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 Real Fear of Retirement Planning

July 18, 2010

I still believe that we can get you either ready for retirement in fifteen years or at least confidently on your way.

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 →

Mutual Funds: Dividend Growth vs Dividend Yield

July 16, 2010

As investors look for anything that might enhance their portfolio’s overall return, the subject of whether dividends are worth the effort have moved to the forefront.  Many current retirees and those poised to retire understand the nature of what this provides but there are subtle differences in what they actually are, the story they tell [...]

Read the full article →

Mutual Fund Investing: Index Funds vs Actively-Managed Funds

July 15, 2010

Almost all of the information you receive on this epic battle suggests that it will rage on for years with no apparent winner.  And, ironically, almost every financial writer who stages this event always comes down on the side of index funds.  They cite important considerations like tax efficiency and costs.  But the real conversation [...]

Read the full article →

Even the Rich have Retirement Woes

July 14, 2010

In the July 2010 EBRI Issue Brief, written by EBRI Research Director Jack VanDerhei and senior research associate Craig Copeland detail the travails of various cohorts in the pursuit of outliving your retirement nest-egg. What they found was a “don’t-feel-bad-for-yourself” moment we should all take note of: the rich can become less so in retirement, [...]

Read the full article →

What Happens When ETFs are Actively Managed?

July 13, 2010

For most of us, the exchange traded fund is an index fund dressed up like a stock.  It trades actively on the exchange.  Investors can purchase the fund throughout the day and many of these ame investors have found this security a good place to follow trends.  My only real concern with ETFs as they [...]

Read the full article →

Can There Be Guarantees in Retirement?

July 12, 2010

Can there be guarantees in retirement? Can we hope to be able to know how much retirement income we will need, whether we have invested enough in those retirement accounts to outlast our finite number of heartbeats and whether the costs while we are working will be worth the payoff in the end? In a [...]

Read the full article →

The Top Reason We Can’t Understand Retirement

July 11, 2010

Boo! There we got that out of the way. Are all financial writers actually horror writers who don’t know it?  Why does every conversation about retirement and investments and mutual funds and Wall Street, almost everything concerning money seemed tinged with fear, some unknown fright that is just around the corner, or ten years from [...]

Read the full article →