If you're still working, you may or may not be familiar with a "in-service rollover". Most companies allow you to rollover your company retirement funds into a self-directed IRA even though you're still working after you have reached the age of 59 1/2. There are tremendous advantages to the self-directed IRA over the options of the company retirement plan. Company retirement plans are generally built for the accumulator, and not the pre-retiree with only years left before retirement. That … [Read more...]

Surely there is no correlation between having home-equity and the amount of our Social Security payments, right? The truth is, the answer is "no". But, depending on how you look at it, there is a technique that may allow us to feel like we are getting increased Social Security payments. In this video I wanted to share the idea of my colleague, Ken Kopen, on how to create age 70-like Social Security benefits at the age of 62 using the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage line of credit. The … [Read more...]

Many have heard of the 4% rule. It states that at the beginning of retirement, you should be able to safely take 4% of the starting balance of your investment portfolio each year, and increase the withdrawal every year for inflation, without running out of money over a 30-year retirement. There is much debate as to whether the rule is helpful, or even a good idea.  Regardless, I think the following article by Retirement Research, Wade Pfau, is a good … [Read more...]

When describing the new Defined Outcome investments, a common question that I get is, “How do they do that?”. In other words, how can an investment just “not lose money” if the market is actually down? The answer is the use of options. A call option gives the owner the right (option), but not the obligation, to buy a security in the future at a particular price  The purchaser of the option will pay a one-time price for this option. Let’s look at what could happen in this … [Read more...]

I'm constantly looking for new investment options that are "out-of-the-box" and innovative. Fortunately, the investment landscape is always changing and companies are constantly innovating. Recently our company began using the investment option "Defined Outcome". It provides downside market protection without the long-term contract of an annuity. It also provides attractive upside potential when the markets make gains. Take a look at the short explainer video that I put together … [Read more...]