Academy Login

What Is The ‘Retirement Spending Smile’?

Our spending desires (and needs) change through time. Blanchett observes a “retirement spending smile” that varies slightly for retirees with different household spending levels.

Two Philosophies for Retirement Income Planning Part Two: Safety-First School

This article is part of a series; click here to read Part 1. The safety-first school of thought was originally derived from academic models of how people allocate their resources over a lifetime to maximize lifetime satisfaction. Academics have studied these models since the 1920s to figure out how rational people make optimal decisions. In […]

Two Philosophies for Retirement Income Planning Part One: Probability-Based

Within the world of retirement income planning, the siloed nature of financial services between investments and insurance leads to two opposing philosophies about how to build a retirement plan. There is an old saying that if the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything starts to look like a nail. This tendency is […]

The Retirement Researcher Manifesto – Part Two

This article is part of a series; click here to read part One. Let’s continue to review the last 3 guidelines in the manifesto for my approach to retirement income planning. Approach retirement income tools with an agnostic view The financial services profession is generally divided between two camps: those focusing on investment solutions and […]

The Retirement Researcher Manifesto – Part One

As I have attempted to summarize the key messages and themes that have underscored my writing and research, I find that the following eight guidelines serve as a manifesto for my approach to retirement income planning. It is helpful to start with these guidelines because I will ultimately talk about how to implement these guidelines […]

Overview Of Retirement Income Planning – Part Two

This article is a part of a series; click here to read Part One. With investment solutions, a more comfortable lifestyle may be maintained for those willing to invest aggressively in the hope of subsequently earning higher market returns to support a higher income rate. Should decent market returns materialize and sufficiently outpace inflation, investment […]

Overview Of Retirement Income Planning – Part One

Strong disagreements exist about how to position a retiree’s assets to best meet retirement goals. Two fundamentally different philosophies for retirement income planning—which I call probability-based and safety-first—diverge on the critical issue of where a retirement plan is best served: in the risk/reward trade-offs of a diversified and aggressive investment portfolio, or in the contractual […]

Handle with CARE: 5 Years Before Retirement

Rather than developing an exhaustive list of to do’s that may or may not be appropriate for everyone, our approach is to help the client develop a retirement framework for retirement or way of thinking about retirement.  We call this the “CARE” retirement framework and it will help you build a foundation for a successful retirement.

How Much Income Do I Need in Retirement?

Most people are focused on saving for retirement so they’ll have the money they need to fund their income in retirement. However, ask most people how much they’re going to spend in retirement and they have no idea. To plan for retirement effectively, you need to have some sense of what your spending needs are actually going to be.

What Does Your Funded Ratio Score Mean?

By providing your financial objectives and the ways you want to fund them with essential and discretionary expenses, you can create a framework. Your Funded Ratio score will tell you how close your aspirations are to your reality.

Are You Ready for a Challenge?

Register to attend our FREE 4-Day Retirement Income Challenge event on March 4th – 7th from 12:00 – 2:00 PM ET each day.

Click below to learn more and reserve your spot!