Skip to main content

Blogging WealthTrack

One of my favorite shows to watch on the weekend is WealthTrack with Consuelo Mack. It is a show offered by Public Television and it has been rated the "Best Money on TV" by Money Magazine (which I used to subscribe to).

According to this morning's episode, recorded in January of this year, US Household Wealth fell 11 Trillion Dollars in 2008 or, put another way, a whole 18%.

What is the new target number? That is, how much money do I need to generate every month/year in order to live? How do I get to that number?

Harold Evensky, Author - Retirement Income Redesigned
Marybeth Franklin, Kiplingers Personal Finance
Jonathan Clements, Director of Financial Education CITI, Author - The little book of Main Street Money


1.Segment their money - not all at the same time for same purpose
5-10 years of retirement, guaranteed income
"Buckets of Money"
2. 6-10
3. 11-15
4. Alternative Investments

But where do you keep your assets? For Franklin, the error is clear. Many people have their assets too consolidated, putting all of their money in IRAs/401ks. Cash in regular taxable account provides great flexibility with regard to taxation.

All of the experts agree to the common idea of restricting to 4% of your income for your first year withdrawal. This is a rule of thumb that works for perhaps 90% of the cases, but this wouldn't work for the past couple of years, which were the other 10% of cases.

The big takeaway from this discussion? The idea of an immediate annuity: Just 100K can generate 7%, which pays out for the rest of your life.

The biggest challenge for people? Being able to relinquish control of their principal to make a long term decision about their money like an annuity.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Suze Orman Goes Too Far!

I've been a fan of Suze Orman for years. When I first started working after graduating college and then I started to make some money, my experience with other members of my family, mostly my grandparents, showed me that I needed to figure this money thing out. So, I set out to understand how money works and I found Suze. Many financial gurus are out there and for the most part, much of the advice overlaps, but Suze really seemed to be right along my line of thinking.  I bought the books, watched the show, and despite the fact that I feel like I've largely outgrown it so long as I follow the lessons, I really wanted to check up on how things were going. I went to the CNBC website and found an interview where she said this: "I do really live within my means. I have absolutely no debt. If I don't have the money to write a check, then I can't afford it. I never, ever, ever spend old money, so I'm only allowed by my own standards to buy something new with new mone...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do Better With Your Time

Recently, I've been extremely busy with some work commitments. The interesting thing for me is that this increased work activity has really helped crystallize some of my feelings with regard to time. And these ideas are a critical part about my view on personal finance. I'm curious to know if others feel similarly. Time is money. That is, Time, in some way, contains energy. Money, is also energy. In the act of working, I am able to compound and increase the amount of money that I have. I am exchanging my time and effort and thought which are components of my work, for the productivity that I produce. And this production gets me money from my employer. However, the first dollars that I make each day, week, or month are the most valuable. Then the ones that I make at the end are the most valuable. (Forget about taxes for a minute.) The reason is, the first ones help me have a place to live and food to eat. And the last ones are the ones that I can use to really improve my life lo...
3 comments
Read more

iPhone as a productivity tool

Finding the right tool to be productive can mean the difference between being average and being a superstar. Although it still feels early, I think that the iPhone is that tool for me. I tried palm pilots and I've played with blackberries. The cost is significant but worth it. It can be very easy to get caught up in the aspects of the phone that make it entertaining. Bringing games and other aspects of computers together really makes it a productivity tool. So I don't know what else to praise it for. But those are not the real reasons I like it. The very text that I'm typing right now is the reason. Becoming adept at the keyboard is a bit of a learning curve. Butit is no different than the palm or the blackberry. And the quick composition of text makes the iPhone an all-star. Now that I have this tool I can always work on something that interests me or even chill out with a game. But more than that, it is all in one. For me that I don't have to carry a separate item li...
1 comment
Read more