What to do about poor future returns

There’s been a lot of chatter recently about asset valuations, in particular US stocks and US bonds, and their impact of future returns. This is nothing new. It just seems to get louder at the start of every new year. I’ve discussed this topic before on the blog. Last time […]

Yes, you are trying too hard

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” Socrates When I read the Socrates quote above I can’t imagine what he would have said about today’s world. We live in a highly complex non-linear world with […]

Technology is shaking up the investing landscape

There’s been couple of recent announcements in the portfolio management industry which show the extent of technology’s penetration into the industry. The announcements further continue the rise of such automatic investing companies like Betterment and Wealthfront which are using modern technology to automate and drive down investment costs for individuals. First, […]

The 4% rule lives despite what the NY Times says

OK, deep breaths, deep breaths….The drivel the passes for reporting on retirement issues never ceases to amaze me. But this time I found a real howler. The “paper of record”, the venerable NY Times, recently published a piece on the 4% safe withdrawal rule, titled “4% Rule for Retirement Withdrawals […]

Beating the market to maximize retirement income

Warning, this is a somewhat geeky technical post! Besides accumulating more wealth by working longer there is one very direct way to increase your income in retirement. Beat the market’s return. Higher returns will lead to higher SWRs (safe withdrawal rates) for the most part. (The other way to increase […]

2012 in review

Happy New Year everyone. Hard to believe its 2013 already. Time to look back at 2012 and see how I did versus my retirement goals. For those interested the 2011 review is here and the 2010 review is here. This marks the end of our 3rd year living the full […]

November 2012 portfolio review

A little late for this month’s portfolio review but there has been a lot going on  lately on the personal front.  My apologies. This month there was a lot of changes to the portfolio. I’m mostly in cash now and starting to make a new shopping list. Lets get to […]