It’s a week or two past the time of year that most of us judge how well our portfolios performed for the past calendar year. This post shows the nominal and real returns Patti and I earned on our portfolio in 2021and over the past

You can find predictions for the stock market ranging from 2022 as the start of the Most Harmful Sequence of returns in history to it’s going to be a normal year. Morningstar and others predict we are very close to THE STEEPEST drop in stocks

Last week I summarized a report by Morningstar, The State of Retirement Income – Safe Withdrawal Rate. It suggests that Safe Withdrawal Rates should be cut by 25%. Retirees need 1/3^rd more than they thought they’d need for a happy retirement. My friend

I spent a lot time this week trying to understand the details of a new report from Morningstar, The State of Retirement Income – Safe Withdrawal Rate. I summarize the 59 page report. Morningstar predicts much lower stock and bond returns for the foreseeable

I typically use December 15 as a day I take a different look at our portfolio. I’ve described my imaginary “bottling day” in prior posts. Here’s one. I recast the performance of our portfolio into three holding periods or groups of wine barrels or

Here’s a spreadsheet that you can download and use to Recalculate to see if your Safe Spending Amount (SSA) will increase in real spending power for 2023. (SSA; See Chapters 2 and 9, Nest Egg Care [NEC]) This sheet is similar to the one I

If you use November 30 to calculate your Safe Spending Amount (SSA) for the upcoming year, you AGAIN calculated to a healthy real increase for your spending in the upcoming year. Patti and I calculate to an 11% real increase for next year; our SSA

I set December 1 to November 30 is my “calculation year.” On the morning of December 1 I’ll calculate and find our Safe Spending Amount for 2022 (SSA; see Chapter 2, Nest Egg Care [NEC]). That will be a very good day. Patti

Those of us on Medicare pay Part B (medical insurance) and Part D (prescription drug) premiums directly to Medicare. If you receive Social Security like Patti and me, your premium is deducted from your gross Social Security benefit. This post describes the premium increases you’ll

I’ll rebalance back to my design mix in the first week of December. I want to review my choice, since the math has changed slightly as I described in last week’s post. I will now apply my choice of mix of stocks vs. bonds