retirement Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Jerry Golden on Retirement

The top 3 myths you will hear about annuities at tax time

March 22, 2016 By Jerry Golden in Annuity 1 Comment Tags: Annuities, Baby Boomers, Dependable spendable income, Guaranteed Income, retirement

As you pull together your records to prepare this year’s tax return, it might mark the first time in a while that you’ve really examined your finances.

If you are one of the many retired Baby Boomers, perhaps the amount of your interest income caught your eye. You were probably surprised, because if you’ve got $100,000 of your retirement assets in a bank savings account, the tally of monthly interest amounts to a little more than $20 per month. For the year, you earned around $250.

Your money isn’t working for you. More

Predicting the future of retirement

March 11, 2016 By Jerry Golden in Annuity Tags: Annuities, Guaranteed Income, retirement, retirement income

A radio show I heard recently referred to an observation from the author Kurt Vonnegut, who long ago suggested that the U.S. government create a new cabinet post called “Secretary of the Future.”

The czar would predict what the country needs to do to prepare for 20 to 50 years out. The show’s host asked the audience for topics that would most likely contribute to the country’s health.

Christian Schnettelker - Flickr — Photo Credit: Christian Schnettelker/Flickr

Lifestyle changes raise the question: rent or buy?

March 1, 2016 By Jerry Golden in Annuity, Social Security 2 Comments Tags: Dependable spendable income, retirement, Social Security

Sarah loves the house she has lived in for 35 years. She and her husband bought it together and after the couple divorced, Sarah raised her two daughters there. The years have passed quickly and at the age of 72 she wants to downsize. Happily her girls still live nearby with their families so she is going to stay in the area.

Now Sarah is tackling the classic question:

Should she rent or buy her next home?

Sarah will have to consider how her money will serve her better. Can she sell her house and buy another for a lower price, which would help her finance the rest of her living expenses? Or would renting free up more of her capital?
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Plan for a two-stage retirement to avoid running out of money

February 23, 2016 By Jerry Golden in Annuity 7 Comments Tags: Dependable spendable income, Guaranteed Income, retirement

One flaw with traditional retirement planning is the assumption that your expenses – the type and amount — will be the same (plus inflation) each year, from your final day at work to the end of your life, and that all you have to do is “replace a percentage of your pre-retirement income.” As people live longer, we have proof that isn’t true. Healthcare costs, especially, increase in our late retirement years, and if we don’t plan for them, we risk running out of money.

The solution is to consider retirement as a two-stage process. In the first stage, you do want to cover a reasonable percentage of the final salary you earned before retiring, although the percentage may need to be more than 100%. Your Social Security payments, any pension, interest/dividends and payments from income annuities ideally will cover that. If you need to withdraw principal, make sure it’s for a temporary period and from a secure source.

For the second stage, you will want to maintain those payments to meet your essential living expenses – and add another level of income to cover the gap for things like home healthcare and additional costs that occur as we age. More

Single Women Confront Unique Questions as They Plan Retirement

December 1, 2015 By Jerry Golden in Annuity 2 Comments Tags: Fixed annuities, retirement, single women

In many ways, single women face the same problems as men when they consider how to retire with enough income, with one exception: They worry more.

Women in general are more likely than men to put money into their workplace retirement account and one third of women, according to a survey, said their savings plans are “on track.” But eight in 10 women have concerns about saving enough for retirement, with 54% saying they are “very concerned.”

Their worry is not misplaced. For one thing, it’s more difficult for a single person to save than it is for a couple. And when one member of a two-earner couple loses a job or gets sick it presents difficulties — but it’s not as scary as when you are the sole earner in a household. More