Retirement Planning
Bob Carlson shares miscellaneous advice on retirement and related topics
Found 79 Articles.
Get access to 194 articles by subscribing to Retirement Watch and Retirement Watch Spotlight Series.
Investing When Rates are Low, Poised to Rise
What do you do when interest rates are low but the Federal Reserve makes clear it is going to start raising rates? Now, you earn very little money from cash and safe investments. Bonds and similar investments have higher yields, but they’re going to lose value when interest rates rise. In many cases, principal losses […]
The Importance of Age 69 1/2 in Retirement Planning
Most people in retirement planning learn that age 70 1/2 is important. Here’ an article arguing that the year before is more of a benchmark. You have to start planning for the following years’ RMD, and it also means you’re approaching other key IRA milestones. Age 69 1/2 is a big deal, a major year […]
Using Home Equity to Fund Retirement
Key changes recently were made in reverse mortgages. You should be aware of the changes and how they affect the way reverse mortgages can help in-crease your financial independence. Properly used, they are tools for employing home equity to enhance your retirement. The first change is that the Federal Housing Administration restructured the program again […]
U.K. Government Helps with Retirement Planning
The U.K. government recently liberalized national pension rules to allow retirees to take their benefits in a lump sum instead of being required to take them as a life annuity. The latest move they’re considering is to tell people how long they are likely to live and will need their nest eggs to last. The […]
Another View of the Savings Rate
The U.S. savings rate is too low. That’s been a consensus view for some time. But is it inaccurate? This post argues that it is. It argues that the personal savings rate is only part of the U.S. savings. Businesses also save, and they’ve been saving quite a bit for some time. In fact, business […]
Saving Too Much For Retirement
More of the retirement planning industry is catching on. For decades, retirement plans revolved around simple rules of thumb such as that you’ll spend about 80% of your pre-retirement income during retirement. At Retirement Watch we’ve warned for decades about these simple rules of thumb. They likely cause you to save too much or too […]
Are Retirees Financially Prepared For Retirement
Almost all media discussions about retirement conclude that most Americans are financially unprepared. Some paint very dire pictures of the fate of current and upcoming retirees. Yet, surveys of retirees aren’t that pessimistic. Indeed, most retirees and pre-retirees say they’ll be just fine financially, perhaps after making a few adjustments. Consider this discussion of the […]
The Millionaire Secrets to Getting Wealthy
You already know this stuff if you’re a long time reader of Retirement Watch. But millionaires have a number of practices that other people don’t have and don’t realize are key to accumulating wealth. Most of the points in this post seem to be from The Millionaire Next Door, a best-seller of a few years […]