Money Matters

A number of friends and family have had questions relating to Retirement Planning, Investing and other financial oriented questions.  Here I supply some information related to various topics associated with financing.

 

 

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Resources

 

 

Topics Listing

 

 

 

2022-06-12 Investing Open Discussion: Inflation, Dividends, Portfolio update

This meeting is a open conversation on a number of items including:

 

 

 

2022-03-13 Chapter-6 Spending in Retirement (pages 197 - 241)

This chapter details the process of planning, executing and maintaining a budget in retirement.  It shows how using the Autopilot method can be used to ensure you have adequate funds to keep the same lifestyle that you have projected in your pre-retirement planning.   It also helps identify the order you should tap accounts in the spend-down phase of your retirement.

 

  • Gate 1: Understanding the Fundamentals – Forecasting your future needs.

  • Gate 2: Organizing Your Inputs to the Plan – Integrate one time expenses in your plan.

  • Gate 3: How Much Can You Afford to Spend? – Determine how much you can spend each year for normal living expenses.

  • Gate 4: The Retiree’s Autopilot? – Review of autopilot parameters that can be adjusted to smooth out market gyrations.

  • Gate 5: Staying on Track – Steps to ensure you keep to your plan in previous gates.

  • Gate 6: Always Look Ahead – Live events to keep in mind including critical dates, estate planning etc.

 

 

Resources:

  • Webex Recording (55 minutes) (MP4 Format)

  • Chapter-6 Part-1 Discussion (PDF download)

  • Meeting Agenda (PDF download)

  • Meeting Minutes  (PDF download)

  • Chapter 6 Spreadsheets

  • Charles Schwab: You've just inherited a retirement account.  Now What? A step-by-step decision guide for retirement account beneficiaries.

 

 

2022-03-06 Chapter-5 Gates 3,4 & 5 (pages 160 - 196)

We continue our pre-retirement calculations completing the following gates:

  • Gate 3: Estimating Fixed Income Streams - Identify resources that do not come from savings such as Social Security, Pensions and Annuities.

  • Gate 4: Retirement Autopilot - A detailed analysis using the retirement autopilot to calculate how much you should save on an annual basis.

  • Gate 5: Just before Retirement - Nailing down your future retirement date.

 

Resources:

  • Webex Recording (56 minutes) (MP4 Format)

  • Chapter-5 Part-2 Discussion (PDF download)

  • Meeting Agenda (PDF download)

  • Meeting Minutes  (PDF download)

  • Chapter 5 Spreadsheets

 

 

2022-02-27 Index Fund Investments, Chapter-5 Gates 1 & 2 (pages 139 - 154)

Before diving into chapter 5 we will briefly review a couple of papers originating from the American Association of Individual Investors that address Asset allocation and diversification, identifying a number of approaches and index funds that can be utilized to build your portfolio.

 

Diving into chapter 5 is where the rubber hits the road.  We are introduced to a number of worksheets used to determine your current retirement situation, how to determine your future needs, and finally how to determine the type of lifestyle to expect in retirement.  We also discuss how to evaluate an early retirement offer if your company offers you one.  Finally, this chapter discusses options on what you might consider to meet the lifestyle you want in retirement if your current situation doesn't appear to support the lifestyle in retirement you would like.

 

Resources:

  • Webex Recording (62 minutes) (MP4 Format)

  • Interlude: Index Fund Investments

    •  Paul Merriman: Which is the Best 1, 2,3 and 4 Fund Strategy (2020-09-23)

      • Video Presentation (MP4)

      • Supporting Document (PDF)

    • Chris Pedersen: Simple & Effective Balanced Portfolios for Lifetime Investing Success (2020-10-22)

      • Video Presentation (MP4)

      • Supporting Document (PDF)

    • Asset Allocation Models to Maximize Your Returns

  • Chapter-5 Discussion (PDF download)

  • Meeting Minutes (PDF download)

  • Meeting Agenda (PDF download)

  • Chapter 5 Spreadsheets

 

 

2022-02-20 Chapter-4 (pages 111 - 138)

This chapter is focused on the concept of Return on Investment (ROI) aka Returns.  This may be the single most important input in your retirement planning and execution, so it is vital you understand how it works and how important it is to try to get as accurate measure and estimate of this value to be used in your calculations.  This chapter also covers how to measure performance of your investments to determine if a new strategy is in order.

 

Resources:

  • Webex Recording (58 minutes) (MP4 Format)

  • Chapter-4 Part-1 Discussion (PDF download)

  • Meeting Agenda (PDF download)

  • Chapter 4 Spreadsheets

 

 

2022-01-30

 Chapter-3, Part-1 (pages 61 - 84)

Chapter 3 is focused on Investments and identifies the various types of investments (ie stocks, bonds, etc) the various types of  accounts (ie vehicles) created for holding these investments ad finally introduces the concept of Asset Allocation, a process of distributing your investments across various risk level investments to minimalize risk and maximize gains.  The importance of placing investments in the appropriate vehicles to minimize tax implications is also discussed.  Finally some thoughts on the appropriate approach to creating a plan and implementing it based on the level of involvement you desire are discussed..

 

Resources:

  • Webex Recording (58 minutes) (MP4 Format)

  • Chapter-3 Part-2 Discussion (PDF download)

  • Meeting Agenda (PDF download)

  • Meeting Minutes (PDF download)

  • Chapter 3 Spreadsheets

 

 

 

2022-01-23

Chapter 2 Part-2, Chapter 3: Investments (Pages 44 - 59)

We Continue Chapter 2 with more definitions then discuss unplanned expenses.  Finally we introduce taxes and how to determine what you Net Tax Rate is.

Chapter 3 is focused on Investments and identifies the various types of investments (ie stocks, bonds, etc) the various types of  accounts (ie vehicles) created for holding these investments ad finally introduces the concept of Asset Allocation, a process of distributing your investments across various risk level investments to minimize risk and maximize gains.  The importance of placing investments in the appropriate vehicles to minimize tax implications is also discussed.  Finally some thoughts on the appropriate approach to creating a plan and implementing it based on the level of involvement you desire are discussed.

 

Resources:

  • Webex Recording (1:00) (MP4 Format).

  • Chapter-2 Part-2, Chapter 3 Discussion (PDF download)

  • Meeting Agenda (PDF download)

  • Meeting Minutes (PDF download)

  • Chapter 2 Spreadsheets

 

 

 

2022-01-16

Chapter 1, Part-2, Chapter 2: Some Fundamental Planning Facts (Pages 12 - 44)

We wrap up chapter 1 with a discussion on hazards of post and pre retirement projections.  Continuing onto Chapter two where we discuss Opportunity Cost associated with spending money on unnecessary items.  The concept of life expectancy and how these tables are used by the IRS is explained along with how the expected life expectancy in these tables change as you age is explained.  The dynamically changes estimate of life expectancy is used to help insure you never outlive your retirement funds.  The concept of compounding is introduced here and how this can work to your benefit when applied to investments but work against you when applied to inflation.  The concept of Today’s Dollars is introduced and explained why this is used with the Autopilot method.  Basic financial terms are introduced.  Recognizing that unplanned events and what some of these may be is discussed.  It is pointed out that Taxes should play a role in financial decisions and retirement planning.  Finally it is pointed out that there are many uncertain factors that may impact your retirement planning.  It is also pointed out that Autopilot method introduces mechanisms for dealing with these uncertainties.

 

Resources:

  • Webex Recording (1:00) (MP4 Format).

  • Chapter-1 Part-2, Chapter 2 Discussion (PDF download)

  • Meeting Minutes

  • Meeting Agenda (PDF download)

 

 

 

2022-01-09

Chapter-1, Part-1: The Realities of Financial Planning (Pages 1  - 12)

This chapter points out the importance of having pre and post retirement plans on how to save and spend-down your nest egg.  It identifies risk of out-living your savings and provides real-world scenarios on how some of the various approaches would have faired in different historic market conditions.   Common mistakes and incorrect assumptions that many plans make are identified.  A side-by-side comparison on how theses methods would have performed in comparison with the Autopilot method is provided.

 

Resources:

  • Webex Recording (1:00) (MP4 Format).

  • Chapter-1 Part-1 Discussion (PDF download)

  • Meeting Minutes (PDF download)

  • Meeting Agenda (PDF download)

 

 

 

What you should know about Social Security (2021-09-19)

Things to consider and when determining what is the best age to start claiming Social Security Benefits (ie Breakeven calculations), we also discuss how benefits are taxed.  We run through a few scenarios on when to claim benefits and tax calculations in relation to Social Security

 

 

Annuities (2021-04-25)

We take a high level view of the different type of Annuities and options (riders).

 

 

Investing and Taxes (2021-02-21)

We take a more direct look at how tax considerations should help guide you in decisions on what investments should be placed in what accounts, and how taxes should be taken into consideration when withdrawing from these accounts.

Before our discussion on taxes we will have a brief discussion on possible investment opportunities due to COVID-19.  These are considered Tactical Investments.  We will also briefly discuss recent Bitcoin developments.

 

 

Asset Allocation - Part 2 (2021-02-07)

We continue our discussion on Asset Allocation  In this conversation we do a deep dive into the Asset Allocation Example spreadsheets.  We review the details of the three sample portfolios (Conservative, Moderate, Aggressive) portfolios and detail how they were created, examine how they would have performed thought the housing market crash and the recent COVID-19 pandemic correction.  We then move on to show how you can use these spreadsheets to review and adjust your portfolio and get an idea on how it would have performed during these two corrections.

 

It is highly recommended that you view Part 1 of this discussion before viewing Part 2.  We will be referencing the same spreadsheets that were introduced in Part 1

 

Asset Allocation-Part 1 (2021-01-31)

One of the keys to successful investing and retirement planing is having the appropriate Asset Allocation.  In this meeting we will discuss what Asset Allocation is and some of the factors that need to be considered when determining what allocation is appropriate for you.

 

Investing 101: Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds (2021-01-17)

There are a myriad of options when investing your money, here we have a brief overview of CD's, Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Index Funds, Mutual Funds.

 

Review of Vehicles for Retirement (2020-12-27)

This is a very brief rundown of some of the various investment vehicles one should consider for securing ones retirement. Various vehicles including 401k's, 357's, IRA's Roth IRA's, Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and regular investment accounts are discussed.

 

Using the Investment Spreadsheet (2020-12-13)

In this WebEx we review the spreadsheet I have developed for evaluating Stocks, ETFs, bond Funds and other investments that can be purchased through a brokerage account or other investment account.

Reources:

 

NOTE: Updated spreadsheet with updated macros

[Control][Shift]Q – Will rename cells for the newly defined investment.

[Control][Shift]W – Will insert investment data defined for new investment.

Where

  [Control] means to hold down the Control key

  [Shift] means hold down the Shift key