In 1994 Bill Bengen, an obscure financial planner in southern California, came up with a simple guideline his clients could use for determining a safe (minimum) withdrawal rate in retirement. Based on historical data, he calculated that an individual starting retirement should be able to spend up to 4% of their investment assets for a…
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There’s an old song by the Jefferson Airplane that goes “You’re only [as] pretty as you feel.” Perhaps the same can be said about wealth. So much so that brokerage firm Charles Schwab commissions an annual study of 2,200 Americans regarding their beliefs about their wealth. There are some interesting findings from the recently released…
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Retirement sure has changed since the Social Security Administration (SSA) issued its first monthly retirement check in 1940. That amount was only $22.54. And back then a 65 year-old retiree was expected to live for only another 12-13 years before dying. Today seniors have higher benefits and a much longer life expectancy thanks to improvements…
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In its 2024 Modern Wealth Study, brokerage firm Charles Schwab & Co. asked some 1200 Americans to grade themselves regarding a few personal finance questions. Over a third of all respondents gave themselves a grade of D or F on the level of savings they’ve accumulated and on their preparedness for retirement. Interestingly the grades…
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Long-term care planning is an important part of overall retirement planning. Seniors face the uncertainty of a possible need for help with some aspect of their daily living activities due to accident or physical or mental health decline. And the latter problem is disturbingly common. According to the University of Michigan one in ten adults…
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