Category: Investing for Retirement

IRA Rollovers, IRA Transfers and 15 Other IRA Basics

IRA Rollovers, IRA Transfers and 15 Other IRA Basics

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Published: March 3, 2020

Individual Retirement Accounts, called IRAs, are one of the most common and accessible ways to save for retirement. Over the years, rules about IRAs have changed. Many people think they know how an IRA works or what they can do with it, but every week I still surprise people with some of the IRA facts I share below. 1. What is an IRA? An IRA is an Individual Retirement Account. When you contribute to an IRA, you are putting money aside for your future so you will have some money when you retire. Think of an IRA as a type of savings account

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My 2020 Market Predictions

My 2020 Market Predictions

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Published: December 12, 2019

As a financial planner, my life is about projecting unknowns. I often tell clients the only thing I can guarantee is once we put the numbers on paper, they’re wrong. Life doesn’t work in a nice linear fashion the way projections do. But by using projections, we can establish a range of possible outcomes, and plan based on that range. As many unknowns as there are, I realize when it comes to the financial markets and human behavior, there are some things that are quite certain. Human beings want to believe someone out there knows the future. Normally, I shy away

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Best Retirement Investments for a Steady Stream of Income

Best Retirement Investments for a Steady Stream of Income

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Published: December 12, 2019

At some point you will transition from your prime earning and saving years to a period of time where you get to enjoy the “fruits of your labor,” a.k.a retirement. We call this segueing from accumulation to decumulation, the period when you will be drawing from your accumulated nest egg. Before you enter the decumulation phase, you’ll need to find the best retirement investments; ones that generate regular income. Here’s an overview of the most popular income-producing retirement investments. 1) Immediate Annuities Immediate annuities provide guaranteed income immediately (hence the name). They are a form of insurance rather than an investment (but

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How to ‘De-risk’ Your Retirement Portfolio So it Doesn’t Take a Big Plunge

How to ‘De-risk’ Your Retirement Portfolio So it Doesn’t Take a Big Plunge

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Published: March 7, 2019

We had some scary market moves at the end of 2018. But so far, in 2019, things are recovering quickly. Rather than wait for the next big bear market, why not start a de-risking strategy now? In this article, we correlate reducing portfolio risk with de-icing a car. Anybody who has lived in a cold climate knows what de-icing a car is like. If you’ve ever deiced a car you’ll get a chuckle out of this story and see how you can apply it to de-risking your retirement money. I was in my 20’s, living in Colorado (Grand Junction on the western

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How to Build a Retirement Portfolio That Will Stand Up Over Time

How to Build a Retirement Portfolio That Will Stand Up Over Time

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Published: July 5, 2018

When working and saving, the goal of your retirement portfolio is to earn as high a rate of return as you can while not taking so much risk that it will scare you into pulling out of the market during a downturn. Once retired, the goal changes. A different goal means a different portfolio. A retirement portfolio needs to produce reliable cash flows that last the rest of your life regardless of the variety of market conditions that occur over your retirement years. In other words, you need a retirement portfolio that remains standing under all conditions. There are four primary ways you

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Investing Sanely in an Insane World

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Published: July 5, 2016

It was Thursday night, June 23rd. I was packed and ready to head out the next morning for the annual trip that I take with my significant other and his two boys to Rocky Point, Mexico. I glanced at my phone and saw a few Bloomberg alerts. “What?” I exclaimed out loud, as I started reading that the vote count was showing that Britain was likely to leave the EU. My next thought was, “Now what? Do I stay up until 2 a.m. trying to

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7 Basic Things You Should Know About Your 401k Plan

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Published: July 31, 2012

I recently spoke with a good friend from college who had the misfortune to lose his job. Did you have a 401(k)?” I asked him. “I think so,” he responded. “I see money coming out of my check going somewhere.” I continued to inquire. “Do you know how it’s invested? What about a company matching contribution?” My friend paused a moment before answering, “No idea. I think the company does contribute something but I don’t know how it works. We had some guy come and talk to us and show us the investments. I picked one he said

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