Everyone would love to retire early, but they also desire to be free from the fear of running out of money. Changing your attitude toward investing and the approach you take will help you accomplish both. Read on to see how you can retire years sooner and make you money last decades longer.
Last week I talked about our need to change the way we view retirement (read it at www.guardingyourwealth.com). I explained that seeing retirement as a transition to a less-stressful, more enjoyable job drastically reduces the amount you have to have socked away. Even working just part-time during retirement can allow you to retire years sooner, or make your money last years longer.
Changing our view of retirement is only half of the solution. We also need to change our attitude and approach to investing for and during retirement. This by itself will have a similar impact on when you can retire or how long your money will last. Combining the two together can completely change the retirement equation.
Our life spans grow longer every year, placing greater demands on our nest egg. Moreover, as a nation we are saving less and less. In fact, recently the national savings rate was negative--collectively, we spent more then we earned.
Let's face it--few of us save as much as we should. The demands of raising a family, saving for our kids' education and caring for aging parents make it difficult to set aside as much as is needed. By the time our kids are independent, our retirement may only be 10-15 years away.
Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom provided by the financial services industry hasn't made reaching our goals any easier. Conventional wisdom says that you should invest more conservatively each year you are closer to retirement. Their wisdom also says that in retirement, you should only withdraw 4% from your portfolio each year.
The conventional wisdom is wrong. Frankly, if the average person follows this advice it will be a wonder if they retire at all! If those who have been successful setting aside a healthy nest egg follow conventional wisdom it will needlessly reduce their lifestyle or impact what they leave their children or use to support charitable causes.
Traditional portfolio management views stocks as being risky and bonds as being safe. As such, you should increase the amount you have in bonds and decrease the amount you have in stocks as you get closer to retirement. The rule of thumb is that you should have roughly your age in bonds, so if you are fifty your portfolio should be 50% bonds, 30% stocks and 20% cash. That's crazy!
Along with that view is the philosophy that you should buy an investment and hang on to it--buy and hold. Investors that lost 30-50% between 2000 and 2002 know that buy and hold can be a risky proposition. We all know that there is the potential for stocks AND bonds to lose value. This is referred to as market risk and interest rate risk. Since the industry believes that you should buy and hold, the only way to minimize the overall risk to your portfolio is by changing the allocation between stocks, bonds and cash.
It all sounds great--but by believing it you may be forgoing tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars. I don't accept their underlying assumptions and neither should you. There are other, more effective ways to manage portfolio risk that may dramatically increase your returns.
Think about it. Interest rates the last several years have been at historic lows. That didn't change the traditional allocations provided by the industry. They still said you should have 50% of your nest egg in bonds if you were 50 years old. The return on bonds wasn't even enough to keep place with inflation and you were supposed to put half your money in them? Ridiculous.
It's possible to grow your money faster with less risk. It's possible to draw out more than 4% without the fear of running out of money. And it's done by adjusting conventional wisdom to the realities of the markets. Next week I will share specific strategies and methods to do just that.
Have a financial question? Send me an email and I'll personally respond, free of charge. Go to www.guardingyourwealth.com and click on 'Ask Jeff'.
SPECIAL REPORT:
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I've just released a groundbreaking report will show you in clear and concise ways why hiring an investment advisor may be one of the most costly mistakes you'll ever make -- and what the profitable alternatives are.
by Jeffery Voudrie
Friday, March 23, 2007
Friday, March 9, 2007
Is Retiring In Florida All It Is Cracked Up To Be?
Florida has long been a popular spot for Americans from the Northern states to retire. With its attractive combination of climate, lifestyle and reasonable living costs, it has been especially welcome by retirees on fixed incomes. No that baby boomers are reaching retirement age, Florida is being deluged by a new wave of retired residents.
There are many benefits to living in Florida. But there are also some downfalls. If you decide to move there for retirement some of the key factors will be what part of the state will you live in? And what is your budget?
The most obvious benefit to living in Florida is the great weather. The average temperature can very depending on where you live in the state. In Jacksonville the average temperature is 68.5, Tampa is 72.2, Miami is 75.9 and Key West is 77.8. This may be a factor in deciding which part of the state you wish to retire to.
The beaches are another great feature of Florida. Florida has been blessed with some of the world's most stunning beaches on two coasts. Some are bustling with activity and popular and others are serine and peaceful.
There are also many retirement communities in Florida. Florida retirement communities are great for active adults. Retirement communities can include single family homes, condominiums, villas, manufactured homes and more. These communities are a lot of fun because they are geared for retirees so there are many activities and community events so there will never be a dull moment. It is also a lot of fun to be with your peers and to be able to enjoy a lively retirement.
If you are concerned about moving away from your family, rest assured that they will be eager to come and visit in the winter. Florida is a popular vacation spot for families to come to when the snowflakes start to fall. During the winter, you'll have no problems spending time with you family on their vacations.
There are some downsides to moving to Florida for your retirement. Housing can be very expensive in certain communities. The median home price in the United States in 2005 was $208,700. In Florida it was $235,100. You can find more affordable places in cities like Jacksonville to the north, where the average was $186,300. However, in popular areas around Miami or down in the keys the average house can be much more than that.
Another obvious downfall of living in Florida is hurricanes. In 2004, Florida received more than $5.5 billion in federal disaster assistance which is more than the average federal disaster assistance in a year nation wide.
Homeowner's insurance rates in Florida are the third highest in the country, only behind that of Texas and Louisiana. The obvious factor for the high rates is due to hurricane risk. Due to high population density, high rises on the coasts and more exposed coastline than almost any other state, Florida is especially vulnerable to the damage caused by hurricanes.
Florida also consistently ranks amongst the top of the country for crime rates. In 2000, the state had the 2nd highest total crime index. For violent crime Florida had a reported incident rate of 812.0 per 100,000 people. This led the state to rank the 1st highest occurrence for violent crime among the entire nation.
However, like anywhere you have to take the good with the bad. There certainly are safe and affordable places to live in Florida just as there are areas with high crime rates and staggering cost of living. The key is weighing your options to find what will work best for your current situation.
by Jeff Wend
There are many benefits to living in Florida. But there are also some downfalls. If you decide to move there for retirement some of the key factors will be what part of the state will you live in? And what is your budget?
The most obvious benefit to living in Florida is the great weather. The average temperature can very depending on where you live in the state. In Jacksonville the average temperature is 68.5, Tampa is 72.2, Miami is 75.9 and Key West is 77.8. This may be a factor in deciding which part of the state you wish to retire to.
The beaches are another great feature of Florida. Florida has been blessed with some of the world's most stunning beaches on two coasts. Some are bustling with activity and popular and others are serine and peaceful.
There are also many retirement communities in Florida. Florida retirement communities are great for active adults. Retirement communities can include single family homes, condominiums, villas, manufactured homes and more. These communities are a lot of fun because they are geared for retirees so there are many activities and community events so there will never be a dull moment. It is also a lot of fun to be with your peers and to be able to enjoy a lively retirement.
If you are concerned about moving away from your family, rest assured that they will be eager to come and visit in the winter. Florida is a popular vacation spot for families to come to when the snowflakes start to fall. During the winter, you'll have no problems spending time with you family on their vacations.
There are some downsides to moving to Florida for your retirement. Housing can be very expensive in certain communities. The median home price in the United States in 2005 was $208,700. In Florida it was $235,100. You can find more affordable places in cities like Jacksonville to the north, where the average was $186,300. However, in popular areas around Miami or down in the keys the average house can be much more than that.
Another obvious downfall of living in Florida is hurricanes. In 2004, Florida received more than $5.5 billion in federal disaster assistance which is more than the average federal disaster assistance in a year nation wide.
Homeowner's insurance rates in Florida are the third highest in the country, only behind that of Texas and Louisiana. The obvious factor for the high rates is due to hurricane risk. Due to high population density, high rises on the coasts and more exposed coastline than almost any other state, Florida is especially vulnerable to the damage caused by hurricanes.
Florida also consistently ranks amongst the top of the country for crime rates. In 2000, the state had the 2nd highest total crime index. For violent crime Florida had a reported incident rate of 812.0 per 100,000 people. This led the state to rank the 1st highest occurrence for violent crime among the entire nation.
However, like anywhere you have to take the good with the bad. There certainly are safe and affordable places to live in Florida just as there are areas with high crime rates and staggering cost of living. The key is weighing your options to find what will work best for your current situation.
by Jeff Wend
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