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Retirement Investing

Bob Carlson offers his expert opinion on where to invest your money so that you can get through retirement safely and securely

Found 896 Articles.
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Fed Policy Will Have to Stay Tight for A While

June 30, 2023

Many analysts are prematurely sounding “all clear” and declaring we’ve seen the worst effects of the Federal Reserve’s tighter monetary policy. It is understandable. We haven’t had a full Fed tightening cycle in many years. Long-term factors kept a lid on inflation for about 20 years, allowing the Fed to ease policy whenever the economy […]

Facts to Know Before Taking the Social Security Lump Sum Cash Option

June 30, 2023

The Social Security Administration still is doing a disservice by coaxing applicants into taking the optional lump sum cash payment when they sign up. The beneficiaries more than pay for it over the long term. The lump sum option isn’t new. But many applicants don’t know about it until the SSA offers it to them […]

The End Game Approaches: Investment and Economic Review

June 9, 2023

The Federal Reserve overreacted to the pandemic, dumping way too much liquidity into the economy. That released the inflation genie from its bottle, causing inflation to reach its highest levels in more than 40 years in 2022. Will the Fed overreact again and keep monetary policy tight until we have a serious recession? Or is […]

What First Quarter Earnings Reports Revealed About the Economy

June 7, 2023

Stock and bond markets are priced for an extremely optimistic outcome, but first-quarter earnings and recent economic data point to a different future. The futures markets indicate investors expect the Federal Reserve will expand the money supply and reduce interest rates rapidly starting this summer. Inflation is expected to retreat to the Fed’s 2% target […]

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The Three Strategies for Principal-Protected Lifetime Income Planning

May 12, 2023

Why do we save and invest during our working years? Saving and investing are not ends in themselves. Eventually, we want to convert the accumulated savings into cash flow and income for ourselves, our loved ones and perhaps charities. We want to establish a retirement paycheck. I’ve identified three strategies for creating a steady source […]

The Fed Is Fighting a Two-Front War

April 24, 2023

The Federal Reserve is fighting simultaneously for both price stability and financial stability. Because the Fed pumped too much money into the economy in the years before 2022, high inflation became self-sustaining, causing the Fed in 2022 to engage in perhaps its fastest and most aggressive monetary tightening ever. Negative effects of the tightening are […]

When Your Bank and Retirement Accounts Can Be Seized

April 24, 2023

The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank almost triggered the first use of the “bail-in” established in the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law enacted after the financial crisis of 2007-2009. The federal government prevented use of the provision and acted to protect large accounts of a number of Silicon Valley firms by declaring […]

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