Retirement Blog

Mitt Romney’s retirement planning conundrum is a problem I wouldn’t mind having. Unlike most of us, Romney  has somewhere between $20.7 million and $101.6 million in his IRA, according to his federal financial disclosure report. That news has some people up in arms and others just plain jealous. The Wall Street Journal speculated last week

I firmly believe everyone is dealt certain gifts, which they should develop for the betterment of their own lives as well as that of the community. If we’re lucky, we can base our livelihoods on these gifts and enjoy their fruits during retirement. At age 77, artist Thomas Muhl exemplifies someone who has done just that.

Here’s some more retirement planning advice for people who are more concerned about safety than returns. If you have a fixed-rate annuity with a guaranteed minimum floor of 3 percent, don’t be in a hurry to surrender it, advises Investment News, a publication written for investment advisers. Six or seven years ago, that was a

A few years ago, cautious investors living in retirement put their savings in long-term U.S. bonds and happily collected 6 percent. Today, that isn’t much of an option because rates are below 2 percent. Even conservative investors like my CPA husband can’t find much good to say about that rate of return — no matter

My mother would roll over in her grave if she knew that I wrote about money and occasionally put my personal experiences with it in print for anybody to read. So I thought it wasn’t at all surprising when the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies asked women in their 50s and 60s if they ever

In honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Day of Service, here are some thoughts on retirement planning that don’t rely on accumulating a large pot of money. Not everything that contributes to a financially stable retirement costs money. If you can accumulate these five assets, you are well on your way to a comfortable

Our grown children were with us for the holidays, and during that time, we talked to all of them about money and retirement planning — ours and theirs. A few weeks after the last of them left, I’m still chewing over our conversations. The good news is that our older two are in much better

Winnebago Chairman of the Board Bob Olson, 60, is hanging up his work boots this month. After 43 years of working for a company that promotes leisure travel, he and his wife Kathy are going to follow company advice and take an extended Winnebago road trip. “We’re going to spend a month on the road.

The cost of health care is a real retirement planning wild card. That makes being able to depend on Medicare coverage a blessing, even if it’s not the total answer. Bankers Life, which is a provider of Medicare supplement and Advantage programs, surveyed Americans between the ages of 47 and 75 who had household incomes

Our retirement planning ought to insure that we can stand on our own two feet without relying on somebody else’s help, but it’s a good feeling to know that if things don’t go as planned,  a family member will be willing to step in and help out. It doesn’t matter what generation they are, Americans