From the category archives:

Boomers

The Early Retirement Conundrum: Take it Now or Hope it will be there

August 24, 2010

Never one to shy away from jumping into the fray, which is a little different than jumping to conclusions, I have bumped into more than one conversation about the wisdom of drawing on retirement income too soon.  These folks argue that everyone should plan on working longer (and not just to rebuild retirement accounts – [...]

Read the full article →

Retirement Planning: Only One Thing is Certain

August 23, 2010

Investors are worried.  The only thing that seems to be certain at this point is uncertainty. The stock market crash in May, the “flash crash” which sent the Dow down for a 600 point loss and then recovery is still without any significant answers.  The stock market crash in 2008, while better understood offers us [...]

Read the full article →

Retirement Planning in the Age of Caveats

August 21, 2010

It used to be so simple.  That’s how we will be telling the story some day.  A once-upon-a-time tale of putting your money in your 401(k), taking out-sized risks with it, caring less about the cost of your defined contribution plan and more about the potential growth.  You focused on balance, not income.  Your company [...]

Read the full article →

The Pace of Recovery: Your Retirement Returns

August 8, 2010

It will sound counterintuitive in light of what you may have experienced.  But if you do not change a few important strategies in your retirement plan now, you can’t hope to recover what you lost, get back on track for the future and retire anywhere near the lifestyle you envision.  Sorry.  But it’s the truth. [...]

Read the full article →

Retirement: Barking Up the Wrong Tree

August 7, 2010

Several years back I was doing a local television show as a personal finance guy.  It was one of those morning shows that come on after the national variety stuff and although Portland isn’t a big player in the overall TV market, it did okay.  I did a wide range of topics, always sort of [...]

Read the full article →

Are We There Yet?: Recession, Retirement and the New American

August 6, 2010

Will we be asking the same question sixty months after the beginning of this recession as was asked at the thirty month mark?  The Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project might, as they did recently (click here for the report, downloaded as a pdf.) The question is, will it harbor the same hopes [...]

Read the full article →

Women and Retirement: What Prudential Wants You to Believe

July 31, 2010

Perhaps I am just too jaded after years of reading white papers and studies, magazines and newspapers.  Perhaps when it comes to anything that resembles a profile of a group, done by a big insurance company in an effort to understand how you invest, plan for retirement, or deal with your finances, I just can’t [...]

Read the full article →

The Retirement Entitlement

July 23, 2010

Every now and again, I bump into someone suggesting that retirement is not an option, we can work for ever and above all, it is not an entitlement.  When we look at that particular buzzword – entitlement – some of us wonder how its place in the lexicon became so reviled.  Nothing we are entitled [...]

Read the full article →

Retirement Planning: The Odds ‘n’ Ends Edition

July 20, 2010

Although on most day I address a single topic concerning your retirement plan, your 401(k), your IRAs, investments such as mutual funds or bonds, there are several tidbits that are worthy of inclusion – just not a full-on article.  Our Odds ‘n’ Ends edition on retirement planning hopes to fix those items that slip through [...]

Read the full article →

The Retirement Wonder Years

July 17, 2010

The older you get, the more apt you are to think about your retirement.  And according to some recent indicators, you are also thinking, perhaps even worrying about your children’s retirement.  The dilemma is not easy to answer and in some instances, will not truly unfold until many of are able to anything constructive to [...]

Read the full article →