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Wife is able to collect a small monthly pension starting next year- about $1000 a month….(NO COLA) - this would be gravy…not money she needs right now…we have lots of other savings… alternatively they are now offering her a lump sum of around $91000 which she can park tax free into her IRA…(she...

Well, they do own up to the name fool....they start off this article bad enough with distortion of the old wrong advice about saving for retirement to replace not the just the standard and wrong 70% but according to them, as if it were the actual standard, 70-90%! But then they argue you have...

My wife is due a small monthly pension (around a max of $1000/month depending on when she claims it —BUT NOT INDEXED TO INFLATION) When is the ideal time to claim such a pension? It is gravy not crucial to our budgets. But what sort of calculus enters into ideally timing the start?

I made headlines as a personal finance guru. Within months, I was drowning in debt https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/29/personal-finance-guru-broke This article is infuriatingly vague- it is mostly about the personal problems this poor woman went through, some of which may be...

A lot of smart people are on these boards. Maybe my thoughts are nonsensical musings, but I wonder- Are Value stocks of the 21st century really like Value stocks of the past? I have long held a portfolio tilted to value based on the "value premium" described by Fama and French, and touted by...

This turns out to be a typical first world "problem." The kind of problem it is good to have... I am not sure anything at all needs to be done, or can be done or should be done about this situation between my two sons, but it points up the effects of different life choices and SEQUENCE OF...

In order to protect the identities I am going to be vague and change the details a bit in this story but it is real. A spouse of a friend was recently diagnosed with incurable cancer. The cancer is responding to treatment and the spouse feels good. Outlook in this situation on average is that...

Lots of studies (poorly done IMHO)- suggest a negative effect on life expectancy from ER. Here’s some counter evidence- https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanlookjr/2019/07/08/want-to-live-longer-retire-early/#9f4b866319ba

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/shark-tank-star-kevin-oleary-why-retiring-early-doesnt-work.html Basically YOU ARE YOUR JOB! Your Job IS Your Life! Without work, you have no social life! If the above are true for you, I agree with him. His view that these apply to everyone is rather...

Health insurance seems to be quite geography specific in the USA. Different states have different plans. How does health insurance work for those who spend considerable time in 2 different states, like snowbirds not yet on Medicare?

This article about a Seattle area couple with decent income has the usual details of how poorly people manage their finances, but there are no posted comments. I was curious to see what the wise members of these forums might add to the discussion. I have some thoughts about what I think is...

I have been thinking more and more about the intricacies of Roth conversions. I am really wondering if Roth conversions may end up being more trouble than they're worth. First of all I am waiting for my wife to stop working so we can have the lowest income possible. Then I figure we try to...

I have gotten good guidance from the folks on these boards in the past so I am fishing again for any wisdom that may be out there about the following situation: My father (may he RIP) bought whole life insurance policies for my sons. (He was under the impression this was a great way to save...

https://www.investing.com/analysis/the-%E2%80%9Cbig-lie%E2%80%9D-of-market-indexes-200198970 The drift is that people over-estimate how well a buy and hold approach can work. Still, this strikes me as overly pessimistic. Is this author ignoring dividend re-investment? And/or the power of...

I retired. My wife still wanted to work. But lately the BS bucket is filling up for her, but she is paralyzed by fears. Fear our portfolio will crash (60/40 with 2 1/2 +years in cash) - and a proposed WR of 3.3% on current value (not including the cash in the equation) easily supporting a...

Confessions From a Physician Who Failed Early Retirement - Physician on FIRE This is a post by an ER doc who tried to "E"R at age 59 and failed at it. The reasons given are not necessarily specific to medical careerists. Frankly I find the first two "reasons" to not retire early: 1)that...

As I have previously posted, my mother is coming into a lump sum life insurance payment on my father. With my father gone, I now can see what my parent's broker has been investing their money in. Besides the 40(!) individual stocks which no way she should be in all of them, I am just trying...

Maybe the title is damning with faint praise, but you all have demonstrated some great discussions about money on these forums so I come to you on behalf of my brother...and my mother. She cannot manage her financial affairs but otherwise is independent. My brother is tasked with assuming...

I hope this question/speculation does not provoke or offend- MODERATORS-please move to the political forum if necessary- I wonder if there is a correlation between retiring early and a lack of religious belief. I was just reading a blog (I think it was Darrow Kirkpatrick) where he observed...

Nine months ago I reserved two rooms (one in my name, one for my in laws) on Hotels.com at a Best Western for4 nights. Earlier this week I received an email from Hotels,com. Reminding me of my upcoming stay and telling me that I was all set, literally that I did not have to to do anything else...

So my wife - who still works, but changed jobs - got the paperwork from her old job regarding her pension options. In short, she can either leave things as they are and get about $1000 a month (Not inflation adjusted starting 13 years from now), or take a lump sum of about $56,000 (taxable,now...

Many years ago, before we met, and before we knew anything about the heck we were doing with money my wife bought an annuity. She just received her annual report and this is the irst time I have given it any attention. And I'll be darned if I can figure out what tis is or what it does. It's...

http://www.advisorperspectives.com/articles/2015/08/04/why-bond-funds-don-t-belong-in-retirement-portfolios In this recent piece by Annuity Fan/Salesman Wade Pfau, he shows how annuities lead to a better outcome for retirees than if they try to manage their saving using only bonds and stocks...

I admire Mr. Pfau's mathematical and scholarly approach, but I sometimes wonder if he is not working hard to prove the value of the stuff he and his colleagues are selling. Improving Retirement Outcomes with Investments, Life Insurance, and Income Annuities - Forbes I am trying to see where...

Forgive me if I am missing some simple answer to this, but it makes my head hurt to even try to figure it out. Dividends are wonderful. Dividends are the rocket fuel that propel our portfolios. They have favorable tax status- and depending on how big they are and where they are (Roth)...