Retirement Education

Many financial advisors today tell their clients that once they reach retirement age, they should probably have at least some retirement savings housed in conservative, low-risk holdings. The question of how much money depends on many factors, including what someone’s personal risk tolerance is.

Often those holdings are made up of bonds, CDs, or other such instruments that don’t have the same volatility as stocks or stock funds do. That being said, these investments have their own set of pros and cons that can affect their performance over the long term. This is especially true when interest rates are low as they are now. Read More

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a new study shows that Americans are becoming increasingly anxious about their finances.

Back in April, Fidelity asked 3,062 retired and working-age Americans about their concerns and what they were doing to shore up their confidence gap. In the survey, 60% of Americans said they were concerned about their finances now. Thirty-eight percent were extremely or very concerned, while over twenty percent were just moderately concerned.

Six in 10 (62%) Americans said they worried about job security, with 43% being extremely or very concerned. 51% of baby boomers said they were worried about their finances over the next 6 months. Meanwhile, 69% of millennials and 68% of Gen Xers also shared that concern. Read More

While times change, the need for quality financial guidance doesn’t. Many financial advisors do things old-school. Nevertheless, with everything happening right now, that might well be changing.

It may not be the most exciting topic around, but working with a virtual financial advisor can be beneficial in many ways.

You don’t have to take time out of your busy schedule to go to an office location. Nor do you have to worry about the logistics of what it would take to make that appointment.

You don’t even have to be in the same city as where your financial professional resides. Virtual advisors use communication methods such as videoconferencing, email, the internet, and (for some) even texting to stay in contact with their clients.

If you aren’t working with a virtual financial professional yet, here’s a look at how it can be beneficial in the short and long run. Read More

If you have any money in the market, chances are you have heard of recent slumps in U.S. market indexes.

From February 21st to February 28th, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell 12.4%. That drop was quickly followed by a couple of record setters in March. The worst drop in three decades came on March 13th.

The Dow fell 10%, its then-worst decline since the 1987 Black Monday market crash. Then, on March 16th, the market indexes had another record-setting drop. The Dow fell 12.9% and the S&P 500 declined 12% in one day, respectively.

On the whole, investor concerns over the novel coronavirus and the oil supply feud between Russia and Saudi Arabia have sent global financial markets into a tailspin. For those on the cusp of retirement, the timing couldn’t be worse.

Of course, every market is different. As a result, no one can be 100% sure of what will happen next. Even so, what might retirement investors face in the near future?

The decline has actually taken us into bear territory, which is typically defined a market drop of 20% or greater.

But as Peter Oppenheimer, chief global equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, observes, there hasn’t ever been a bear market spurned by a viral outbreak. Read More

Tune into a financial show on TV or the radio dial, and chances are you have heard it.

The retirement income shortfall among Americans has been a hot topic in the financial advisory community for a long time now. But, surprisingly, what hasn’t received as much attention is the issue of carrying debt into retirement.

It’s a serious matter. More retirees are carrying larger amounts of debt into their non-working years than ever before.. With its rapid pace of growth, this trend is threatening to further disrupt the retirement plans of many seniors.

According to blogger Chris Farrell, the median total consumer debt for retiree-led households (age 65+) was $31,300 in 2016.

That was 250% more than it was in 2001 ($12,250) and nearly 450% more than the level in 1989 ($7,250). Some 60% of senior households carried some of debt, up from 42% in 1992.

Other studies have similar findings. According to one study by researchers at the Ohio State University, among households ages 55-70, some 75% of households had some sort of debt load. That is up from 64% of households in 1989.

As Farrell mentioned on a podcast with NextAvenue: “Over the past ten years — since the financial crisis — one thing that is really striking is how much debt consumers have taken on, particularly in the past couple of years. And people over 60 are increasingly comfortable taking on debt.” Read More

Retirement today isn’t the same as your grandparents’ or even your parents’ retirement. It’s a whole new ballgame. Many trends are changing the face and length of retirement as we know it.

Retirees today face the possibility of a much longer retirement lifespan than their predecessors. They also have several issues to contend with that, for the most part, their forebears didn’t have as much pressure to address. What are those issues?

Rising health costs, changing definitions of a traditional retirement, increasing costs of living. And, in the present time, an uncertain global landscape and its economic effects. All of this can make retirement tricky to navigate, let alone to enjoy a financially comfortable lifestyle.

Here are a few retirement trends that are likely to change at some point during your post-career years — and that might affect you in the process: Read More

It’s happened. After a nearly unanimous passage in the U.S. House of Representatives, the SECURE Act (Setting Up Every Community for Retirement Enhancement Act) finally made its way through Congress. The legislation was “attached” to a bipartisan spending bill in the Senate with the goal of avoiding another government shutdown.

The president signed the SECURE Act into law on December 20^th, 2019. With many provisions having gone into effect on January 1st, 2020, it will have big implications for retirement and taxes. As a result, retirees and working-age retirement savers can start seeing major changes as early as 2020.

All of that being said, the SECURE Act brings the most sweeping changes to the U.S. retirement system in a decade. Because of that, there is bound to be some confusion about what the act actually does and how it might affect people’s own retirement standard of living.

Here is a broad overview of some major changes to retirement, taxes, and financial planning that come with the SECURE Act now becoming law. Read More

Retirement planning is, in many ways, a guessing game. You can’t be sure of exactly how long you will live. How much income you will need might not be clear. And you don’t know if you will need long-term care support.

Even so, prudence dictates that we have some roadmap for these unknowns. It’s better to plan for these contingencies. Otherwise, you could wind up in financial trouble at some point in your retirement years.

Here are five financial fails to avoid in retirement so you will be better prepared when you retire. Read More

As you gear up for retirement, you may have heard of “safe money solutions.” Are they right for you? It’s an important question, especially since retirement planning is more difficult than it’s ever been in history.

Past generations could count on company pensions that would pay them every month without fail until they died. But the disappearance of these pensions, coupled with the increase in longevity for retirees, has left many people with more questions than answers.

While Social Security will cover at least some of their expenses, most retirees will have to rely on income from their own investments and savings to make up the difference.

However, what many call a bewildering amount of financial choices in today’s market can leave people feeling frustrated.

According to the Investment Company Institute, nearly 120,000 regulated investment funds are available to retirement savers today. And what about other options? There are more annuities than hedge funds available, which doesn’t even begin to cover the universe of countless other instruments that can be tapped for retirement goals. Read More

If you are gearing up for retirement, take heed. Here are eight common mistakes that people make when engaging a financial advisor. These blunders occur more than they should, but the good news is they are easily preventable.

Up until this point, you may have worked with a financial advisor in growing the value of your nest egg. With their help, you created a personal investment strategy and built a portfolio to meet your goals.

But with people spending as long as one-third of their lives in retirement, your next phase-of-life requires careful planning as your working years did. This calls for a financial professional who can help you navigate the unique retirement challenges facing you.

Those new trials include the questions of how to convert your portfolio assets into dependable streams of monthly income that last as long as you need them – and how to manage risks that come with decades-long retirement life. Read More