-
Do You Face 'Money Death' in Old Age?
Tweet Share on Facebook February 10, 2012 Comment (3)"Money death" is a dramatic term used in a contrarian study about strategies that help people avoid outliving their assets. Brandes Investment Partners, a money-management company based in San Diego, notes in "Boomers Behaving Badly" that running out of money is a top concern of retirees. With safe investments paying historically low interest rates and a still-shaky economic recovery, retirement security concerns are getting worse these days, not better.
[See 10 Steps to Fine-Tune Your Retirement Plan.]
Yet for many investors approaching their retirement years, Brandes lays out a more optimistic path that relies on moving away from conventional retirement strategies in favor of a more aggressive approach. The Brandes retirement portfolio is heavily weighted in dividend-paying stocks and higher-yield corporate bonds, even for investors well past retirement age.
-
4 Keys to a Solid Financial and Retirement Plan
Tweet Share on Facebook February 9, 2012 CommentBefore getting too far into the new year, it's important to develop a realistic record of where you ended 2011 and how your financial situation changed during the year. You'd think everyone would already know where they stand, but such financial self-awareness is the exception.
Building such a record takes time and effort. Creating an annual report of your finances, however, can provide an invaluable record that only you can assemble. Done properly, it should illuminate your future, paving the way to important financial decisions and helping you make smarter choices.
-
Lower Medicare Advantage Premiums Attract Seniors
Tweet Share on Facebook February 7, 2012 CommentMedicare users stepped up their use of Medicare Advantage insurance plans in 2012 and also boosted their use of insurance plans linked with large pharmacy chains for what's called stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs). In these respects, the 2012 open enrollment process was a success for the government, and showed that large numbers of Medicare users were willing to switch coverage to find health plans they felt were better for them.
[See 10 Ways to Boost Your Social Security Checks.]
This year's favorable price trends may not continue. Provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could sharply cut payments to participating Medicare Advantage insurers in a few years, possibly leading to less-favorable coverage and premiums. And the ACA itself is on uncertain footing because of constitutional challenges now before the Supreme Court. But for now, the news on Medicare Advantage is mostly good.
-
4 Ways New Annuity Rules Will Help Retirees
Tweet Share on Facebook February 6, 2012 CommentThe White House last week strongly endorsed annuities as a needed but missing piece of Americans' retirement plans. Insurance companies and annuity trade groups had something nice to say about Washington regulators for a change. And the new rules just might set in motion some interesting retirement-plan changes.
[See Where Smart Investors Put Their Money.]
Among financial products, annuities have long been a very hard sell. It's easy to understand the appeal of buying Apple stock or getting in on the ground floor of Facebook's IPO. Understanding annuities and their benefits, however, is not on the minds of many investors.
-
Senior Support Programs Still Bleeding Red Ink
Tweet Share on Facebook February 3, 2012 Comment (1)In Congress and on the presidential campaign trail, Republicans and Democrats are pounding each other on their sharply differing views of government's role. Senior benefits—Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security—are the programs most at risk in this partisan debate. And while the talking goes on and on, their financial conditions continue to deteriorate.
[See 10 Steps to Fine-Tune Your Retirement Plan.]
In its annual report on government finances, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week continued its nonpartisan projection of exactly how much red ink the "big three" entitlement programs are producing. Each year, the amounts grow, the trend lines look worse, and the time cushion to fashion orderly adjustments gets smaller.
-
How to Prepare for a Deflationary World
Tweet Share on Facebook February 1, 2012 Comment (1)With interest rates at zero and forecasts for very low economic growth, fears that the United States could experience falling prices, or deflation, have reappeared.
Experts generally do not expect prices to actually fall, but it's not something they totally disregard. And for retirees, deflation sharply increases the need to find reliable, if modest, investment returns.
