Category Archives: Regular Blog

We all know about the big retirement risks: longevity, inflation, investment losses, and higher taxes (rates and/or the lowering of the tax brackets). By retirement failure, I mean that what would have been a prosperous and predictable retirement… becomes much less so to say the least.  Many folks think that we are really richer than hey are — if only because we cannot know the future. But here are 5 other not-so uncommon reasons why clients “fail” in retirement. You could also consider them causes of … Continue reading

Here’s a question for you. How accurate is the “estimate” of your future Social Security retirement income that is shown on your annual SSA statement? The estimate of your future Social Security retirement income on your annual SS statement takes into account your earnings history so far and extrapolates it out assuming moderate wage growth. The most accurate estimate would be for a person who turns full retirement age in 2015. Their primary insurance amount (PIA) was actually calculated back … Continue reading

Here is a chart that I found (SEE BELOW) that I found pretty interesting. It shows the S&P 500 returns over the last 35 years. 27 of those 35 years were positive. But the average intra-year drop in value was -14.2%. In other words, even though most years have gains, the average loss within those years was in double-digits. Of course, some years had bigger drops and some had smaller drops within the calendar year. But to me, the most interesting thing that the chart … Continue reading