Retirement Watch Weekly
Estimating Retirement Medical Spending
Medical expenses are the wild card in all retirement plans. They are very difficult to estimate and control. Fidelity Investments has been putting out an annual estimate of retirement medical spending for several years. The good news in this year’s estimate is that the total retirement cost estimate is reduced, because medical spending increased at […]
Miscalculating Retirement Needs
Most people report that they are financially prepared for retirement, yet most economists and financial advisors say they aren’t. Why the discrepancy? A recent poll from Charles Schwab & Co. has a clue. Schwab polled wealthy workers and found that 80% of those making $115,000 annually believe that in retirement they’ll spend only $66,000 annually. […]
The Perils of Grandparenting
Grandparents are frequent targets of scams and cons. The scams leverage their status as grandparents to extract money from the seniors. The scams are so widespread and growing that the FTC has issued a warning about them. The general approach is the same. An individual claiming to be a grandchild contacts the grandparent and claims […]
Evaluating Indexed Annuities
They used to be called equity indexed annuities, as this article still calls them, before the sales people decided to change the generic name. I’ve written about these before in Retirement Watch, and this article is a good read. It might be a bit too negative. These annuities can be good for someone who would […]
Clear Thinking on Bubbles
The investment world is full of those who say one or more assets are in bubbles or bubble territory. It’s exciting talk, but not very useful to investors. Bubbles are extremely rare, and overvalued assets can remain overvalued for a long time. Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution provides some clear thoughts on all the bubble […]
Some Guaranteed Income Insurance and Annuity Strategies
Many people are looking for steady, guaranteed income in their retirement years. There are several different vehicles providing guaranteed income. There are many differences between them. Don’t make the mistake most people make. Don’t consider only one vehicle because that’s what your advisor offers. If you’re interested in guaranteed income, consider the several options out […]
Avoiding Estate Planning Conflicts among Heirs
Most estate planners and their clients don’t focus enough on avoiding conflicts. I don’t mean the obvious conflict of leaving money to the estate planner or having a major beneficiary prepare the will. What’s more important are the ways an estate plan can create conflicts among the heirs or continue existing conflicts. Here’s a good […]
Retirees and State Taxes
How retirees are treated by states varies considerably. Some states that overall are high-tax states actually provide a lot of tax breaks for seniors and are low-tax states for them. But you have to stay on top of things. Many states are changing their tax policies in response to budget shortfalls, and some are removing […]
