If you look at a portfolio structured by a financial advisor, it will have MANY different securities. For example, Patti and I own one security for US Total Stocks (FSKAX), but most financial advisors will have at least six securities for US stocks. Why is

I like looking at the Vanguard Style Box (I call it a Nine Box.) at the end of the year to get a snapshot of what outperformed and what underperformed the US stock market as a whole. This post shows 2020 results. Large-Cap Growth again

It’s the time of year that most of us judge how well our portfolios performed for the past year. To judge your portfolio correctly, you want to compare your results to a benchmark comprised of an appropriate mix of peer index funds. The purpose of

Merry Christmas!!! A week or so ago, I Zoom-attended a talk by Stuart Hoffman of PNC. Stu was Chief Economist for PNC for decades. You’ve probably heard him on NPR or seen him on TV. Stu has been recognized as an accurate forecaster of our

This is the time of year I recast our portfolio, and you should spend the time to recast yours. Segment it and add it up in different ways. You’ll have a better view of the strength of your portfolio. You’ll know you can control risk

You must recalculate to see if your annual Safe Spending Amount (SSA) increases (See Chapters 2 and 9, Nest Egg Care.) You need a spreadsheet for this calculation. The purpose of this post is to provide you with a simpler spreadsheet than I have

Patti and I are writing our checks for donations to charities this week. I’d guess this is the time of year you’ll be writing most of your checks. Patti and I made our major decisions a month or so ago. The purpose of this post

Is this a good time to retire? Is this a good time to be retired? I’d say YES and YES. (I’m ignoring Covid-19, of course.) Two reasons: 1) Covid-19 has shut us all down: our spending is down to the basics. We’ve been shut down,

Can you really lower taxes by skipping RMD this year? The CARES Act gave us older retirees the option of not taking our RMD this year. The IRS says something like 80% of folks must take their RMD for their living expenses. I’ll assume