Q. I have followed your idea of Couch Potato investing through the years. My question is: Does all the fiscal uncertainty in Washington mean your "recipes" for Couch Potato investing should be changed?
I’m 54 years old and looking at retirement when I reach 65 – I’m at that age where I’m looking at my investing a little bit differently….
“You don’t need to tell me that interest rates are low and that retirees are getting a bum deal. What I need you to tell me is what to do about it. I need a decent income from my savings.”
That’s the thumbnail summary of what readers have said about my columns on the difficulty the Federal Reserve Zero Interest Rate Policy…
Q. I am retired, drawing Social Security and a pension, with a few other investments and tax deferred accounts. I will soon need to start taking required minimum distributions. I have a 401(k) worth just over $225,000. I am earning about 2 percent annually on this money now. Does it make sense to look at a fixed index annuity that would increase i…
Spending money gets easier by the minute. Today, thanks to automatic bill pay and other innovations, our entire income (or more) can be spent before we know it. And we don’t have to lift a finger. Who would have thought that technology could take us this far?
But more is yet to come. Here are my Fearless Forecasts for 2013.
2013 Will Be an Unsan…
Q. My husband retired last year at age 63 after hip replacement surgery barred him from continuing to drive a log truck. His employer offered a Vanguard funds 401(k) plan only for the past 15 years so he has less than $285,000. Vanguard called him to determine what to do with his account in retirement. After a brief conversation, the advisor moved…
I have a confession to make. Although I’m a devoted index fund investor who has kept the bulk of his retirement and taxable accounts allocated in a way that follows the Couch Potato investing suggestions I make in this column, I’ve also got a hidden, dumb side.
It’s not a healthy part of me, so I try to keep it well controlled. Ov…
Q. I just turned 68. I’m a single woman making about $66,000 a year. I was planning on drawing my Social Security in two years when I turn 70. I have about $260,000 in savings and stocks. A financial adviser said I should start drawing Social Security now because it would take until I’m 85 to get my money back from not drawing now. My car an…
“Money is America’s most powerful drug. Here’s how it weakens us and how we can free ourselves.”
So reads the dust jacket of my signed copy of “Wealth Addiction.” The 1983 book issociologist Philip Slater’s take on our growing, crippling obsession with wealth and money. In late 2002 I found multiple copie…
Q. I turn 56 this month and would like to retire soon. I have questions about whether I can afford to, about health care, and if changing my living arrangements will it make a difference. Here’s the deal.
My wife and I own a four-bedroom house worth around $275,000, which we have paid off. We have no debt, and our 3 children are living i…
Is this the winter of long-term care insurance?
It sure is quiet. In most years my mailbag will have a healthy dose of questions about buying long-term care insurance. This is entirely reasonable. On the one hand, our ever-lengthening life expectancies result in an increasing probability of needing long-term care. On the other, some of the insuranc…
Q. A little over a year ago I took over managing of my accounts from our financial planner. I switched the accounts to Vanguard and read a couple of the books that you have recommended. I have read and re-read William Bernstein’s "The Investor’s Manifesto" and Andrew Hallam’s "Millionaire Teacher.” Both are excellent books, espe…
Few expenses are scarier than college tuition. At both private and public colleges, tuition has been rising faster than inflation for decades. One example is my alma mater, MIT. As I entered, the tuition crossed $1,000 a year.
Yes, it was a long, long time ago. Tuition rose to about $1,200 a year by the time I graduated in 1962. I didn’t thin…
Q. My wife and I are 62 and 64 respectively. We are fully retired. We own our home free and clear. And we are considering a move in order to downsize and reduce the financial and physical maintenance costs of our current house. We like the idea of renting, though we have always been homeowners in the past, because we don’t want to be burdened with …
Q. My wife and I are 62 and 64 respectively. We are fully retired. We own our home free and clear. And we are considering a move in order to downsize and reduce the financial and physical maintenance costs of our current house. We like the idea of renting, though we have always been homeowners in the past, because we don’t want to be burdened with …
Some ideas give us great comfort and security. They’re also easy to market since we all like comfort and security. That’s one reason “Target-date” mutual funds have been the big idea in 401(k) plans since they were introduced about 20 years ago.
Today many 401(k) plans have Target-date funds as the default selection if a wor…
Some ideas give us great comfort and security. They’re also easy to market since we all like comfort and security. That’s one reason “Target-date” mutual funds have been the big idea in 401(k) plans since they were introduced about 20 years ago.
Today many 401(k) plans have Target-date funds as the default selection if a wor…
Q. Like many others, I recently received a "one-time-only offer" for a lump-sum distribution as a settlement for a vested defined-benefit pension. I am 58 years old. The lump sum offer is $250,000. The normal annuity benefit starting now is $1,489/month. At age 65 it would be $2,089.
If I take the distribution and buy an annuity with Fi…
Q. Like many others, I recently received a "one-time-only offer" for a lump-sum distribution as a settlement for a vested defined-benefit pension. I am 58 years old. The lump sum offer is $250,000. The normal annuity benefit starting now is $1,489/month. At age 65 it would be $2,089.
If I take the distribution and buy an annuity with Fi…
When I talk to large groups I like to ask a peculiar question: If you have never been surprised, will you please raise your hand?
Whether the group is 100, 300 or 600 people the result is always the same. No one has ever raised a hand.
The question produces a lot of rueful smiles. People recall events they would, mostly, rather forget. It’s…
When I talk to large groups I like to ask a peculiar question: If you have never been surprised, will you please raise your hand?
Whether the group is 100, 300 or 600 people the result is always the same. No one has ever raised a hand.
The question produces a lot of rueful smiles. People recall events they would, mostly, rather forget. It’s…
Diversified Asset Allocation Portfolios For Your Plans
| Vanguard ETF: | 10%* |  |
| Diversified Core: | 11%* | |
| Six Core Asset ETFs: | 10%* | |
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