Social Security
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Beginning Social Security Benefits
More and more people are interested in the right time to begin Social Security benefits, and we’ve been leaders at Retirement Watch informing people how to make that decision. You can obtain a copy of my report on the subject on the web site. Yet, many financial advisors still aren’t well-versed in the details of […]
A Few Stock Market and Economic Charts to Study
Charts can be misleading, or they can tell you a lot. You have to study them carefully and understand why the data develops the way it did before concluding that the chart shows something meaningful. Otherwise, the chart is simply data mining. It might show a correlation between items but not necessarily a causation. The […]
A Summary of Stock Market Warning Signs
Investors were lulled into a complacent state by the effects of the massive monetary injection by global central banks in late 2011. The new money turned around major global economies and boosted asset prices, especially equities and real estate. But that’s the past. The monetary expansion programs are winding down, and the global economy is […]
You’ll Need Social Security
People make a lot mistakes in financial and retirement planning. One I see regularly is pre-retirees, of almost every age, say they won’t need or rely on Social Security. Many say they assume they won’t get anything from it. Routinely surveys of pre-retirees indicate that 30% or fewer expect SS to be a “major source […]
Tricks and Traps in Social Security Benefits
People continue to miss significant opportunities to maximize their Social Security retirement benefits. The problem is especially acute among married couples who don’t consider the long-term effects or don’t know the interaction between personal retirement benefits, spousal benefits, and survivor benefits. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime decision, but the benefits or drawbacks of the decision will last […]
7 Questions about the Stock Market and Investing
JP Morgan asked several questions about the global markets, and the question and answers were reprinted in The Financial Times’ blog FTAlphavllle. Asking such questions is a good exercise for investors. Don’t simply look at what the markets and economy are doing. Ask why. The key mistake of many investors is not asking why. It’s […]
The Search for Stock Market Patterns
It’s tough to identify the one mistake that is the worst or most common investors make. But my vote is the desire to identify patterns in the markets and use those to develop rules of investing. There are a few people who do this successfully. But they have very elaborate rules that take many factors […]
Struggling to Understand Social Security
Yesterday I reported that the 2012 Retirement Confidence Survey found that more Americans report Social Security is an important part of their retirement income security. Yet, most older Americans are remarkably unfamiliar with the program and how the decisions they make can dramatically change the their lifetime income and that of their spouses. This an […]
