There are many things that can ruin a retirement plan. Bad returns are usually not one of them, but having a second home can be. Before you even consider purchasing a second home, make sure that you are on track for your retirement. If you already aren’t on track for retirement, then buying a second home [...]
Few things feel better than to — finally — arrive at retirement confident about all the planning and saving you did to cause it to happen. It was decades in the making, but now it’s here. Unfortunately, you may not be out of the financial woods yet. A number of risks to your retirement strategy [...]
It’s one of those debates that rarely seems to have a clear-cut winner: Should retirees pay off their mortgage or continue making those monthly payments? The answer — probably somewhat annoyingly — is that it depends. Of course, there are a couple of immediate benefits to paying off a mortgage: Your monthly obligations drop and [...]
Sometimes you hear about people who retire and they say they’re going to play golf every day. Fast forward six months and they’re bored out of their minds. What happened? If you call it a career but only have one or two hobbies or pursuits, chances are you’re not going to be very happy. Read: [...]
I have read a lot of retirement books touting the “keys to a successful retirement.” Some have great ideas. But I think they miss a key ingredient. My contention: To have a successful retirement, we need to start with a proper understanding of work. Admittedly, it’s a counterintuitive way of looking at retirement. But sometimes [...]
Retiring early seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. The growing popularity of the so-called FIRE movement — short for financial independence, retire early — is a testament to how much everyone seems to be craving a slice of “the easy life.” The good news is that in many U.S. states, what most people [...]
Does retirement seem like a distant, imaginary land to you? Possibly a goal that seems far out of reach? Beware — one day, out of nowhere, you will have made it to the “Promised Land” of retirement. For some this is planned, for some this is forced, and for some, retirement is a spur-of-the-moment decision. [...]
The realities you face when you stop working might be a far cry from your retirement dream. Of course, retiring broke or not being able to retire at all are among the worst-case scenarios. Read More: Hidden Obstacles That Keep People From Retirement But there are plenty of other snags you might encounter. If you haven’t properly prepared [...]
Planning for retirement is an important step toward long-term financial wellness at any age. Even though everybody knows to expect the unexpected, no one could have predicted how the events of the past 12 months would change the world. As a result, many people had to shift their approach toward financial planning and retirement savings [...]
Pandemic-related job losses forced many older Americans out of the workplace in the past year, perhaps permanently. But the COVID-19 crisis also seems to have delayed some retirements. Remote work eliminated commutes and often allowed more flexible schedules with fewer interruptions. At the same time, the pandemic restricted many traditional retirement activities, including travel and [...]