| Why Traditional Retirement is Dead
by Steve Vernon, FSA
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Let's face it: The traditional kind of retirement in which people exit the workforce sometime in their sixties and never look back just isn't going to happen for the vast majority of Americans. My first post on this topic reviews the sobering statistics that support this conclusion.
Rather than just wring my hands about the situation, I'd prefer to be a "realistic optimist" -- someone who accepts these problems but takes steps to tackle the challenges. This requires a new vision for our retirement years, which I discuss in my second post on this topic. Then I provide an overall plan for creating a different retirement, one that's more realistic and may even be healthier and more fulfilling.
Please continue reading for this month's selection of helpful articles on retirement planning.
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16 Weeks to Plan the Rest of Your Life
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When you begin planning for retirement, it's understandable to feel confused and overwhelmed; it might even be hard to know where to start. There's a lot to learn, and you'll need to make many important decisions that have a critical impact on your future. And given the challenges we face regarding our retirement years, it makes sense that you'll need to devote some time and effort to figuring out how you'll survive -- even thrive -- in the years to come. This article kicks off my series that gives you a week-by-week program to plan for financial security, good health, and happiness in your retirement years.
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Why Age 70 Isn't the New 65
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As debt ceiling rhetoric heats up and lawmakers get set to address entitlement reform, expect to hear more talk about raising the Social Security eligibility age. This excellent post from CBS MoneyWatch Editor-at-Large Jill Schlesinger points out that such a move would impact Americans differently, due to the uneven gains in life expectancy among different income groups.
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How to Build a Better 5 Percent Income Fund
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Fellow CBS MoneyWatch blogger Allan Roth knows a way investors can build a simple, diversified, ultra low-cost stock portfolio that pays 5.08 percent annually with no taxes on part of the income. Read this insightful post for details.
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How to Diversify Your Investments
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Here's an insightful post that's based on a chapter from fellow CBS MoneyWatch blogger Larry Swedroe's new book, Think, Act, and Invest Like Warren Buffett. I recently reviewed his book, which shows that when it comes to investing, simple solutions are usually best. |
Do Retirees Spend Less Money as They Age?
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If you're approaching retirement or are newly retired, can you plan to spend more money in your early years of retirement while you're still active and mobile, and justify this by assuming you'll spend less money as you get older? Some financial advisors suggest this strategy when helping clients' plan their retirement income and spending patterns, so I take a look at average spending patterns to see if this is a realistic assumption for you.
The trouble is, you shouldn't plan for an average retirement; you should plan for your retirement. Read here for a discussion of the dangers of planning to spend less as you age. Why is it important to consider how your spending patterns might change as your age? It significantly impacts the amount of money you need for retirement, as I discuss in my third post on this topic.
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401(k) Income Statements: The Next Subprime?
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Listen up! You can own a $500,000 home with a monthly payment of just $1,200! As we now know, too many Americans fell for a pitch like this in the recent real estate bubble; they took on mortgages with low, teaser interest rates and balloon payments, mortgages they really couldn't afford. I'm concerned that a similar scenario will play out with Americans who are hoping to retire by relying solely on retirement income statements from their 401(k) balances and IRAs. Read here for details on how to address this concern.
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The 6 Most Important Retirement Planning Questions
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It's well worth your time to address these six critical issues in planning your retirement. Answering these questions will help you decide how much money you need to retire. Read here for details.
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What's Your Personal Retirement Number?
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You often hear mention of people's retirement "number," the amount of retirement savings that will magically insure a secure retirement. But do you believe in magic? I didn't think so. The problem with any one retirement number is that it doesn't take into account your personal situation on a number of critical questions. Read here for details on how to address this important issue.
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Can Love Help You Live Longer?
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You've probably heard it before -- love, marriage, and sex can help you live longer. But is that really true, or is it just a coincidence, something scientists call correlation? Read here to learn more.
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Thanks for your interest, and stay tuned for future newsletters that explore how to best live the rest of your life. Best regards,
Steve Vernon
Rest-of-Life Communications
P.S. If you think this newsletter will help a friend, please pass it along.
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Recently Released
Money for Life
Turn Your IRA and 401(k) Into a Lifetime Retirement Paycheck
My latest book, published in October 2012, answers two of the most important financial questions you'll ever face:
How much money do you need to retire?
How can you generate reliable income from your retirement savings that lasts for the rest of your life, no matter how long you live and no matter what happens in the economy?
Addressing these questions is one of the most critical challenges facing the retirement industry today.
Money for Life is an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand book that outlines specific action steps and includes illustrations and graphs to reinforce the main points. It describes in simple terms the three methods you can use to generate a "retirement paycheck" from your retirement savings. It explains the pros and cons of these methods, as well as their many varieties and permutations. One critical element is the amount of the retirement paycheck you'll be able to generate, which can vary widely depending on the method you choose to generate retirement income.
This new book is available in both print and e-book format. It complements my other published works on retirement planning -- my book, Recession-Proof Your Retirement Years; my DVD, The Quest for Long Life, Health and Prosperity; and my retirement planning website, Money for Life.
Please see my website for details on all of my books and DVDs.
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Welcome to
Our Newsletter!
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We fulfill a need for trusted, practical strategies that you can use to plan your rest-of-life (aka
retirement). We rely on the latest research and analyses, and we'll
keep it simple! And that's all we provide; we don't sell insurance, investments or health products, so we can "tell it like it is."
Here's an archive of past issues.
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Steve Vernon has spent 35 years as a consulting actuary, helping large employers design and manage their retirement programs. Now he's president of Rest-of-Life Communications, where he specializes in providing unbiased, trusted information about retirement. He also is a Research Scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity, and writes a regular column for CBS MoneyWatch titled Money for Life.
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For information on keynote addresses, workshops or presentations on retirement issues, visit Steve's website at www.restoflife.com, or email him at steve.vernon@restoflife.com
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| © 2013 Steve Vernon/
Rest-of-Life Communications
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