| Keep Your Retirement Planning on Track
by Steve Vernon, FSA
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If you made New Year's resolutions to increase your savings or improve your health, after just a few weeks, life's distractions might be getting in the way and your resolve might be fading. To help you stay on track, here are five tips that use the latest research on behavioral finance to improve your odds of success.
More Americans than ever are committing to financial resolutions, as reported in this post. Join your friends and neighbors in resolving to arrive at your retirement years financially secure.
Please keep reading for this month's selection of helpful blog posts and articles.
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How long will your retirement savings last?
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One of the worst retirement planning mistakes you can make is withdrawing too much too quickly from your savings in IRA, 401(k), or other accounts. If you spend down your savings while you're retired but could have worked and then run out of money at an age when you can no longer work, you'll be kicking yourself in your later years. In short, it's imperative to avoid the "money death" that can happen before your actual death.
Nobel Laureate economist William Sharpe and a recent report from the Stanford Center on Longevity both provide valuable help with this critical retirement planning task. Read here to learn more.
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Financial predictions to track in 2014
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Every year, fellow CBS MoneyWatch blogger Larry Swedroe keeps track of predictions people make for the upcoming year--the "sure things" for the year. It seems like no one in the financial media holds others accountable, which is a shame since the evidence shows there are no good forecasters. This post looks at the common predictions Swedroe has been hearing for 2014. Also take a look at Swedroe's post that analyzes how 2013's sure things panned out.
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Surprising 2013 numbers hold key lessons for 2014
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That 2013 was a great year for U.S. stocks is likely not a surprise to anybody who pays attention to the stock market. The facts shown in this post from fellow CBS MoneyWatch blogger Allan Roth, however, may be a surprise and offer some investment take-aways for 2014 and beyond.
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Stock market "double-double": A reason for optimism
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A rousing return in 2013 for the S&P 500 means full recovery from the 2008-2009 crash--if you stayed invested. This post tells the story with one simple graph.
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How to invest in stocks without risk in 2014
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For those who don't think it's possible to invest in stocks and still be assured of getting your principal back, think again. In fact, it can be done with an average expense ratio of 0.02 percent annually, along with high tax-efficiency, and all guaranteed by the U.S. government. For details, read this insightful post from CBS MoneyWatch blogger Allan Roth.
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Service helps generate retirement income, avoid penalty
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If you're age 70-1/2 or older and have retirement savings in tax-qualified plans, such as a deductible IRA 401(k), 457(b) or 403(b) account or a Roth 401(k), the IRS could hit you with a substantial penalty if you don't withdraw at least the minimum amount required by law on required minimum distributions (RMD).
Any amount you fail to withdraw to meet the RMD is subject to a 50 percent tax, so you don't want to miss this deadline. Read here to learn about innovative ways to meet these deadlines while generating lifetime retirement income. |
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Are you saving too much for retirement?
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This post from fellow CBS MoneyWatch blogger Kathy Kristof reports on a recent study that criticizes the assumptions built into conventional wisdom and online retirement calculators regarding how much money you should save for retirement. I agree with many of the points raised in the article, and I advocate that you should do your own calculations on how much money you should save given your unique circumstances. If these calculations are too hard for you, then work with a qualified planner who can help you and has your best interests at heart. The article fails to note, however, that most Americans are saving amounts that are far less than the amounts recommended by conventional wisdom and online retirement calculators. So the answer to the question in the headline could well be "no."
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What the Brits can teach Americans about retirement
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The ultimate retirement guide
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What do you want to do in retirement, and how much money will that cost? These are two of the most important retirement planning questions you need to answer, and you can get valuable insights to help you from a new book, Before I Die, by artist Candy Chang. 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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Money for Life
Turn Your IRA and 401(k) Into a Lifetime Retirement Paycheck
My latest book, published in last year, 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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Want to Learn More?
If you want to learn more about a topic, or if you have any ideas or thoughts on the topics in this newsletter, please send Steve an email at:
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| © 2013 Steve Vernon/
Rest-of-Life Communications
All rights reserved.
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