April 30, 2006
10 Steps to a Richer Retirement
- Safely Spend Your Savings-no more than 4-5% of your portfolio in your early years of retirement.
- Build a Bond Ladder to Strive for Income
- Park Your Cash
- Get Help from a Financial Planner
- Review your Designated Beneficiaries
- Determine Whether to Postpone Your First IRA Distribution
- Make the Most of Your IRA and 401(k)
- Protect Your Savings with Long-Term Care Insurance
Kiplinger Retirement Report
Baby Boomers have always rewritten the rules, and as they approach retirement they are going to revolutionize that, too. At least that is the message in the ads put out by the big financial service companies seeking to corral this potentially lucrative market. You have seen the ads - trim attractive healthy looking seniors walking hand in hand on the beach, laughing while driving down the highway. No shuffleboard for these boomers, this will be a retirement where you can have it all because this is the generation that has never settled for anything less.
But according to Professor Richard Marston, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, a doom and gloom picture may be the more correct picture. Boomers are saving less, living longer and forcing the prospects of mediocre markets in coming years. In short, they are facing stiff headwinds as they near retirement.
The median retirement age for both men and women is 62, which made sense in a world of defined benefit plans. But with pension going the way of home milk delivery, boomers must increasingly rely on their own savings to finance there golden years, which might last for decades.
Marston said, "my generation was blessed with one of the best stock and bond markets ever but we didn’t save enough". "There are going to be a lot of train wrecks, a lot of people are going to have to go back to work." And they presume they can continue to find work in their sixties. Financial Advisor 1/06 p. 85
Legal Debt
I cannot remember how many times someone asks me if their child should go to law school. My response is always "Why?" Now a new study shows the average law school graduate (age 25) will take 15 years to pay off their debt (if they can get a job). Just in time to pay for a college education for their child. National Law Journal 1/30/06 p.1
All these potential lawyers should consider a career in public accounting instead; a field where jobs go begging and there are signing bonuses!
Too Small To Invest
Has your broker at Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley suggested you take your account elsewhere? If your brokerage account is less than $50,000 they may do so since the brokers at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley will no longer receive commissions for any business from your account if you have investible assets of less than $50,000 and $35,000, respectively. Investment News 2/20/06 p.3
If you have any questions about the foregoing or any other financial matters, please call us.
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