Category Archives: Uncategorized

Are you using too low of Safe Spending Rate (SSR%)?

You probably are using too low of Safe Spending Rate (SSR%) for your calculation of your annual Safe Spending Amount (SSA). (See Chapter 2, Nest Egg Care (NEC).) My schedule of age-appropriate Safe Spending Rates (SSR%) is too low. (See Graph 2-7 and

Is this a better Rule as to how to use your bond insurance for your spending?

I have a new rule I recommend for selling bonds for your spending. The rule results in a safer financial retirement plan. It can add several years to your ability to take a full withdrawal for spending. The purpose of this post is to explain

What is money?

I just read this headline (I’m writing on Wednesday afternoon.) that the Senate may agree to increase the debt ceiling. That would avoid a government shutdown, no payments of Social Security and, potentially, the default of US payments of its debt obligations: interest on billions

Is “Bonds first” a strategy for annual withdrawals for your spending from your portfolio?

My friend Jay sent me an article years ago that argued the best withdrawal strategy for retiree was “Bonds first.” You set a constant dollar withdrawal amount for spending and an initial mix of stocks and bonds. You sell bonds for your spending until you’ve

I fiddled with my bonds. Should you?

For many years I fiddled annually with my stock portfolio. Decades ago, I would spend hours and hours trying to pick winning stocks. Years ago, I would spend hours trying to pick winning, actively managed stock mutual funds. I stopped all fiddling for the last

Is it safe to travel abroad?

I have no idea if you like to spend on travel. Patti and I really look forward to traveling, and it’s our biggest category of discretionary spending by far. It’s been 22 months since we traveled abroad, and we just got back from our trip

Do you want to buy an annuity to substitute for bonds in your portfolio?

You DO NOT want to buy an annuity to substitute for bonds in your portfolio! I read this article about a month ago, “Using Annuities During Retirement: When to consider annuities rather than bonds.” The article suggests that one should seriously consider buying an annuity

How do I best use my Roth account during retirement?

When Patti and I officially started our Nest Egg Care retirement plan in December 2014, I had no Roth IRA. All our retirement accounts were Traditional IRA, and most of our money was in retirement accounts. I posted here and here about the importance of

What changes in your financial retirement plan when a spouse dies?

What changes in your financial retirement plan and, most importantly, how is the surviving spouse’s financial well-being affected when one spouse dies? This purpose of this post is to describe the key changes as I see them. The key point is that the surviving spouse’s

How do we meet COVID-19 requirements to enter the UK and return to the US?

This post doesn’t have anything to do with financial retirement planning, but I thought I would describe the current COVID-19 requirements to travel to the UK and to return to the US – as best as I understand them. That’s because this was the all-consuming

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