My Retirement Blog
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No Match 401(k)’s Are Okay
The latest question in to Walter Updegrave is one about a no-match 401(k) and whether or not it’s “worth it” to contribute. The reader is maxing out his Roth IRA and is now wondering whether he should contribute towards his no-match 401(k) or go with a regular brokerage account. Updegrave recommends that he should contribute…
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Aging Brain More Tolerant To Risk
As you grow older, your ability to tolerate the stresses of a bear market increase. That’s the main thrust of an article by Money and it’s both a benefit and a drawback. Neuroscience has shown that as you age, the amygdala, the part of the brain that signals fear and anger, starts to shrink. In…
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Boomer Misconceptions on Long Term Care
Jenna Kozen at Edelman sent along a presentation about a nationwide survey conducted by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) on the misconceptions of long term care coverage and services by Baby Boomers. AHIP is a national trade association that represents 1300 insurance companies and their presentation was interesting in that it showed some very common…
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401K Q’s: Employer Match, Milestones & 50+ Contributors
In the logs of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, there are plenty of questions about 401(k)’s that certainly need some solid answers. In this post I’ll list a few of them, give you my thoughts, and hopefully we can solve some problems! Does your employer’s 401(k) contribution/match count towards that $15k maximum? No it doesn’t, the…
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Carry Little to No Debt In Retirement
When you’re “retired,” you’re generally going to be on a pretty fixed income. You might take some odd jobs here or there to supplement your income and pass the time, you might try out paid volunteerism to put polished skills to work, but in general your income is going to be fixed. For that very…
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Why The Fed Rate Cut Should Concern You
Money magazine has an interesting article about how the recent Fed rate cut language indicated that the Fed was more interested in fighting off a Recession than keeping inflation at bay, which was something it had always had its eye on. When the Fed lowers rates, it does so because it wants to spur growth…
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Dow Index Drops 362.14, 2.6% – Now What!?
The day after Halloween, the Down drops nearly a four spot on us, over two and a half percent, and we’re left wondering what the heck we should do. I mean, is the credit crunch starting to take effect? Just yesterday the Fed dropped the target interest rate, things were looking pretty good, and today…
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Invest Aggressively While Young
Do you know why the experts recommend that young investors should be aggressive while older investors should be more conservative? It comes down to the fact that in the long run the stock market, and investments in general, appreciate but in the short run they can be entirely random and extremely volatile, so if you…
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Paid Volunteerism
An article in the New York Times on paid volunteerism really opened my eyes to the idea of life after retirement. A lot of retirees, themselves financially set, turn towards volunteerism as a way of passing the time, doing some good, and achieving goals that they’ve set for themselves. One concept that this article introduced…
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