By Jennifer Frost

Nearly a quarter of Americans retire before the age of 55. These days, ‘retirement’ does not necessarily mean not working or earning an income, but rather living day-to-day life doing things for enjoyment, perhaps generating a passive income instead of ‘actively’ earning money. Being savvy with property can be a great option in this respect. However, you will need to save a lot of money – in the…

How to prepare yourself for a good end of life

From: www.sfchronicle.com

My parents lived good lives and expected to die good deaths. They exercised daily, ate plenty of fruits and vegetables, and kept, in their well-organized files, boilerplate advance health directives. But when he was 79, my beloved and seemingly vigorous father came up from his basement study, put on the kettle for tea, and had a devastating stroke….

Today, your retirement portfolio may include stocks, bonds and mutual funds that all play a part in helping you achieve a successful retirement. However, you may want to consider adding an annuity, which can complement your portfolio by providing attributes for retirement those categories do not offer. The chart below outlines these retirement attributes, particularly the ability of annuities to deliver the reliable lifetime income you’ll need in retirement. Annuities may not be right…

Retirees’ annual 4% withdrawal ‘rule’ doesn’t work for everyone in today’s low-rate environment

From: www.nydailynews.com

For decades, common knowledge among economists dictated retirees could remain financially stable throughout their golden years if they only withdrew 4% of their initial portfolio, annually, adjusted for inflation.

This “4% rule” was used as a way to encourage people to continue investing in the stock market at a time of high returns.

However, in today’s current low rate…

9 Worst Financial Mistakes Seniors Can Make This Year

From: pftoday.org

Many current or soon-to-be seniors on a fixed income have to be very cautious with their money, or potentially face a situation of outliving retirement savings and finding themselves in a deep pickle.

One such way to avoid running into trouble is to regularly do a personal audit to identify any unnecessary expenses or over-spending that may have crept up over time….

It may sound like common sense, or even cliché, but many who were born in the 1930’s or 1940’s grew up listening to parents discuss the “stock market” as a source of destruction and loss. As a result, those retirees may seek to “fix” their income in a world where the cost of lifestyle sustaining goods increases year after year. The problem is exacerbated in traditional systematic withdrawal programs when retiring at a market…

The financial struggles of unplanned retirement

From: www.foxbusiness.com

Monica wants to rest her tired, swollen feet. The 86-year-old retiree walks slowly to her old loveseat and sits down carefully. The purple paisley-patterned furniture has provided her with comfort for many decades. The loveseat is in fair condition but is showing its age. Once a part of a luxurious three-piece living room set; cardboard panels have since been placed under the seat cushions…

The Simplest Annuity Explainer We Could Write

From: www.nytimes.com

We define immediate annuities, fixed annuities, variable annuities and index annuities, plus give you questions to ask salespeople.

Annuities can be complicated. This column will not be.

After I wrote two weeks ago about getting tossed out of the office of an annuity salesman, there was a surprising clamor for more information about this room-clearing topic. One group of readers just wanted…

What’s a Safe Withdrawal Rate in Retirement?

From: www.fool.com

It’s always a bit of a gamble, but some strategies are a safer bet than others.

You’ve saved diligently for retirement throughout your working years, and now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop planning for the future. Your retirement savings will probably need to last you 20 years or more, and if you…

Know When to Switch From Bonds to Annuities

From: money.usnews.com

Annuities can compensate for declining bond yields when interest rates begin to soar.

While savings accounts or certificates of deposit should get a bump from continued interest rate hikes, the bonds in your portfolio may not fare as well.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index, which measures investor sentiment, lost 3.4 points in October, falling to 84.4 on the heels of the Federal Reserve’s…