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 […]
2019 – Q3 Quarterly Market Review

2019 – Q3 Quarterly Market Review
RISA™ Update
Hello everyone, I wanted to provide a quick update on where we are on the Retirement Income Style Awareness ™ (RISA) investigation. There was a pause in the action after the deadline because I took my summer break and we moved our offices in Virginia- we are still in McLean (only a mile from our […]
The Yield Curve is Inverted. Don’t Panic.

It’s pretty easy to make finance stuff sounds scary. What happens in the financial markets has a direct effect on our retirement – but those same financial markets are basically a black box for most people (and a very dark gray box for a lot more). So it’s very easy for the financial media to […]
How to Create Reliable Income Sources with Bond Ladders, SPIA’s and DIA’s

The change from working and saving to not working and spending from your portfolio is daunting. Layered on top of these “normal” concerns are today’s troubling headlines. This “headline risk” has contributed to recent market volatility. While we understand that this volatility can cause one to be nervous, our view is that no matter the market, one can always be worried about it. So, what should you be doing now or in the future if you have these concerns?
Are Stocks Safer in the Long-Term?

When you’re investing, you need to focus on the long-term. This is one of those pieces of received wisdom that everyone has heard, but it’s often wildly misinterpreted. There’s an idea that stocks get safer the longer you hold onto them because you can ride out the bad periods if you are disciplined enough – it’s just a matter of sticking around until the market rewards you for being a “good investor.” To put it simply, this is not the case.
What Does it Mean to Call China a Currency Manipulator?

Monday (August 5th, 2019) was a chaotic day for both the world economy and markets. We want to break down what’s happened, and how that will likely impact your investments.
Ignore the Financial Media

The financial media is omnipresent. Whether it’s hearing about what the Dow did today on your drive home, or a talking head pontificating about how the market’s are obviously about to tank, we are constantly immersed in a miasma of prognostication. Everyone has a take on what the markets will do next, and what you […]