retirement planning

One often-cited guideline for determining asset allocation when planning for retirement is that you should subtract your age from 100 to find the percentage of your investment portfolio that you should keep in stocks. For example, it suggests if you're 40, you should keep 60% of your portfolio in stocks.

A trust is a legal instrument where one person (the trustor) grants another person (the trustee) the legal right to hold title of assets for the benefit of a third party (the beneficiary). Depending on the type of trust, they’re often set up for a number of purposes, including:

Writing a will is one of those things that you know you ought to do, but many of us try to avoid. A will is the way you authorize the transfer of your assets to your spouse, children or others after your death.

Sometimes as we get older, we require assistance to perform basic activities of daily living. This can result from normal aging or a progressive disease or condition. And while many seniors prefer to stay in their own home, many will require more help than can be offered in that setting and must be cared for in a residential facility.

Determining an appropriate mix of investments and matching those choices to your retirement goals is a keystone of successful retirement planning. If your eyes glaze over when someone starts talking about asset classes, diversification and allocation, you’re not alone. Here’s a quick guide:

What Is an Asset Class?

Here’s the headline: $119,238. That’s how much a nursing home costs the average resident for an average stay of 14 months. And that’s just the last phase of care. Before entering a nursing home, most seniors previously receive care at home — and potentially in a less intensive assisted living facility. All of these arrangements are part of the long-term care continuum.

What comes to mind when you think of investment risk? • Picking the wrong mutual funds for your 401(k)? • Buying into a tech bubble? • Purchasing a stock based on a tip from your buddy? • Having too many stocks in your portfolio too close to retirement? Indeed, some of these things quite legitimately could be considered risky.

The three-legged stool is a metaphor that retirement planners use to describe the three most common sources of income for retirees. At one point in time, the three legs referred to Social Security, pension and personal savings — the multiple sources of income generally needed to achieve a financially secure retirement.

Those sensuous, shiny bubbles of sheet metal are seductive. They can also be dangerous to your financial health.

The end-of-the-month problem isn’t just what you’re taking in, it’s more likely what’s going out. Navigating the line between income and expense is a lot easier with a financial road map: A household budget.