Matching Retirement Income to Expenses

Have you read about the “4-box strategy” for matching your retirement income to your retirement expenses? You should because it makes sense for the careful planner worried about retirement income survival.

Read more

Efficient Retirement Income without Bonds?

A researcher (Ph.D. in Economics) with the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies has recently published a provocative paper on how to most efficiently produce retirement income. A somewhat radical conclusion is that for a 65 year old married couple using a 4% withdrawal rate to meet retirement spending needs, bonds (or bond funds) should not be part of their retirement portfolio.

Read more

Another Flawed Retirement Savings Analysis

I have spent a lot of time thinking about the best way to estimate how large of a nest egg  we will need to retire.  I have concluded that there is only one practical way to do this and it involves creating a comprehensive retirement spending budget. Many so-called experts suggest using an income replacement ratio or an income multiplier to arrive at a retirement “number.” In my humble opinion, that is a flawed approach.

Read more

Another Retirement Income Strategy to Avoid “Money Death”

After the black swan market events of 2008-2009, baby boomers and financial planners continue to search for new strategies for providing a secure retirement income. I have written about many of them, including the “Failsafe Retirement” plan that we are using.  This week I read about another combination strategy for avoiding what the authors refer to as retirement “money death.”

Read more

Stash Cash for a Down Market

If you are a baby boomer contemplating retirement, stock market gyrations are bad for your fiscal and mental health. A common reaction in recent years is to leave the market entirely and put your nest egg in cash and cash equivalents. Regular readers may recall that I agree with this strategy but only in part. More about that in a minute. Read more

Can there be a No Risk Retirement?

How often does a retiree or retiree-to-be think about or ask this question: Can I have an adequate retirement income without taking risk?  In almost every case, the answer will be “no.”  A reader of Money Magazine recently wrote in with such a question. Read more

Get a Lifetime Investment Income From Your Retirement Portfolio

I’ve written quite a bit about the infamous 4% withdrawal rate rule. I say “infamous” because I don’t like it. It may have worked in the past. Now this rule of thumb is more like a rule of “dumb.” We are more prone to black swan market crashes and burdened by less predictable market returns. This requires alternative strategies for procuring a lifetime of investment income from our retirement portfolio. It starts with liability-focused investing rather than pure wealth building. Read more

Private Sector Pension Benefits are at Risk for Retirees

A big part of retirement planning is risk control and management. By this I mean identifying and understanding the bad things that can happen to your money, your job, your health, and life in general. Then you must try to build into your plan as much protection against these risks as you can afford. Unfortunately, it seems we must add private pension benefits to the list. Read more

Write Your Own Retirement Paycheck

Since being invited to blog on-site from the AARP Orlando@50+ event, I have looked forward to today’s session on “Writing Your Own Retirement Paycheck.” It was worth the wait. Read more

Ten Year TIPS Auction

If you are interested in owning Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), the Treasury is supposed to make an official announcement today of a 9/2/2010 auction of TIPS having a ten year maturity. If you are within 1-10 years of retirement, this would be an excellent way to add to your portfolio of guaranteed, inflation adjusted assets.

Read more

Next Page »