Retirement

I updated Bill Bengen’s groundbreaking analysis to examine the impact of investment expenses on historical retirement outcomes.

With yields near zero, many investors may question the value of fixed income within a portfolio. Western Asset’s Head of Product Management, Doug Hulsey, joins our Head of Equities, Stephen Dover, to discuss fixed income investing with an active-management lens. He makes a case for the asset class for investors in light of market uncertainties and outlines where he sees opportunities today.

There is new reform legislation making its way through Congress which will significantly affect how many of us save for retirement and specifically how, and how much, we can contribute to our retirement accounts and at what ages. This is the most significant retirement saving reform legislation in years. I’ll break it all down for you below.

The advantages of DAFs are increasingly being put to use by selecting them as IRA beneficiaries.

What if I told you that to become a better financial professional under Reg BI, you should think less like one?

Here are the key characteristics that distinguish highly successful digital-marketing practices.

Month-over-month nominal sales in October increased by 0.37%. Real Retail Sales, calculated with the seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index, increased by 0.23%.

Abstract investment themes are much more than entertainment. They’re serious business and have roles to play in portfolios. I share my process for incorporating then into mine.

This article highlights the real golden goose behind retirement accounts – the immense value in not having to pay taxes on investment income and rebalancing.

Bundling may help plan sponsors unlock alpha potential and supplement low returns from long Treasury bonds.

We've updated this series to include the October release of the Consumer Price Index as the deflator and the monthly employment update. The latest hypothetical real (inflation-adjusted) annual earnings are at $42,442, down 6.3% from 45-plus years ago.

Meeting cash flow needs through distributions is becoming challenging with Treasury yields at rock bottom levels and investors enduring widespread dividend cuts this year. Trying to generate a meaningful yield often means unacceptable credit risk at a time when the bankruptcies are just starting to get announced following months of government-mandated shutdowns. For investors looking to fund their day-to-day lives, a better approach may be to focus on maximizing risk-adjusted returns and manufacturing a distribution to meet individual cash flow needs while managing risk and return. Target distribution strategies seek to leverage a modern portfolio theory approach focused on risk-adjusted returns to deliver steady cash flow to investors while maintaining the principal over the long-run.

In this webinar, participants will learn about:

• Meeting cash flow needs for clients in the current zero-yield environment is and will remain challenging for financial advisors
• Using a unique target distribution approach to meet cash flow needs without subjecting investors to excessive risk
• The Nasdaq Dorsey Wright and HANDLS Indexes approach to target distribution
• The potential benefits of a target distribution strategy for retirees

Let's do some analysis of the Consumer Price Index, the best-known measure of inflation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) divides all expenditures into eight categories and assigns a relative size to each. The pie chart illustrates the components of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers, the CPI-U.

For years, hedge funds have blamed placid markets for their uninspiring returns. That excuse won’t fly this year.

We've updated our monthly workforce analysis to include last Friday's Employment Report for October. The unemployment fell to 6.9%, and the number of new nonfarm jobs (a relatively volatile number subject to extensive revisions) came in at 638K.

For some of my clients, retirement has not been what they imagined or hoped it would be; particularly for a generation of men who didn’t come to terms with the loss of their career identity or finding new and appealing ways to stay active.

Here are five growth opportunities that will help you advance your firm while the competition sits on the sidelines.

During the recent Advisor Perspectives Thought Leader Summit, two of the industry’s most respected experts shared their best practices and insights on growing and scaling your business with fintech solutions.

Note: This commentary has been updated with the latest numbers from last Friday's Employment Report. Consider: Today nearly one in three of the 65-69 cohort and one in five of the 70-74 cohort are in the labor force.

My three-question test will let you see if your LinkedIn profile page stinks.

The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is a simple computation: You take the Civilian Labor Force (people age 16 and over employed or seeking employment) and divide it by the Civilian Noninstitutional Population (those 16 and over not in the military and or committed to an institution).

After securing the White House in the bitter campaign to oust President Donald Trump, Democrats’ next task may be even tougher: a double win in Senate races in historically red Georgia.

Evidence from the field of behavioral finance suggests investors can’t handle the truth – many delude themselves about their own skills and performance. The ability to delude oneself leads to persistent and costly investment mistakes.

Let's take a closer look at Friday's employment report numbers on Full and Part-Time Employment.

Recent research shows how fixed annuities can add value in the context of retirement income. In addition to being able to guarantee income for life, tax benefits are often advertised as a key advantage of using annuities. This article discusses the mechanics of tax deferral in annuity products.

The profession has a diversity and inclusion problem. Look at the speakers pictured on the advertisements for financial planning conferences, and you see white men in business suits with occasional white women.

What does the ratio of unemployment claims tell us about where we are in the business cycle and recession risk?

This commentary has been updated to include this morning's release of Nonfarm Employment. October's 638K increase in total nonfarm payrolls had revisions that resulted in 15K more jobs than previously reported. The Investing.com consensus was for 8600K jobs gained and the unemployment rate to decrease to 7.7%.

Today I want to use the election to illustrate just how complex a seemingly simple situation can be. This matters not just politically, but economically as well.

This morning's employment report for October showed a 638K increase in total nonfarm payrolls, which was above the Investing.com forecast of 600K.

Reflecting on the post-election landscape, Jeffrey Gundlach expects a split government to emerge, with a Biden presidency, Democratic House and Republican Senate. That outcome explains the gains in U.S. equities this week, but stocks are now “really overvalued.”

While the election remains too close to call, investor attention will soon turn back to Capitol Hill, where senators will reconvene on Nov. 9 and House members on Nov. 16 for what is known as a “lame duck” session of Congress.

Here's an interesting set of charts that will especially resonate with those of us who follow economic and market cycles. Imagine that five years ago you invested $10,000 in the S&P 500. How much would it be worth today, with dividends reinvested but adjusted for inflation? The purchasing power of your investment has increased to $17,973 for an annualized real return of 11.78%.

At dinner tables throughout emerging markets, middle-class families tuck into comfort food, share details about their day and toast each other's successes. Languages and cuisines may differ, but many elements of everyday life are often quite similar.

While getting into a groove with your social media plan may take some trial-and-error, there are some crucial commandments to maximize your potential and reach.

It is scary and overwhelming to address long-term planning. But the lack of planning is disheartening to those left to address a crisis, as was the case with David, an 80-year-old man.

For the third time since the COVID bear ended its short havoc, U.S. stocks went into pullback mode—culminating in the worst week since March. The virus itself continues to be a culprit; with another surge in cases and hospitalizations; although not for deaths, at least not yet. The lack of a fiscal relief package and heightened election uncertainty are also to blame.

Want to hear something really scary? Inflation, the scourge of the modern economy, may be running much faster than we’re led to believe.

Head of Equities Stephen Dover joined Templeton Global Macro’s Katie Klingensmith and Fiduciary Trust Company International’s Gene Todd for a discussion about what they are keeping an eye on as investors.

I present data and observations highlighting how dividends can protect investors from inflation and market volatility. While this is relevant to other applications, I focus on retirement income.

Clients are surprised when I request copies of their tax returns. But when they see the process I use to save them money – tax “alpha” – they often wish April 15 came more often.

Want to make the most of year-end planning conversations with clients? This checklist outlines 10 key points to get you started, including new tax and retirement changes in 2020 due to the pandemic. Use this easy reference guide to help your clients get a jump on planning.

Implementing a comprehensive estate plan requires meticulous coordination of the financial, legal, and tax aspects of your client’s life. By asking the right questions and being prepared for issues that may arise, you can take a central role in the planning process and cement yourself as a trusted advisor. Our guide provides the steps you can take to help ensure that all your client’s needs and wishes are being met.

Want to hear something really scary? Inflation, the scourge of the modern economy, may be running much faster than we’re led to believe.

Virtually all advisors have the technical competence to construct a plan that will help a prospect. But most make a key mistake when they try to explain that plan, and it almost always causes them to lose the business.

Bill Bengen’s research calculated how much a retiree can take out safely from a generic portfolio over 30 years without running out of money. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could take a prospective client’s asset allocation and calculate the percent of time periods since 1926 that it would have survived a 30-year retirement?

Stocks tumbled again on Wednesday, as worries about rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations sent investors toward the safe havens of U.S. Treasuries and the dollar.

There have been plenty of headlines exploring what the November US elections might mean for the economy and markets. But it’s just as important to look at what they might have in store for defined contribution (DC) and other retirement vehicles, which more Americans than ever rely on.

The relative calm we feel in the markets right now isn’t the end of the storm, it is just the eye.

Enjoy Harold Evensky's latest Newsletter.

The advisor for whom I have worked is retiring, but nothing has been communicated about what’s going to happen to me.

When clients come to me, 90% of the time they want to be told what to do. They have the will and energy to run at goals but have no idea where to start or how to best get there.

I meet few humble advisors. Most are supremely confident in their knowledge of all things financial. This confidence is rarely justified.

With the economy slowing in September, the battle for a quick rebound may be far from over.

When it comes to reading things online, we have a selective attention span; this is why it’s so important to optimize subject lines in both blog posts and your email marketing.

The primary goal of this article is to explain what makes dividends different. Dividends provide investors with a growing stream of income that is largely independent of market volatility. On balance, dividends are a powerful financial planning tool many retirement models seem to neglect.

We would like to think that investing is a science, but, alas, it is not. Water freezes at 32 degrees. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. We look for similar rules in investing. There are none.

Corporate bonds are riskier than Treasury securities. The reward for accepting this risk is larger when spreads widen, but may be less than investors expect when spreads are modest.

My 2007 book, Wise Investing Made Simple: Larry Swedroe’s Tales to Enrich Your Future, contained 27 tales to educate investors about important investment concepts and strategies. This article is in the spirit of those tales.

Why is it hard to get clients to take preventative action to protect themselves from real and measurable risks?

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. admitted its role in the biggest foreign bribery case in U.S. enforcement history, reaching multiple international settlements to end probes into its fundraising for the scandal-plagued Malaysian fund known as 1MDB.

As we near the 2020 Presidential election, rhetoric from both sides is ramping up. Depending on your personal “echo chamber” of social media, you are likely confident why your candidate is the best choice, and the opposition is the worst. However, when it comes to economic prosperity and the financial markets, who is the best choice? To answer that question, we will focus on the “policies,” not the “politics.”

Here at U.S. Global Investors, we’re very bullish on commodities, particularly industrial and precious metals.

Where is virtue on Wall Street? Princeton lecturer JC de Swaan, who is also a partner at the investment firm Cornwall Capital, sought to find out. His book, Seeking Virtue in Finance, is his answer.

U.S. Treasury bonds are not likely to repeat their spectacular performance as income-producing risk reducers in portfolios of the past four decades. While bonds still have an important role to play in some settings (e.g., liability hedging for retirement plans), we believe investors should look at alternatives for diversification, including inflation-protected securities, gold, defensive currencies and stocks and option protection.

On October 8, Square SQ, the payments company helmed by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, announced that it purchased 4,709 Bitcoins, a $50 million investment, representing 1% of the firm’s total asset. As a result, Square became the second technology firm to go long on Bitcoin in recent months after MicroStrategy MSTR, a business intelligence firm, crowned the crypto as its treasury reserve asset of choice.

Investor sentiment is telling a mixed story about the market’s ascent since the March low; begging the question, will the skeptics converge with the optimists?

Will the policies of either presidential candidate move us towards a better healthcare system? In this article, I break down the challenges of healthcare reform, the policies of President Trump and former Vice President Biden, and discuss what is needed to get this country on a path of good health and an efficient healthcare system.

Financial advisors routinely adhere to the discipline of rebalancing portfolios, so much so that they invest tens of thousands of dollars in software to automate the process. That adherence has been regularly reinforced by financial writers. I show why this conventional wisdom is wrong and rebalancing may be as unwise an investment as the software used to do it.

We are in a debt trap. Our political process can’t reduce spending and/or raise taxes enough to balance the budget, so the debt grows and grows. As it does, paying the interest plus the accumulated debt load pulls more capital away from more productive uses. This depresses economic growth, thereby generating even more spending and debt.

Our Head of Equities, Stephen Dover, and Fiduciary Trust International Managing Director, Craig Richards, consider the US elections’ possible impacts to personal taxes. Both a “blue wave” or another Republican administration may encourage taxpayers and investors to start their 2021 tax planning now.

In his latest memo, Howard Marks walks readers through the unusual characteristics of this year’s economy; the impact of Covid-related monetary and fiscal policy actions, including low interest rates, on today’s markets; and the possible ramifications of the Fed/Treasury’s rescue efforts. What does it all mean for investors who face an environment marked by some of the lowest prospective returns in history?

Single-premium immediate annuities (SPIAs) can deliver superior retirement outcomes by reducing sequence-of-return and inflation risks if a portion of the monthly payments are systematically invested in equities.