The Complete Retirement Planner Blog
9 Retirement Planning Topics That Need Clarification - Part I
Especially at the beginning of a new year, there seems to be a never-ending supply of articles offering advice about retirement planning. Some offer well thought out points, some offer generic assumptions, some offer half-truths, and some don't seem to have much to offer at all. The following topics need some clarity before taking them too seriously:• Plan On Replacing 75% Of Your Salary In Retirement. Really? Many articles suggest that you should plan on replacing 70% - 80% of your gross salary in retirement, so I split the difference. In general terms, with a salary of $75,000 per year, you...
Using Monte Carlo Simulations For Retirement Planning - Fool's Gold?
If you’ve ever spoken with a financial adviser about retirement, they probably suggested running a Monte Carlo simulation program to help determine how financially prepared you are. These programs randomly combine historical outcomes (annual market returns for the most part) with personal financial data to arrive at a probability of success (i.e. that you won’t run out of money in retirement). Telling clients that they have run thousands of scenarios to arrive at this information sounds like they have really worked hard to earn their money. But there are a few problems. To begin with, not all of these programs...