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March 2017

A Comprehensive Guide For Turning Your Early Retirement Dream Into Reality

According to a recent report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, almost half of retirees end up leaving the workforce earlier than they had planned – and while this is often involuntary (the result of a layoff or illness), in a third of cases individuals make an early exit by choice, having achieved financial independence. Achieving early retirement is not… 

“Cost Matters”: Are These Low Expense Ratio Funds The Best For Your Retirement Accounts?

In this case a race to the bottom is a good thing: In an effort to attract new customers and increase market share in an extremely competitive business, mutual fund companies are battling it out for who can offer the lowest-cost ETF – and the resultant rock-bottom fees are great news for retirement savers. The author of today’s article highlights… 

Million Or Myth: Do You Really Need $1 Million To Retire?

The oft-cited figure for how much you need to build up in your nest egg in order to retire comfortably is $1 million – with some experts advocating a $2 million target! However, the author of today’s article believes that, “while that theory might seem reasonable on paper, in practice, it leaves a lot to be desired” – and he… 

Lessons Learned – And Mistakes Made – By An Early Retiree

“It doesn’t take brilliant investing to retire early as I did,” states the author of today’s article, a former software engineer who retired at age 50 despite making a number of investing blunders over the years – some of which involved tens of thousands of dollars. For his reflections on how he got to early retirement – including the big… 

The Retirement Savings-Eating Risk Women Are Underestimating

“Women over 50 are likely to enjoy decades in retirement,” notes the author of today’s article. That’s the good news for this group. The bad news? “Few have any idea how much medical expenses will eat into their savings.” Studies show that women aged 50 and over are largely unsure of what their health-care and long-term care costs will be… 

How To Retire With (Mental) Buckets Of Money

Today’s article has a simple message: You should retire with buckets of money. This seems obvious enough – you want to build as large of a retirement nest egg as possible. The buckets of money referred to in this case, however, are figurative – part of a mental accounting strategy whereby retirement expenses are broken down into “buckets” and then… 

How Retirees Can Maximize Dividend Income Despite Rising Rates And Slowing Dividend Growth

With high-dividend-yielding stocks feeling the pain as interest rates rise, the author of today’s article argues that, while older investors should not scale back on their dividend holdings, “the challenge is to pick the right dividend stocks and funds” – and the right dividend stocks and funds right now might not be the usual suspects! As such, she proceeds to… 

Why You May Have To Rethink Retirement Thanks To The Republican Health Care Bill

Think you’re financially and emotionally ready to retire? According to today’s article, you may still have to postpone retirement, thanks to the House Republicans’ proposed Obamacare replacement bill – the American Health Care Act – and its provision that would allow insurers to charge older customers five times as much in premiums as younger customers – compared to the three-to-one…