Retirement Watch Weekly
Why Medicare Spending is Slower
Spending on government medical programs, especially Medicare, has been slowing for several years. It still is growing, but at a slower rate than in the past. But in the last year spending per beneficiary actually decreased. This provokes a lot of discussion about the causes. This piece argues that most of the growth reductions are […]
Aging as a State of Mind
This long New York Times article is about a Harvard psychologist, some of whose studies seek to show that aging and health can be influenced by attitudes and other mental attributes. It makes some interesting points and describes interesting research, though the ideas of using the mind to cure disease or slow aging are far […]
Evaluating Investments by the Inventor of the Sharpe Ratio
Nobel Prize-winning economist William Sharpe gave an interesting interview to AAII. He makes several points that all investors should note. Sharpe developed a statistic that’s now called the Sharpe ratio. He said he was looking for a number to consider if you only can look at one number to evaluate an investment. Now, he says […]
Dangers of Large Mutual Funds
Some of you might remember back to the stock market crash of October 1987, when major indices fell about 25% in one day. There was a lot of finger pointing at the time about the cause, but I remember a number of people saying that a major mutual fund company decided to unload a lot […]
The Importance of Social Security
Many people downplay Social Security benefits in their retirement planning. Most people who’ve been retired for a while, however, report that Social Security is an important part of their financial well-being. Now, a new study by the Census Bureau (subscription might be required) reveals that without Social Security a majority of U.S. seniors would be […]
Some Data on Stock Market Declines
Every time we have some big down days in the stock market, too many people immediately start talking about the next crash and big losses. At such times, it is helpful to take a look at the data. This blog post is a good summary of the data on corrections and bear markets, including how […]
Knowing When to Retire
Here’s an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal exploring the issue of when a person should quit a job. (Subscription might be required.) It’s addressed mainly at people who are at or near retirement age and can afford to retire but haven’t decided to. On the whole they enjoy their jobs and careers and […]
Bad Timing? Stock Allocations of Target Date Mutual Funds
The fastest-growing feature in 401(k) plans in recent years is the target date mutual fund. These are diversified funds. The fund sponsor adjust the asset allocation based on how close the shareholders are assumed to be to retirement age. For example, a 2050 target date fund assumes the shareholders will retire in 2050. It will […]
