Do You Have the Discipline to Save for Retirement?
May 21, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Boomer Lifestyle
When our sons were younger and struggling to study or train for an athletic competition, I frequently pulled out this mantra: The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret. No one who received an “A” on an exam or crossed the finish line with a personal-best time ever complained about the preparation required. According to a recent article from someone with first hand experience, discipline is something that many retirement non-savers lack.
Baby Boomers Investment Returns Will Be Constrained
May 19, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Investing for Retirement
Will baby boomers cause our own investments to decline? According to one researcher, the answer is yes. There are so many of us that our collective retirement investing and spending plans are destined to negatively impact investment returns for everyone. How can this be?
Age Milestones for Retirement Planning Decisions
May 18, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Retirement Planning
In our youth, we thought about turning 16 so we could drive, 18 to vote (and drink in many states) or 21. As baby boomers, entirely different set of age milestones is presented, most of which relate to retirement planning. Do you think about these? I do, but mostly for investigational purposes. I try not to get caught up in thoughts such as “I can’t wait until I am old enough for Medicare.” I want to be mindful and present for the enjoyment of today. (If this sounds to you a little like a Zen state of mind, you are correct. There will be more about my recent Zen explorations in a future post.)
An Important Debate on Buying Long Term Care Insurance
May 15, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Long Term Care
The Wall Street Journal has engaged a number of personal finance experts to debate several topics of importance to the rest of us. One of these recent debates was over the question of whether we should purchase long term care insurance. The expert in favor of purchasing LTC insurance is a professor of health economics and policy at George Mason University. His argument is that “hoping for the best” is not a wise or effective financial strategy.
The expert that disfavors LTC insurance is a staff attorney at California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. His argument is that instead of buying the insurance with a $3500 annual premium, invest the premium amount., giving you $70,000 plus interest in 20 years. There is a huge psychological flaw in that argument. The average consumer will not have the discipline to actually invest the premiums that are not paid. They are much more likely to spend it. Also, for older boomers, there is no reasonable assurance of 20 years without a long term care need.
Here is the link to full debate article which is definitely worth reading.
Concerns and Misconceptions About Long Term Care
May 12, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Long Term Care
Financial and retirement writers are regularly pumping out articles about long term care insurance. A lot of what is written is negative, such as when an insurance company decides to stop selling long term care policies. For example, my wife and I bought long term care policies from Met Life in 2008. Met Life later announced that it would stop selling new policies at the end of 2010.
Downsize-Mode De-Cluttering – An Extended Process
May 6, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Downsizing
I have developed a pattern now. Most of my stays back in the “big house” in Brentwood now include at least one trip to the county dump and/or to Good Will. The alternative is to do it all at once, when we sell this house in a couple of years. But I have also learned that I do not want to wait until then.
Your Social Security Statement is Now Online
May 2, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Social Security
Like me, the Social Security Administration is trying to reduce its paper load. It took a major paper-killing step forward yesterday when it went live with online access to your Social Security Statements. Previously, these were snail-mailed to you annually. You could generate a benefit estimate using the SSA retirement benefit estimator but other important information (such as earnings history) could not be accessed.
Reasons Downsizing for Retirement Makes Sense
April 25, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Downsizing
Several weeks ago I was interviewed by a journalist who was researching a story about retirement downsizing. She found me because I write this blog and sell a retirement planning tool at Failsafe Retirement. I suppose that gives me some credibility because it shows that I at least think and care enough about retirement issues to research and write about them.
Delaying Social Security – A Smart Investment?
April 23, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Social Security
Is delaying Social Security the world’s best investment? Think about that for a minute. I will turn 62 this year, making me eligible to claim Social Security retirement benefits. While I have already decided against taking the money early, I still enjoy checking the validity of my decision with some economic due diligence.
Where is Your Retirement Confidence?
April 20, 2012 by MJP
Filed under Retirement Planning
Or maybe the better question is: Do you have any confidence in your retirement? I do but not without some trepidation. According to recent survey published by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, Americans who feel confident about their retirement are in the minority.
