Why You May Be Wrong About Your Retirement Time Horizon

November 15, 2012

I recently received a question from someone who was using our risk tolerance profile and asset allocation worksheet and noticed that the worksheet’s guidelines were to have 0% in stocks since his time horizon was less than 5 years away while his target date retirement fund had 40% in stocks. While there are differences between the asset allocations of various models and target date funds, that gap was pretty stark. So who was right? Continue reading “Why You May Be Wrong About Your Retirement Time Horizon”

How Risky is Your Income?

December 15, 2011

In his book “Are You a Stock or a Bond,” finance professor, Moshe Milevsky argues that how we invest should be based on the nature of our job. For example, if you have a safe job with a steady income like a tenured professor, then you are like a bond and you can afford to be more aggressive with your investment portfolio. On the other hand, if you work in an unstable industry or if you have an unstable income like a real estate agent or business owner, then you are like a stock and should be more conservative with your investments. Continue reading “How Risky is Your Income?”

What Will it Cost if You Delay Saving for Retirement?

May 26, 2011

The other day, I have to confess, I was in a very sour mood as I just found out my flight had been delayed (that never happens right?) and I was not going to be home for THREE HOURS. Why did this bug me so much? My wife and I were scheduled to look at some homes as we are still in limbo relocating from California to Chicago. So this three hour delay cost me the ability to view some possible locations and extended our time horizon of not having a home by at least another week. The only redeeming factor here is that this delay was out of my control. Continue reading “What Will it Cost if You Delay Saving for Retirement?”