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Standard of Living

Some Good News – And Some Bad News – If Your Retirement Portfolio Takes A Big Hit

Today’s article contains some good news and some bad news for retirees whose portfolios suffer substantial losses (such as the 17% loss incurred by one of the model portfolios from a top-performing newsletter over the first six months of this year). The good news? Even the worst performers are likely to eventually recover their losses. The bad news, however, has… 

Strategies For Achieving Alpha At Home

Achieving alpha in the financial markets is no easy feat. As such, the author of today’s article advocates that, in seeking alpha, “all of us need to look in our backyards, where all our personal financial decisions are waiting to be optimized.” How? He outlines a number of strategies pertaining to Social Security benefits, retirement accounts and taxes which, combined,… 

A “Three-Legged Stool” Strategy To Minimize Taxes On $100,000 Of Retirement Income

How can you earn $100,000 in retirement and only pay an effective tax rate of less than 3%? The author of today’s article outlines how, noting that “When it comes to your income, the government doesn’t tax every dollar equally. In fact, some dollars don’t get taxed at all. If you know the rules and are able to structure your… 

What Low Returns, Longer Lives And Legacy Goals Mean For Retirement Saving Rates

How much do you need to save in order to fund your desired standard of living in retirement? More than you think, according to a new study. Dramatically more. The reasons for this gap between the rates at which Americans are saving for retirement and the rates at which they should be saving? Low returns, longer lives and legacy goals.… 

The Disappearing Empty-Nest Windfall

Empty-nesters have more disposable income and are thus in a position to step up their retirement savings, right? It turns out, not exactly. While some estimates assume that empty-nesters will increase savings by 12%, today’s article references a recent study which found that savings only increase by 0.3% to 0.7%: “In other words, parents are spending pretty much the same… 

Millennials’ Jumbo Nest Egg: $2 Million!?

“Millennials have more than enough financial worries. Now they can add about 2 million more to their list. That’s how much many might need to save to retire.” Today’s article examines how much Millennials may need to have stashed away in order to maintain their standard of living in retirement, and the numbers are substantial. According to various studies, estimates…