When You Want Something Done Right, You May Have to Do it Yourself

September 10, 2010

Over the last few months I have talked to a lot of people who are concerned that their company’s pension plan has changed for the worse.  These are people from many different employers all across the country.   Many others have seen an employer’s pension plan get frozen, terminated, or taken over by the PBGC.  What was just a generation ago almost a “given” has become increasingly rare, and even when it exists there is ever increasing skepticism about the long term viability of the pension plan.  So, what can be done? Continue reading “When You Want Something Done Right, You May Have to Do it Yourself”

War of Two Goals: Retirement Planning or College Funding

September 09, 2010

My wonderful daughter is about to embark on a very (hopefully) fruitful and fun part of her life, college.  As a parent, this is also a trying time as it often entails the child leaving the nest as well as the dollars leaving the wallet.  This rite of passage for both our kids and parents is a question that is asked often in our workshops about college planning. Continue reading “War of Two Goals: Retirement Planning or College Funding”

Investment Ideas We Can Learn from the Baby Boomers

September 06, 2010

Today investing in a mutual fund is a way of life but at the end of the1970’s there were only a little over 500 mutual funds.  With the help of the Baby Boomer investors toward the end of the decade of the 1990’s this exploded to over 7000 mutual funds.

Now I have heard that if everyone is doing it, it could be a fad – so watch out.  Remember the “pet rock” was also born in the age of Baby Boomers and we have to note that these people actually purchased this product in great quantities – so we have to take any of their choices with a grain of salt.  But don’t forget, there could also be great value. Continue reading “Investment Ideas We Can Learn from the Baby Boomers”

Thoughts Behind a Vacation/Retirement Home

September 02, 2010

Well we made it back in one piece, fully rested and ready to take on the world.  Well at least our decision on what to buy and where to buy.  So here’s our verdict: we are going to purchase a house that we can visit occasionally (vacation) and also retire to.  (Remember, my wife wants to retire ideally in 5-7 years.)  This creates an additional component to our decision.  We don’t want to necessarily foot the entire bill for the mortgage, insurance, possible HOA, etc, so this home will also need to be in a location that will provide us with rental income from other vacationers.  And who said financial decisions like this were easy? Continue reading “Thoughts Behind a Vacation/Retirement Home”

Give Your Employees TLC by Spreading the Word on LTC

August 31, 2010

Most employees know every year to expect to make key decisions about their health insurance coverage, usually each fall.  But, are they aware that there are other critical decisions regarding voluntary benefits that may not even be subject to an open enrollment timeframe?

I recently facilitated a Retirement Readiness workshop for a group of pre-retirees in Chicago, where the biggest buzz centered around the group LTC policy available.  I try to encourage open dialogue during my financial education workshops, so when I began to talk about some of the risks in retirement, Continue reading “Give Your Employees TLC by Spreading the Word on LTC”

Investment Ideas We Can Learn From the Silent Generation

August 30, 2010

When you go to the grocery store today to pick up a gallon of milk you have the opportunity to choose between whole milk, 2%, 1% or fat free and don’t forget that you can choose organic milk or even soy or rice milk.  We have multiple choices in just about everything – bread, cereal, jam, coffee, tea, etc.  It is an endless journey of choices!

Think back to our grandparents or parents and the choices they had.  You went to the store to buy milk and you picked up your gallon and walked home.  In terms of investing, there weren’t as many choices either.  Investments consisted of Treasury bills, bank accounts, stock and bonds – pretty simple.  In some ways, those days were easier without so many choices and some of the choices they did have were pretty good! Continue reading “Investment Ideas We Can Learn From the Silent Generation”

How We Can Learn a Valuable Lesson from Wesley Snipes

August 27, 2010

Wesley Snipes was recently sentenced to three years in prison for failing to pay over $15,000,000 in taxes.  It could have been worse for him; the sentence was considered light because “jurors accepted his argument that he was innocently duped by errant tax advisers.”

That makes me ask a few questions: Wesley, what exactly were you thinking? You hired tax advisors who told you it was acceptable to NOT FILE TAX RETURNS???  Did that not sound suspicious? Continue reading “How We Can Learn a Valuable Lesson from Wesley Snipes”

Retirement Distribution Options

August 23, 2010

I was wondering why he would want to take a 50% lump sum distribution on his pension and take the rest as income when he was only 54 (going to retire at 55) and had a lump sum already – a fairly large balance in his 401(k).  Normally when I counsel people who have a substantial 401(k) balance, they want to take full advantage of the pension distribution – guaranteed for life with a steady stream of payments every single month that gets deposited directly into a bank account.  What could be sweeter and why wouldn’t he want that?  A pension is like the goose that laid the golden egg. Continue reading “Retirement Distribution Options”

Thoughts Behind a Vacation/Retirement Home

August 19, 2010

I have to first say thank goodness for the “free upgrade” my wife and I received during our vacation in Playa Paraiso because it afforded me the ability to write this while viewing the tranquil waters of the Caribbean from our ocean view room.  Nice.

Back to the topic at hand.  We have been talking for a while about purchasing a home that we could spend some time in, if not live permanently, when we both retire.  Continue reading “Thoughts Behind a Vacation/Retirement Home”

Retirement Lifestyle Issues: How to Fill the Days Ahead

August 17, 2010

From a retirement plan perspective, your employees may have a good understanding of their pension, 401k, and eligibility for retiree health insurance from your plan communication initiative.  Perhaps you even sit down with each pre-retiree to help them through the exit process.  But do you also discuss lifestyle issues with them?  Continue reading “Retirement Lifestyle Issues: How to Fill the Days Ahead”

Retirement Readiness – Do a Bennie Check-Up

August 11, 2010

A workshop participant had a huge grin on her face at one of our Retirement Readiness workshops when she announced to the group, “My ex-husband passed away and had me down as the beneficiary on his IRA and I have to say that I don’t think he really meant to.  I also didn’t turn the money down but I am sure it was not meant for me!” The crowd broke into a combination of smiles, chuckles and outright laughter – the severity of their reaction probably having more to do with their own life experience than anything else.

There are many worse stories that I have personally witnessed Continue reading “Retirement Readiness – Do a Bennie Check-Up”

Why We Practice What We Preach (Part II)

July 22, 2010

Welcome back. I hope your time away from my blathering was enjoyable. So where was I? Oh that’s right, my wife wanting to retire in 5 years. Now keep in mind that as I was telling her we certainly could review where we are at and if it was possible, my internal dialogue was saying “Why bother? We don’t have enough money set aside yet.” But I shook off my negativity and started running our numbers. Continue reading “Why We Practice What We Preach (Part II)”

Why We Practice What We Preach

July 15, 2010

Picture a gorgeous sunny day sitting in the backyard relaxing on one of those (seemingly) rare days off. Feet up on the table, cold glass of (pick beverage of your choice) and an interesting magazine at the ready, when out of nowhere my wonderful wife states that it might be a good time to review our retirement. I pause a moment and think to myself, “Sure why not, it’s been about a year, we’re due,” and so I smile and say “Great idea! Let’s do it.” She smiles and breathes a contented sigh as she quietly states, “Good, because I REALLY want to retire in 5 years.” Continue reading “Why We Practice What We Preach”