“…a “merely mediocre” decade of returns can actually be worse than a short-term market crash…”[2] Retiring in the 1960’s was a perfect example. Retiring around the beginning of the Great Depression offers a similar example of how a shorter period of dramatic losses can also result in portfolio failure.”
“Households run by someone 65 and older spend an average of $45,756 a year, or roughly $3,800 a month.”
“This example will be based on a 65-year-old retired couple. They have accumulated $1.7 million of retirement savings allocated 50/50 stock/bond, and they also own an un-mortgaged house worth $500,000. They will receive a combined $42,500 in Social Security if they both claim at 65, and their essential expenses are $85,000 increasing with inflation each Read more about Retirement Strategies in Pictures[…]
“One matter has become even clearer than before: The financial circumstances facing retirees differ dramatically from pre-retirees. For this reason, traditional wealth management approaches do not sufficiently address a retiree’s needs.”
“Rational strategies to spend from a volatile portfolio suggest that we spend more when our portfolio grows in proportion to our spending and life expectancy and demand that we spend less when it shrinks.”
This is a rather sobering view of the state of America’s “Retirement Readiness” by John Mauldin of Mauldin Economics. One-in-three Americans have absolutely $0 in retirement savings, and 87% of us have less than $300,000.