Retirement Watch Weekly
More Gloom About Retirement
The bounceback from the financial crisis of 2008 and recovery in the stock markets hasn’t helped the confidence of many Americans about their retirements. In 2009 only one in four adults was “not confident” about being financially prepared for retirement. The number increased to four in 10 Americans being anxious about their retirements this year, […]
The Risks of Investing in Collectibles
Investors are worried about stocks and bonds as investments. Stocks are volatile and have a negative return after inflation for at least 12 years. Bonds have done well, but their interest rates are low. When rates rise, as they will, bond investors will lose money. That’s why many investors are looking at alternative investments, including […]
The Retirement Nomad Life
One way to live in retirement for at least a few years is to sell your home and most of your possessions and spend your time traveling, staying in one place for an extended period. The Wall Street Journal today has an article by a woman who’s living that way with her husband. They rent […]
Should You Use 10-Year Average Earnings?
When people evaluate the stock market, they usually focus on whether the market is cheap or rich, and that usually focuses on earnings. But which earnings should you use? Conventional analysts tend to use projections for earnings over the next year. But some other analysts believe that’s a bad move. Forecasts of the next year’s […]
Social Security and Debt Reform: A Laureate’s View
Peter Diamond won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2010 and was interviewed by The Washington Post over the weekend. The interview focused on Social Security reform and the federal debt problem. Diamondis believes that Social Security needs to be reformed to restore actuarial balance, and his preference is to reform it by a […]
Changing Variable Annuities
Investors flocked to variable annuities after the 2000 market crash. Insurers had enhanced the policies by offering guaranteed minimum rates of return, promising to make up for market losses, and other attractive terms. In the current environment, insurers are having a hard time keeping those promises. Low interest rates, lousy stock market returns, and other […]
The Case for Buying 30-Year Treasuries
You have to be brave to invest like Van Hoisington and Lacy Hunt of Hoisington Investment Management. The two have been expecting a a deflation and significant decline in interest rates for some time. That’s why the holdings in their mutual fund primarily have been long-term treasury bonds. There have been some hiccups along the […]
Retirement Can Make You Fat
Most people say one of the things they’ll do in retirement is adopt healthier lifestyles. They’ll exercise more, eat better, and drink less alcohol. The truth too often is the opposite. A study of 38,000 retirees concluded that retirement often leads to a modest weigh gain. By modest weight gain, they mean two to four […]
