Retirement Planning
Bob Carlson shares miscellaneous advice on retirement and related topics
Found 97 Articles.
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5 Ideas to Simplify Your Financial Life
Most people find the financial part of their lives too complicated. Over and again, I’ve found that complicated finances lead to procrastination and stress. Too much time is spent simply organizing papers and data to figure out where things stand. By then, you’re too exhausted to make decisions or implement changes. If that sounds like […]
Defeating the Greatest Retirement Fear
Even affluent Americans are concerned that soaring medical bills will reduce their Retirement standards of living and diminish their estates. This is the time of year when you can do something about it. Medicare Open Enrollment season runs from Oct. 15 – Dec. 7 each year. Sign up during this period for coverage that begins […]
7 Family Wealth Mistakes That Derail Successful Retirements
Many people retire with adequate income and resources to have successful retirements. Somewhere along the way, their retirement plans go off track. In the latest online seminar in my Retirement Watch Spotlight Series, I’m going to identify actions that are most likely to turn a successful retirement plan into a struggling one. From research and […]
How Much Have Americans Saved for Retirement?
This article discusses a recent analysis that shows how much people in various income groups have in savings. The results aren’t too surprising, though I would have guessed that the median savings of the top 1% was much higher. The average savings in retirement, money market deposit, checking and savings and certificate of deposit accounts […]
5 Mistakes and Myths That Can Spoil a Successful Retirement
Key issues about retirement finances are misunderstood by many Americans who are retired or within 10 years of retiring, reducing the probability of having a successful retirement. The misinformation and confusion covers the spectrum of retirement finance topics, according to a survey conducted for Nationwide Financial Services. Mistake #1: About 72% of respondents worried that […]
Making the Best Use of Home Equity in Retirement Income
The residence usually is one of the most valuable assets retirees own. It also is one of the worst-managed assets. Few people realize the home can be used to increase retirement cash flow or know how to do so efficiently. In the past issues of Retirement Watch, we’ve gone over reverse mortgages and issues related […]
Saving Underfunded Retirement
Morningstar conducted a study of the best ways for someone who hasn’t saved enough for retirement to ensure a comfortable retirement. It found that taking a number of relatively small actions are the best approach, because there’s no one big action that’s has a high probability of success. The worst action to take is to […]
How Much Should You Be Saving for Retirement?
Young people should be saving a lot more than their parents and grandparents. There are a lot of reasons for this, including lower expected investment returns. This article argues that the pattern of contributions make over their lifetimes mean they should be contributing at least 20% of their earnings most of their careers. So during […]
