Retirement Income Funding
How Likely Is It That You’ll Live Past 80?
One way to deal with the uncertainty of how long you’ll live when you plan for retirement is to look at survival probabilities.
Read More4 Ways to Manage Sequence of Returns Risk in Retirement
Sequence of returns risk is a major concern for even the most well-prepared retirees, but there are steps you can take to manage it.
Read MoreBuilding A Retirement Income TIPS Ladder
A TIPS ladder can be constructed similarly to a Treasury strips ladder, using the same date from the Wall Street Journal Market Data Center, which provides a daily report of wholesale prices from the secondary markets for all outstanding TIPS issues.
Read MoreWhat Would A 30-Year Bond Ladder Cost A Retiree Today?
Building bond ladders for retirement income is an important but understudied topic. Especially since we are at a point in time when many are worried about future interest rate increases, bond mutual funds risk locking in capital losses when shares are sold to meet expenses, while a bond ladder will still provide the obligated cash flows, no matter what happens with interest rates.
Read MoreWhat’s So Great About Fiduciary Advisors?
Working with a financial advisor requires trust that goes both ways. But can you fully trust them if they’re motivated by commissions and quotas?
Read MoreUsing Target-Date Retirement Income Funds To Guard Against Interest Rate Risk In Retirement
Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) takes a more direct approach to immunizing retirement liabilities through their target-date retirement income funds. These funds provide a useful case study for understanding the role bond funds play in meeting retirement expenses.
Read MoreUsing Reverse Mortgages In A Responsible Retirement Income Plan
Though reverse mortgages have long held a bad reputation, research and public policy in recent years are shedding new light on their potential uses in retirement.
Read MoreWhat Are Annuities?
Annuities are like power tools. In the right hands, they can help you considerably, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could cut your fingers off.
Read MoreDo You Understand How Bonds Work?
Before we can discuss bonds in depth, it is important that we establish a common understanding of what bonds are and how they work. As a starting point, a bond is a contractual obligation to make a series of specific payments on specific dates.
Read More3 Ways To Incorporate Bonds Into Your Retirement Strategy
Bonds can be incorporated directly into a retirement strategy in three broad ways:
1. An assets-only approach to build a total returns investment portfolio,
2. Matching the duration of bond funds to the duration of the retirement liability, and
3. Holding individual bonds to maturity to generate the desired cash flows to fund expenses on an ongoing basis throughout retirement.
