Greatest Fears About Retirement

The Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies recently released its latest finding from their annual “Current State of Retirement” survey. The survey actually interviews 2 sets of people: those age 50+ who are still working and retirees. In both sets, the number one retirement fear was outliving savings and investments....

5 years away from Retirement? Here are 8 Must-dos

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, the largest fee-only financial advisor group in the U.S., has gathered its top advice for people at various stages of planning for retirement. Here are eight items NAPFA recommends you address when you’re five years from retirement:

  1. Separate your retirement “needs” from your retirement “wants.” Needs include your essential living expenses, such as food and housing costs, taxes and insurance premiums, while wants include discretionary expenses, such as travel and entertainment...

Do you Really Spend Less in Retirement?

In retirement, rules of thumb are often a good starting point, but rarely are they the right answer for anybody. I’ve touched on one example at length in this previous blog post and video, and tackle another one here.


When people are trying to figure out what their expenses are going to be in retirement they’ll likely run into the 80% rule; this states that generally you will need approximately 80% of your pre-retirement income each year to live in the manner to which you were accustomed...