Imagine sitting on the board of your favorite company, attending the next meeting, clearing your throat, and asking “How much are we going to increase the dividend this quarter?” Welcome to the company! Because that’s what it’s like to be an investor in a stock that cherishes its shareholders, its owners if you will, showing appreciation through regular dividends and dividend increases. It’s nice to be appreciated, especially when stocks are a little shaky. Getting paid to be in them helps. A lot. Which is why dividends are so important to every investor no matter their age or net … [Read more...]
Librarian Leaves $4 Million to UNH
If you want some inspiration for your savings, read this post I wrote back on September 2, 2016. It tells the story of Robert Morin and the power of saving. "Robert Morin worked nearly 50 years at the University of New Hampshire library and never seemed to spend any money,” writes Brian MacQuarrie of the Boston Globe. He ate fritos and coke for breakfast, a cheese sandwich for lunch and frozen dinners for dinner. I’m not saying this is the life for you. But I do think it’s pretty amazing how being frugal can impact one’s finances. At the core of Mr. Morin’s financial success is the fact … [Read more...]
How did Markets Perform in the Third Quarter?
For investors with a concentrated U.S. growth stock focus, the third quarter continued what has been a solid year. For veteran investors who recognize the peril of such a strategy and instead choose to take a balanced, value-conscious approach, the third quarter added modestly to what has been an OK year. Fixed Income Markets Fixed income markets have been a drag on balanced portfolios YTD. The Bloomberg Barclay’s U.S. Aggregate Index was flat in the third quarter and is down 1.6% YTD. We view the modest losses in U.S. bonds as a blessing in disguise. Bonds are down YTD because interest … [Read more...]
It’s Simple: Retirees Go Where They are Treated Best
For years retirees have flocked to Florida for its warm weather, and more importantly to many, its low taxation. But with the flood of people have come high home prices and subsequently, high property taxes. Now, many retirees are looking deeper into the American South for low cost places to live. A group of them, known as "halfbacks," are putting down stakes in Appalachia, where land and property taxes are cheap, and they can be surrounded by the beauty of the mountains. Cameron McWhirter explains this accelerating phenomenon in The Wall Street Journal, writing: The halfback phenomenon—so … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: A Simple Way to Retire where You want to Live
You want to make sure your retirement plans are right for you. As I wrote to you yesterday, testing or experimenting by actually living in your chosen destination, for at least one season makes sense to me. You could also see what it’s like to be retired by taking a prolonged vacation. Put yourself in that retirement mindset. In other words, you are in charge of your retirement. It’s no secret retirees are moving to places where their money is treated with respect. But it’s beginning to become pretty crowded in certain spots. Take Nashville, TN for example. Cameron McWhirter reports at The … [Read more...]
Wealth Shock! “All of a Sudden Their Wealth is Gone”
You simply cannot afford to take heavy losses in or near retirement. From a financial standpoint the arithmetic of losses is devastating—lose half your portfolio and you need a 100% gain (not likely) to get back to even. Now, a study has been done to show the impact of losing money on one’s health. And it’s not good. “Published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, [Lindsay Pool of Northwestern University] investigated how losing one’s life savings in the short term might curtail one’s lifespan in the long term,” writes the WSJ’s Susan Pinker. Every two … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: It’s OK to Take It Easy
When you retire, the feeling that you need to always be doing something will be there. It’s important to remember you’ve earned the luxury to “Take it Easy.” David Ekerdt writes: Instead, I believe that the mantra should be: Let retirement be retirement. Studies of people who pass from work to retirement consistently find that they prize sovereignty over time—freedom—as the great gift of their new stage of life. This should include the freedom to shrug off any pressure to conform to a busy standard. Our society has a sufficient number of retirees who feel driven to pass their later years … [Read more...]
How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?: Part IV
When Laura Sexton retired as a senior chief hospital corpsman in the US Navy, she applied her Navy skills to her new job: Lead ski-run groomer and snowcat operator at Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City. According to Sexton,” writes Nancy L. Anderson in Forbes “the Navy uses a three-step approach to learning anything that could serve us all well: See it, Do it, Teach someone else. First, you physically observe how to complete a task as it is explained (see). Second, you perform the task (do). Then, show someone else how to do it (teach).” The article continues: Many people want to (or need … [Read more...]
Falling Short on Retirement: Should You Save More or Work Longer?
The WSJ reports today on a new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research illustrating the trade-off between working longer and saving more. NBER finds that delaying retirement and social security by just three to six months has the same impact on retirement income as saving 1% of your salary for 30 years. Sounds powerful. A couple of words of caution on the results though. Most of the benefit from working longer comes from higher social security payments. For each year you delay social security passed your full retirement age, your social security benefit can rise as much as … [Read more...]
How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?: Part II
Of Americans aged 50 and over who are still working, 31% haven't even prepared a retirement budget. Of that same group 73% prepare to delay retirement according to a survey performed by the NHP Foundation. Many of the people in this group, encompassing many Baby Boomers but also some older Gen-Xers, are wishful thinking. Lee Barney writes for Plan Adviser: Thirty-one percent haven’t prepared a retirement budget. Among those that have tried to figure out a retirement budget, 62% say that Social Security will comprise half or more of their monthly income. Sixty-five percent have not budgeted … [Read more...]
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