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Retirement Planning

Bob Carlson shares miscellaneous advice on retirement and related topics

Found 105 Articles.
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Reconsidering the 80% of Pre-Retirement Income Rule

September 14, 2012

Pick up a standard retirement reference or work with a traditional planner, and you’ll be told that a retirement plan has to save enough to spend 80% of pre-retirement income in retirement. I’ve criticized that a number of different ways in Retirement Watch and in my books. Christine Benz of Morningstar takes up that argument […]

Why So Many People End Up Poor In Retirement

August 23, 2012

There’s a lot of discussion about the number of Americans who enter retirement financially prepared. There are surveys of people that give their self-assessments of their financial position. There are studies of data obtained from the IRS or the Federal Reserve. But one study points out that all these views take the wrong approach. They […]

Americans Still Spending More, Deferring Savings

January 18, 2012

It’s no secret that during the boom years the personal savings rate of Americans gradually declined until at the peak it actually was negative by some computations. The crisis of 2008 was supposed to change that. Americans, rattled by the decline in the values of their homes and portfolios, became more frugal. They were cutting […]

Retirement Planning – It’s Not All About Money

January 4, 2012

One point I make regularly in Retirement Watch is that retirement planning is about much more than money. Surveys of retirees indicate that money is important only up to a point. The money is to ensure you have the freedom and security to engage in the types of activities you want. Unfortunately, too many people […]

Making Financial Management Easier

December 1, 2011

I’ve long been an advocate of concentrating your investments and financial matters at one or two mutual fund companies or at a discount broker. Consolidation makes it easier to know what’s in your portfolio and be sure your allocation is what you intend. Consolidation reduces procrastination, because you won’t be deterred by the time needed […]

Nearly Half “Early Boomers” Not Ready to Retire

January 21, 2011

All year I see studies and surveys estimating the percentage of people who don’t have enough money to retire, or at least retire the way they want. Lately, the focus has been to estimate the number who were pushed from the safe category to the at risk category by the financial crisis and decline in […]

estate planning

How Safe Are Your Assets?

November 1, 2008

Is your money safe? It is amazing how quickly investors went from not worrying about risk to having that be the first question on their minds. As the financial crisis spreads, people are worried about the safety of their money and how to make their assets more secure. Here’s an overview of the rules for […]

how-improved-websites-boost-your-benefits

How Improved Websites Boost Your Benefits

October 1, 2008

Government benefits are complicated. It often is difficult to understand the rules well enough to maximize benefits from Social Security and Medicare. The government agencies know this and in response recently added features to their web sites to make it less painful to learn your benefit options. I have reviewed these features and believe they […]

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