Retirement Watch Weekly
Estate Planning Gaps Can Be Fixed
Is your estate plan good enough to get the job done? Odds are it isn’t. Many estate plans have gaps and deficiencies, even plans that are developed by wealthy people in consultation with high-priced lawyers and other experts. When you’ve taken the time and gone to the expense of working on an estate plan, you […]
Making the Most of Home Equity
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 last few visits we discussed reverse mortgages and issues related to moving in […]
Which Real Estate Markets are Too Hot?
This blog post analyzes the S&P Case-Shiller home price data to look at long-term trends in both nominal and real (after inflation) prices for average homes in major markets. It points out that the question home buyers need to ask today is: What will people be able to pay for this home after mortgage interest […]
A Primer on Junk Bonds
People usually are surprised when I tell them that high-yield bonds are more likely to follow stocks than bonds. There is a lot of misunderstanding about high-yield bonds. But that doesn’t stop people from drawing conclusions about how the recent downturn in junk bonds and the failure of Third Avenue Value Focused Credit will affect […]
An Introduction to Adaptive Investing
Most investors, especially institutional investors, follow the wrong processes, says Ben Hunt of Salient Partners. Here’s a good article he wrote recently on the high points of his theory, which he calls Adaptive Investing. It’s also entertaining, especially if you don’t mind The Godfather trilogy. It’s our acceptance of The Central Tendency as The Way […]
ETF Investing Mistakes
If you studied the ETF market, you know that there are ETFs covering a large number of investment strategies and sectors. A number of the ETFs are very quirky or focus on what seem to be tiny niches. This paper from Research Affiliates points out that ETF providers generally launch new ETFs based on investments […]
Thoughts of Extreme Savers
Forbes.com has a new e-book in which it interviewed extreme savers to learn their secrets and methods. This article summarizes some of the key points of the book. It’s interesting, even if you don’t want to go as far as these people do, many of whom are retired or plan to retire before 40. “Saying […]
Leaving Unequal Inheritances to Heirs and Beneficiaries
Many people don’t even want to talk about leaving unequal inheritances to the younger generation, but a recent paper found that unequal inheritances occur more often than most people think. The paper identified the situations when unequal inheritances are most likely and even has some advice for members of the younger generation who want to […]
