< After our boat hauling chores were finished, we had lunch and a beer at the local “Fishin’ Hole” restaurant. The talk turned to our sons’ early childhood experiences at my father’s lake home in near Brevard, North Carolina. They loved those weeks with the grandparents. What put a smile on my face was their talk of someday giving their kids a similar experience with us at our lake home. I hope that can happen. First, we need some grandkids!

Here are some articles I read this week that might be of interest to you:

Flexo at Consumerism Commentary wrote about a study showing that while materialistic people may have more money, they are less happy in their marriages.

The Moolanomy blog explains how TIPS provide a guaranteed real return. We are big fans of TIPS and I-Bonds, both of which provide an inflation protection component.

Todd Tresidder wrote an exhaustive piece on the science and myths associates with safe withdrawal rates in retirement.

I participated in two carnivals this week: Carnival of Personal Finance and the Baby Boomers Blog Carnival.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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First up is a CNN Money piece on bargains to be had in homes purchased for retirement.  The lesson here is that one person’s housing misfortune can be a great deal for someone else. The key is being prepared financially to exploit these opportunities so as not to take excessive risk.

Five Cent Nickel reminds us that it’s not too soon to think about end-of-year tax saving moves.  While you are at it, do not overlook the triple tax-free benefits of using your HSA as a retirement investment.

Dough Roller has an excellent summary of systems and expert opinions discussing the topic of how much money you need to retire. I would stay away from that outdated 4% rule on withdrawal rates. Otherwise, there is not much consensus on the retirement nest egg “accumulation phase.” That’s why liability-based investing is the way to go.

I love stories from people of all ages who leave their “cubicle world” and pursue something that is more important to them. Sometimes it’s a young couple who “retire” toward a more satisfying life.  (Hat tip to J. Money at Budgets are Sexy).  Are you inspired/motivated by these stories also?

Finally, check out this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance at the Boomer and Echo blog and the Baby Boomers Blog Carnival for some articles that may interest you.

Have a great weekend!

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You can do me a big favor by visiting the Amazon subscription page for my blog and giving it a positive review and/or hitting the “Like” button. Maybe that will attract subscribers and put a little snack money in my pocket!

Thanks so much for being a reader.

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In Three Reasons to Pay Off Your Mortgage Before Retirement,  I emphasize the tax flexibility that owning a mortgage-free home can provide. Having this tax flexibility is so helpful to retirees who need to maximize the spending power of their retirement income.

I am a big believer in tracking net worth. I expand this concept to other financial measures in Three Ways to Track Yearly Progress Toward Retirement. Remember, if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

If the general concepts of “save more, spend less” are not getting it done for your retirement plan, consider one of these Four Radical Strategies to Retire Sooner.

Switching to some other reading, the IRS has published 1o tips for tax time, courtesy of the AARP.

Emily Brandon at U.S. News put together an excellent summary of retirement benefit changes coming in 2011.

Courtesy of the Retirement Revised blog, Reuters reports that defaults on reverse mortgages are increasing. This is not good.

I hope you enjoy at least some of these.

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Well Dave has done us a favor by writing a concise review of what happened to us and around us in 2010. It’s a must read and safe for the office. Here is a taste:

This is not to say that 2010 was all bad. There were bright spots. Three, to be exact:

1. The Yankees did not even get into the World Series.

2. There were several days during which Lindsay Lohan was neither going into, nor getting out of, rehab.

3. Apple released the hugely anticipated iPad, giving iPhone people, at long last, something to fondle with their other hand.

Read it all here:  Dave Barry’s 2010 Year in Review.

Enjoy.

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Jim Otar has written a book titled “Unveiling the Retirement Planning Myth.”  It is long (525 pages) and jam-packed with market-based mathematical analysis of retirement planning principles. Many boomers will have trouble digesting all of it or even taking the time to read the more complex parts. However, the book is worth acquiring just for reading the final chapters which discuss Otar’s “Zone Strategy.”

The good news is that until January 10, the book can be downloaded in PDF for free! That’s right fellow boomers, a free retirement planning resource for you add to your toolkit.

To get the download, browse to retirementoptimizer.com In the left margin of the home page, look for the “Books” link. Underneath that will be the words “Free Download.” Clicking that link will bring up the “Click Here” link at the top right of the home page for the free download. If you are a PC user, right click the “Click Here” link and select “Save Link as” to download the book.

Enjoy and send some thanks to Mr. Otar.

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I visited our local farmers market yesterday morning. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of area farmers selling grass-fed beef, pork, and lamb. I bought some grass-fed ground beef  and lamb. I knew I would like the beef because my brother had introduced us to awesomely delicious grass-fed beef hamburgers this summer at the lake.

Coincidentally, there was a cooking demonstration at the Farmers Market. The Chef was making a lamb and sweet-potato hash. If you substitute unrefined coconut oil for the butter, this is a Paleo-friendly recipe. So I promptly returned home and made both a beef and a lamb version. Both were delicious and perfect for re-heating at any meal. We are going to try this plan for 30 days. If I like it and see results, it may be permanent.

Enough about my eating (but I recommend you read Wolf’s book). On to some other interesting reads for the week:

The U.S. Treasury has eliminated paper savings bonds for payroll savings plans. They admit they want to do this for all bonds but at least for now, you can still purchase I Savings Bonds in paper form at banks. (I love I- Bonds for retirement.)  Here is the link to the Treasury site to learn more about this news.

I wrote a post for the On Retirement blog at U.S. News and World Report about seven questions you should ask experienced retirees. This is based on conversations I have had with family, friends, and AARP conventioneers who have been in retirement.

The end of the window during which anyone can convert a conventional IRA to a Roth IRA is rapidly approaching. Here is a recent article from Emily Brandon that explains ten reasons why you might want to open a Roth IRA.

Vanguard has launched a new section on its website called “Annuity Access.”  I have not studied Vanguard’s current annuity offerings (skip the variable annuities) but its nice to have the information all in one place. (Thanks to Jim at Bargaineering for the tip.

The Digerati Life blog published a summary of different strategies for re-balancing your retirement portfolio.

Last but not least, scan the articles in this past week’s Carnival of Personal Finance. You should find something to read that interests you.

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Most of the government booths are financial in nature: IRS, Treasury, SEC, FINRA, SSA, the list goes on. All of them seem concerned that we are going to mess up our financial lives. That concern is legitimate because a lot of the damage has already occurred.

I’m not sure the message is being received here in Orlando. Sadly, the reason for low attendance at the government booths may be swag, as in not enough of it to attract the swag collectors.

Still, it’s a big showing by the USA. The delivery of content? Not so good.

My evaluation is purely anecdotal so judge for yourself from these two examples:

Yesterday I stopped at the U.S. Treasury booth. The graphics and literature were focused on TreasuryDirect accounts and purchasing Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. I asked the nice ladies at the booth if they were employees of the Treasury Dept. When they said they were, I had my opening. I moved directly to the question of I-Bonds, and why the annual purchase limit was lowered from $30k per year to $5k per year.

They didn’t know. Instead they wanted to talk about other Treasury products that, in my opinion, are far less desirable for retirement savers.

So then I asked if the rumors were true: Would the Treasury be introducing any new products particularly helpful for retirement savers?

They didn’t know and oh by the way, how about our other products?

Forget it, I thought. I will move to my plan B, which was asking Anna Cabral these questions. Cabral is an AARP family finance ambassador, a conference speaker, and was U.S. Treasurer when the I Bond purchase limits were lowered.

Plan B didn’t work either. I asked Cabral I Bond questions at her press conference today. She 100% dodged all of them. You can take the politician out of politics but ………

Let’s briefly discuss my stop at the IRS booth. While there, a gentlemen approached and asked for literature about Required Minimum Distributions from retirement plans. Here’s Mr. IRS:  Uh…… well….. that’s an excellent question but ….. I don’t have that material ready yet.

The questioner walked away shaking his head.

Exactly why is the IRS at an AARP convention without literature explaining RMDs?

A lot of taxpayer dollars were used to populate these USA booths. Not sure it was money well-spent.

At least I was able to see the NOAA Hurricane Simulator.

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I was in college when Disney World opened up in Orlando. My family lived in Florida, so technically I was a Floridian at the time. Thus, I was among the first gazillions to visit the park, when Orlando was still a sleepy place in the middle of pretty much nothing.

After graduation I worked in south Florida then went to law school in north Florida. This afforded me many opportunities to revisit Disney.  After we married and started having babies, Universal Studios opened. We were among the first to visit there as well.  Having youngsters will do that.

How ironic that the AARP is now drawing boomers to this area, after our kids are grown and gone. It brings back a lot of wonderful memories. Maybe the AARP knows this. I think they must, which is one reason they arranged this “meet and greet” at the park today.

So we are going over to see what is old (probably not much) and what is new to us (probably most everything).

Of course, there is the issue of sticker shock. Maybe the AARP should issue warnings to those who haven’t visited the parks since their kids were young.  I think I’ll ask folks I meet about that.

More later…..

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More stuff from my baby boomer reading pile for your consideration:

The SmartyPig online savings bank is running a “Race Out of Debt” contest. SmartyPig is a bank with an interesting concept – specific savings goals. The accounts are free and they pay decent interest rates on insured deposits (currently 1.75%). You can win almost $5,000 by having an account and setting a new goal.

The My Money Blog posted an interesting article exposing some of the dirty secrets of mutual fund fees.  Bottom line remains: Stay with low-cost index funds and you are likely to come out ahead.

The Mighty Bargain Hunter is getting back to his roots – bargain hunting. He wrote about a shopping portal rebate site I had not heard of but looks very interesting. I will definitely be giving it a try.

Do you want to kill your junk mail inflow? I do and I’m working on it. The Money Crashers blog tells you how.

Over at the On Retirement blog, I wrote an article on 3 Ways to Decide When to Claim Social Security.

Finally, I forgot to tell you about last week’s Carnival of Personal Finance where there is always good stuff to scan and read.

Have you guys read anything lately that the rest of us might find useful for our retirement plans and dreams?

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