Retirement Planning

If you’ve got $200,000 in retirement savings, and a sense of adventure, here are 10 safe and affordable countries from south of the U.S. border where you can comfortably kick back and enjoy your golden years.

There is an obscure, almost hidden problem in the financial system: public employee pension funds across America are suffering extensive market losses and putting the retirements of the workers they are supposed to protect at high risk.

When the government goes further into debt the biggest problem isn’t that it places a burden on future generations, since the debt will never be repaid anyway. The biggest problem is the immediate dampening effect it has on economic progress.

This post looks at the 4% rule to understand why it works so well in retirement, what could possibly be a stumbling block and how to overcome such a situation should it arise.

If you’re within a decade of retirement, it may be time to think hard about how much stock exposure is enough. The answer might be less than you think for a portfolio in distribution phase.

How does your savings account stack up to the average American’s? How about the top 1 percent’s?

According to a recent Vanguard study, the right financial advisor can add up to 3.75% of value to your portfolio but, with 310,000 investment advisors in the United States, how do you find one that is independent and that will serve your interests?

The 401(k) plan gives 90 million Americans a way to make tax-deductible contributions to a retirement account directly from their paychecks with 71% of them believing that there are no fees at all associated with their plan. Nothing could be further from the truth! The vast majority of plans are characterized by huge commissions, expensively managed funds, and layer upon layer of additional – and often hidden – charges

Americans aren’t getting their medical money’s worth - not by a long shot! According to an annual Bloomberg analysis in almost 200 economies the U.S. will cost you the most for treatment, both in absolute terms and relative to average incomes.

Do you really want to spend more than 40 years of your life working? Do you really want to wait until after age 65 before finally allowing yourself to retire? There's no rule you have to wait that long. What do many early retirees have in common? Let's examine some common characteristics.