My Comments: There’s a reason the term ‘mid-life crisis’ is in common use among everyday people. Many of us have had one. And then there is the ‘end-of-mid-life crisis’ that is yet to rear it’s ugly head. It happens when someone is about to retire and discover to their horror they are completely unprepared. For …
Continue reading Why This Popular Retirement Advice Actually Makes It Harder to Save
Just 10? Nah, there’s lots more but let's start with these. If you’ve been paying FICA taxes ( see #3 below ), and have done so for at least 40 quarters, then you can expect to qualify for retirement benefits at some point. None of these 10 tell you when to claim benefits, or what …
Continue reading Confused? 10 Social Security Terms You Need to Understand
My Comments: Chances are you’ve heard of ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund). They are not to be confused with EFTs (Electronic Fund Transfers). Though I suppose it’s possible to have both involved in a given transaction. Given that most of us now realize that fees imposed by Wall Street firms, and non-Wall Street Firms, can be, …
Continue reading What are ETFs? Are They Different Than Mutual Funds?
The risk of non-performance, ie running out of money, has been shifted from the employer to the employee. (That's YOU...) My Comments: There are two basic types of pension income: Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC). For most of the 20th Century, the DB option was most common across the United States in the …
Continue reading There’s An Estimated $210 TRILLION Shortfall Waiting For You
My Comments: How much money do you need for a successful retirement? It depends… Unless you already KNOW how your life is going to play out, you can only play the odds. And the odds say that if you are now 65, there’s a 70% chance, based on current statistics, that you’ll need some kind …
Continue reading Health costs in retirement: 5 things you should know and plan for
My Comments: The latest budget proposal from the current White House suggests there will be a new effort to partially defund Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. What exactly do they expect to achieve politically from this effort? Those of us already receiving Social Security benefits plus the many millions more who are aging and becoming …
Continue reading 3 Social Security Rules We Can All Agree We Hate
My Comments: Retirement is an increasingly critical topic as more and more of us are closing in on it or are already in transition. The questions are legion: Are we ready for it? Will we have enough money? How safe are our investments? How will we pay our likely medical bills? Will Social Security be …
Continue reading Secrets Of A Successful Retiree: From A Retirement Professional
My Comments: Like so many financial products, annuities come in a variety of forms that have surfaced over the years in attempts to both solve peoples financial problems and to make money for the companies offering them. As you can imagine, the spectrum along which any one of them can be judged is wide, with …
Continue reading The Basic Types of Annuities and How They Work
My Comments: I’ve written about the risks of being alive. Not having enough money in retirement is one of them. This article, featuring comments by Jana Greer, CEO of American International Group, a multinational finance and insurance corporation, can be interpreted as a sales pitch that you may or may not respond to. For me, …
Continue reading Retiring in a down market can mean 2/3 less money for rest of your life…
My Comments: My entire professional focus these days is helping people retire. To that end I’ve created two online courses that I’m marketing nationally. This article from nextavenue.org points to one of the channels I’m trying to reach. At the local level, I’m prepared to hold workshops for any organization that sees this as an …
Continue reading Retirement: Most Employers Don’t Have a Clue
Helping Define Your Financial Future 