgy director tolerates my playing!) Read more

Lack of Income Plan Leads to Early Retirement Failure

It is sad to read about boomers who jump at the chance to retire early and are then told by a personal finance professional that for them, their decision to retire “early” actually meant “too soon.” That is the case for a boomer couple featured in a recent newspaper article. Read more

Vacation Home Bargains?

Some real estate experts believe now is a good time to buy a vacation home because second home prices have declined.  I wrote about finding deals in affordable vacation homes two years ago. More recently, CNN/Money published a slide show of homes currently for sale that (according to CNN) are located in vacation destinations. Read more

Bucket Strategies for Retirement Income

If you read much about investing strategies for producing retirement income, you’ve probably learned something about “bucket strategies.” These are sometimes referred to as “time segmentation” approaches. The general theory is that different groups or “buckets” of investments are set aside to accomplish specific retirement income purposes for different time periods. Read more

First Quarter Net Worth and Investment Results

The end of the first quarter of 2010 means its time to measure progress in our retirement investments and overall net worth. At this stage in our retirement planning, overall forward progress in wealth building is crucial and less important than discrete investment returns. When I use the term “wealth” in this context, I refer to assets that can and will be used to generate retirement income. More than ever, I am all about “liability focused investing.” The “liability” in this case is our retirement income. Read more