As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

New: Community Explorer. Discover Your Perfect Community Quickly Based on Lifestyle, Amenities, and Unit Type.  

Try It NOW

Rival Theories to The 4% Withdrawal Rule Keep Popping Up

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

May 30, 2015 — One of the most important subjects about retirement is how much you can take out of your retirement funds. Withdraw too much too soon, and you run out of money for your old age. Take out too little, and you shortchange your fun - plus leave more than you intend to your relatives and/or the government. This article will explore some new competing theories to the popular 4% rule, which has long been viewed as the gold standard for retirement withdrawals. One of the key assumptions about the 4% rule, which theorizes you can almost always withdraw 4% of your retirement savings every year without danger of exhausting them, was that your investments would at least earn something close to 4% over the long haul. The so called 4% rule is credited to

more...

Published on May 29, 2015
Comments 55

Pretty Confident You Won’t Be Scammed? That Could Be a Problem

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

March 27, 2015 -- So you are pretty sure you are financially literate and no one could scam you - better watch out! A recent study by researchers at DePaul University and the Rush University Medical Center came up with this scary result: Seniors who got financially related answers wrong, but were the most confident they got them right, were more often victimized by fraud. Fraud victims scored 5.39 on the overconfidence scale, vs. 4.21 for non-fraud victims. The authors of the study believe that this overconfidence, combined with declining cognitive skills, is a underlying reason for an alarming

more...

Published on March 26, 2015
Comments 13

How to Find a Retirement Home for under $50,000

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

March 23, 2015 -- It is no secret that there are millions of baby boomers who are wondering how on earth they are ever going to have enough money to retire. From many comments made on this site we know that a lot of you have those worries, so we thought we would help with some examples of reasonable place to retire, along with why it makes sense to downsize. First, how a cheaper place to live puts money in your pocket Your home is almost always your biggest expense, usually about 30% of your income. Anything you can do to reduce that is going to help you have a more comfortable retirement. The first thing you need to do in this process is to complete a retirement budget, keeping in mind any potential income sources, including savings or pension (if any), work, and Social Security. If you’re considering additional avenues to supplement your funds, be aware that online casinos no connected with gamstop, while often touted as a quick fix, can carry significant financial risks. You also have to understand what

more...

Published on March 23, 2015
Comments 39

Did You Turn 70 and 1/2 Last Year? Big Deadline Looms April 1

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

March 20, 2015 -- If you have a 401(k) and/or an IRA, and you turned 70 and 1/2 last year, you have a very big deadline coming on April 1. That is the date by which you must have taken your first Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), or face significant penalties. A surprising number of people fail to take these distributions. You must also take your regular annual distribution by December 31 this year. All of the money taken from regular

more...

Published on March 20, 2015
Comments 27

How Ready Are You for Retirement – A Quiz

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

March 17, 2015 -- In our book you can't just be too prepared for retirement - it's just too important to take a chance on not enjoying it. This is Part II of our Retirement Preparation Quiz, here is where you can find the Part I Quiz. This version of the quiz is more about the financial side of retirement. It is inspired by a recent survey by the American College of Financial Services, an educational organization for financial professionals. That study found a dismally low level of preparation on several key questions about financial literacy. A majority thought they were doing a good job of saving to live comfortably in retirement, yet only 2 in 10 had a passing grade; no one got an A. The questions on their financial literacy quiz had questions relating to

more...

Published on March 17, 2015
Comments 16

Your Worst Case Scenario About Social Security? The Answer Might Surprise You

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

Update Nov. 15, 2015: The Budget Bill signed into law in late 2015 dramatically changes the popular "File and Suspend" strategy discussed here. People who can take advantage of it by April 1, 2016 are grandfathered, but depending on your birth date, the strategy has gone away for other folks. See our article "How the New Social Security Claiming Rules Affect You" for more. Update March 11, 2015: The publication of this strategy on air generated a good-sized controversy about its fairness (see Comments below as well as this article in Politico: The Debt Wars: Boomers vs. Millenials. March 1, 2015 -- There has been a flurry of features lately on a subject we feel is critically important to almost every retiree - maximizing your Social Security benefits. One of the most instructive pieces we have seen is a short video segment by Paul Solman, the economic correspondent for the PBS Newshour: "Trips and Tips for Getting the Most Out from Social Security Benefit". Even for the experts, navigating the system can be confusing and costly. In this entertaining video Solman gives 2 major tips for maximizing your Social Security benefit. Both could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars to many people. The first is on the often misunderstood spousal benefit. The second has to do when to claim, and that depends on your answer to the provocative question, "What is Your Worst Case Scenario". Spousal Benefit One day during a tennis game Solman's friend and Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff told him that he was entitled to nearly $50,000 in spousal benefits. Solman, the seasoned economic correspondent, was shocked

more...

Published on March 1, 2015
Comments 55

At 62, This Couple Is in Their 25th Year of Retirement

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

By Billy and Akaisha Kaderli At the age of 62, we are beginning our 25th year of financial independence. That is quite a feat! From the beaches on Nevis, West Indies, to the shores of Phuket, Thailand we have traveled extensively through these decades, and what a ride it’s been! Young and strong in those early years, we were willing and able to tackle just about anything. Now we tend to be a bit more cautious but we’re not letting up. We still climb into the backs of pickup trucks, ride the chicken buses and soak in volcanic hot pools. The time has passed quickly from when we were the youngest, grayless couple in a group of retirees, to now where we blend in with the retiree crowd. Still, no one can take away the dance we danced and we are filled with

more...

Published on February 17, 2015
Comments 36

Is a Money Pit Going to Ruin Your Retirement?

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

January 11, 2015 -- We baby boomers are conflicted about retirement in so many ways. For example we spend a lot of time planning to find a place where we can pursue our dreams, yet fail to consider how those dreams might change in 20 years. We worry about our ability to have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, but overlook how much we are spending on the home we live in now. We recently came across a pair of articles that explored the latter phenomenon in depth: one from the Demand Institute (Baby Boomers and Their Homes), and MarketWatch (In Retirement, A Big House Can Lead to the Poor House). See end for links to these articles. A Big Nut to Cover The MarketWatch article by Jonathan Clements lays out in dramatic fashion just how

more...

Published on January 11, 2015
Comments 99

What Women Want in a Financial Advisor – And How to Find a Good One

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

December 20, 2014 -- Last December we posted an article asking women to tell us what they were looking for in a financial advisor, along with their war stories on how it went when they did find one. Many did, and others also asked us to continue on with a followup that summarized that input. So here goes. The first part of this article provides you with the insights and comments of those who responded to our request. Part 2 provides advice for women at 2 top firms on how to find and get the most value out of your financial advisor. What you said We were fortunate to receive a multitude (19) of different comments with a wide range of helpful advice. Although we recommend you read all of these comments in detail, this section summarizes and

more...

Published on December 20, 2014
Comments 16

Leaving an Inheritance to Your Children… The Height of Foolishness?

Category: Financial and taxes in retirement

November 8, 2014 -- We retirees have a strong desire to leave something for the kids once we go on to baby boomer heaven. A recent study by the Population Research Center at the University of Texas found that 86% of people aged 59-96 expect to leave an inheritance to their kids and grandkids. In reporting that study the New York Times article, "The Children Will Be Fine: Spend Their Inheritance", called this perhaps "the height of foolishness". Let's take a look why. About half of baby boomers are concerned they won't be able to maintain their standard of living in retirement. Yet the 86% figure from the University of Texas study shows that even people stressed by their retirement finances still hope to pass something on to the next generation. The irony

more...

Published on November 8, 2014
Comments 40

Blog Categories

Showcase Active Adult Communities

Skip to content