Retirement

. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg © 2017 Bloomberg Finance LP Dunkin’is a tiny company compared to McDonald’s, both in store count and revenues. But it shares with the franchise giant an important competitive advantage: location. Exploiting this advantage could help it replicate McDonald’s success in in adopting and adapting to emerging consumer trends. An early

We retirees and soon-to-be retirees have a dilemma. The traditional pension is just about gone. Social Security won’t support the lifestyle most of us want. We are left to our own devices. But even if we do build up a fat balance in a 401(k) or other company retirement plan, how do we make it

Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg © 2018 Bloomberg Finance LP China wants everything from Africa: its strategic location, its oil, its rare earth metals, and its fish, leaving African nations indebted to Beijing. In its long history, Africa has served the global ambitions of many foreigners. Foreigners have reached out to Africa as missionaries, financiers, and infrastructure

This question, “When my spouse dies, what will I get from Social Security,” is one of the most frequently asked questions I receive during consultations and presentations, and for some reason so very few act on the available survivor benefits. The typical response from a living spouse is “I didn’t think I was entitled to

Few managers have been through a bear market.  Getty This bull market has lasted so long that an awful lot of mutual fund managers have never seen a bear market. In this update of the greatest mutual fund managers, I take a look at the ones who have bear market experience in the best and worse sectors so

Dad had to beat the mutual funds mom picked to earn her blessing to manage their money  Getty When my dad retired, his plan was to manage my parent’s retirement accounts on his own. My mom didn’t want a rookie investor to manage their money so she agreed to let him do so only after

Senior beautiful senior woman in casual clothes sending an air kiss Getty Investing maven Peter Lynch perhaps best summed up the “keep it simple” approach (or K.I.S.S.) when he advised everyone to, “Buy a business so simple, even an idiot could run it. Because sooner or later, one will.” To reference another smooch-related quote, do

Cetatea de Balta/Romania – October 04 2015: The Bethlen-Haller castle. The castle dates back to XVI century,. Getty I’m the first to admit that, when it comes to real estate investment trusts, a low-yielding dividend is not very exciting. However, over the years, I’ve found that there can be considerable value in owning shares in

It’s no secret that Americans are worried about having enough money set aside for retirement, with the Federal Reserve reporting that less than 40 percent of non-retired adults believe they are “on track” with their retirement savings. At the same time, only about 60 percent of Americans have enough savings to cover a $400 emergency

Retirement Researcher The final use for a reverse mortgage is to preserve the line of credit as an insurance policy against a variety of retirement risks. Preserving credit as insurance involves setting up a HECM reverse mortgage as early as possible and then leaving it unused until needed. The up-front costs for the reverse mortgage

Just before Easter, and (ahem) while some of us were travelling, the Brookings Institute hosted a panel on the topic, “Can retirement plans provide safe income?” for which the video and transcript are both available.  The sessions featured economist Richard Thaler, known for his concept of the “nudge” and behavior economics, for which he was

Private equity managers happily ride a flying carpet created from money investors pay them for doing nothing. Getty Private equity managers charge fees on committed, uninvested capital because they can. What’s better than getting paid 1% to manage people’s money? Answer: Getting paid 2% to not manage it—for doing nothing. In certain niches of the

superhero on american flag background Getty Whenever I see a company use “America” in its name, it makes me think of the power of scale. A few examples come to mind, such as: Extended Stay America (STAY), a lodging business Advance America, which deals in payday loans Great American Homes, a housing company – obviously

In my opinion, the worst 401(k) mistake is the failure to focus on employee outcomes. The “outcome” should be for employees to have enough money to retire with confidence and financial security. To help employees get there, employers need to ask the right questions. For example, are employees participating in the plan? Are they saving

Inna Kelly is a managing director in Morgan Stanley’s San Francisco office. Morgan Stanley When clients know their “burn rate” Inna Kelly says she’s able to manage their money better. Regardless of what the market is doing, Kelly advises her clients to keep track of their monthly spending. “Clients get too busy and don’t know how

Mom agreed to let dad manage their money after he beat the fund managers she chose. Getty When my dad retired, his plan was to manage my parent’s retirement accounts on his own. My mom didn’t want a rookie investor to manage their money so she agreed to let him do so only after dad

Regulars readers of my articles will know that I have repeatedly said that the popular narrative, that Defined Contribution/401(k) plans are a “failed experiment” that’s the result of employers failing in their responsibility to provide Defined Benefit retirement plans, misses the point that the system in which individual employers provided guaranteed retirement benefits was not

Despite the dangers of a concentrated stock position, many people have too much of their savings riding on their employer’s shares. Here’s why you might have a blind spot about this risk. Getty I meet with a lot of executives, managers and other highly compensated employees of publicly-traded companies, and I often spot a big

Looking good America – for now Getty The US economy is cranking – unemployment is dropping and wages finally appear to be rising. More people are feeling flush and major IPOs are coming through the pipeline – Zoom and Lyft went public and Uber, Airbnb and Slack are on deck. This bull market just turned 10

Voters by Ages from the Census Department US Census A recent poll is bad news for Biden (76), Sanders (77), and even Trump (72) and very bad news in progress towards stamping out age-bigotry. More voters in a poll don’t want someone over 75 compared to other factors like being black, or gay, or a