Even if you aren’t a baseball fan, you might have heard that a splendid game was played into the early hours of Thursday morning. In it, the Chicago Cubs beat Cleveland’s team 8-7. In 10 innings! In the 7th game of the World Series!
And it was the first time the Cubs won the Series since 1908!
(I’m a baseball fan.)
So what does baseball have to with this blog and its articles on income annuities? More
It makes sense that everyone’s retirement plans should be different and adjusted to personal circumstances. If you have lots of children and have already paid for several college bills, for instance, you might have less home equity than your neighbors. If you have built up large stock holdings, you will be thinking about how to manage market risk.
A constant for every portfolio, though, is taxes.
If a portion of your earnings was set aside in your 401(k) or IRA, that doesn’t mean taxes were forgiven — they were only deferred. And if the investment earnings on these savings or in deferred annuities were not taxed currently, you will still owe money to the IRS at some point in the future. Lastly, if you’ve got appreciated securities in your personal savings, you’ll owe taxes when you sell them.
I call it the “tax bomb.” More
Retirement planning encompasses a wide range of consumers and advocates, from those who have no idea what to do to those who will suggest anything, no matter how unrealistic, to all but a narrow niche of consumers.
Your plan, then, should be built on the middle ground, with reliance on no single product or tactic. Rather it should consist of a mix of proven, safe and thoughtful approaches that will generate enough income to ensure you never run out of money.
There are plenty of ideas to choose from. GoBankingRates.com, a website that tracks interest rates recently published an article listing 25 ideas for retirees to consider. I focused on those addressing retirement finances, and I liked three of them enough to highlight here – followed by another three of my own ideas that everyone should consider. More
Especially during the political silly season, I suppose I should be accustomed to statements that are ridiculous or plainly wrong. But I find they drive me crazy, and compel me to respond to at least some of them.
A recent example was a September opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. It argued that retirees who wait until 70 (instead of 66) to collect Social Security should not benefit from that delay with a premium that amounts to a 32% increase in monthly payments.
I decided to write a blog rather than respond with a letter to the editor, since I doubted the Journal would admit its vetting process was flawed, as pointed out below. More
You know about the Three R’s of schooling — reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic – that continue to form the foundation of education even as it becomes much more complex and sophisticated.
There are also “Three L’s” that are just as foundational as you plan for retirement: Lifetime Income, Liquidity and Legacy.
These Three L’s address your objectives, and will drive your investment strategies and tactics. Just like a business plan, if you prepare and decide first on the objectives of the Three L’s¸ you will significantly improve your chances for a successful retirement. More