Retirement Watch Weekly
The Key Question Most Investors Overlook
Most investors focus on the wrong question, and that costs them money. Too many investors try to answer the big question of the day. Today, the big question drawing attention is whether the bear market is ending or the stock market is getting ready for another sharp drop. A few years ago, investors searched for […]
Funds Outside the Recommended Portfolios
I’m one who remembers August 1982 when the bear market became a bull market. I also remember the turns from the market bottoms in 1987 and 1991 and from the stagnant market in 1994. Many of you were with me during the recoveries of 1997 and 1998. Each time, there were doubts about the future […]
How To Take Withdrawals At Retirement
Retirees don’t receive much advice on the best ways to take distributions from their investment accounts after retirement. Financial firms have a wealth of easy-to-find information on saving through taxable and various tax-advantaged accounts. Yet they don’t seem interested in helping you decide how to plan withdrawals from the accounts. Most Americans have their retirement […]
Annuities that provide Stock Returns Without Risk?
There’s a new top-seller among annuities. Buyers are flocking to the relatively new equity-indexed annuities. The last time these annuities were hot was in 1996-1997. At the time many investors had a lot of doubts about the stock market and were looking for a way to capture possible future stock gains without much risk. Insurers […]
Uncovering The No Fee Variable Annuity
Insurers always are coming out with gimmicks that aren’t all they initially appear to be. A good example is the new “no-fee” variable annuities. I’ve been among those who for years have said that the high expenses of variable annuities make them unattractive to those who won’t let the investment returns accumulate for at least […]
Estate Planning : Naming The Right IRA Beneficiaries
The IRS turned IRA planning upside down with new regulations in January 2001 and again in 2002. The new rules might change whom you name as IRA beneficiaries. Much IRA planning used to involve minimizing required distributions by navigating the complicated tax rules. Now, we can plan differently. You can name the beneficiary that makes […]
Estate Planning for Your Funeral and Burial Arrangements?
The post-mortem activities involving baseball great Ted Williams spotlight an issue that rarely is discussed. Who has the final say on the funeral and burial arrangements? Most of you will recall that after Ted Williams passed away, his son apparently had the body flown to a firm in Arizona, where the body was frozen in […]
The New World Of Mortgages
Mortgage rates still hover near their lowest levels in decades. That keeps refinancing near the top of many lists-of-things-to-think-about. If you are one of the millions thinking of refinancing a mortgage, you should know that the rules of the mortgage market changed in the last few years. Until recently, refinancing didn’t make sense unless current […]
