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Image by Anthony Fomin Social Security is supposed to offer retirees a sense of financial security after decades of hard work. Yet, for many, it falls painfully short of providing the comfortable retirement they had imagined. While low payouts and rising living costs play a role, there’s another critical factor at work: the decisions retirees make about their benefits. Many retirees are unknowingly making mistakes that reduce their Social Security income or stretch it too […]
It’s been a while and our reader cases are piling up, so without further ado, it’s time for another reader case! Greetings FC and W!!! I’m normally a “Live quietly among the masses!” type of guy, but I finally had to reach out, say what’s-up and ask your advice. I’d like to claim I was FIRE before FIRE was cool, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. I started reading The Greater Fool, right at the […]
By Dr. Erik Hofmeister, WCI Columnist We achieved financial independence three years ago. Even though we kept working for a couple of years, I remember some changes that happened almost immediately. I’ve read hundreds of blog posts and numerous books, but it was quite remarkable to discover the difference between aiming for FI and reaching FI. I have two math lessons and two psychology lessons to share with you. Let’s start with the math lessons. […]
Let’s open with one of the most pertinent and eloquent retirement philosophers and life coaches – former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face” offers the pugilist who likely had the most devastating knockout punch in the history of fisticuffs. Most retirees have a plan. Most retirees eventually get punched in the face. That retirement plan, that retirement life plan often gets knocked to the canvas […]
Yep, it’s happening! I’m returning to the workforce as an employee. After a 6-year break to work on my own projects, I stumbled on a role that just feels right. I’ve accepted the job, and started last week! Whenever I’m talking to people familiar with my financial situation, the biggest question I get is “Why?”. It’s not an easy one to answer. We have a decent amount of savings, about $1.2m even after recent events. […]
What caught my eye this week. I noticed an article in This Is Money this week featuring a reader upset that their pension hadn’t been life-styled into lower-risk assets as they’d hoped. Instead, they wrote: …my money remained in a fund rated moderate-high risk/high reward until March 2020. At this point, I realised what had happened and asked for the switch to be made manually. The same month, I asked for my pension date to […]
By Dr. Jim Dahle, WCI Founder We occasionally get requests for more posts about doctors who are on the cusp of retirement or already retired, so I thought I would highlight the situation of a doctor who posted on the Bogleheads Forum looking for advice. The relevant material in the post was as follows: “I am a 74-year-old retired, divorced physician with two sons and a partner who lives separately on a similar amount of […]
All Insights | Research | Strategy Weekend Reading – Vanguard’s Guide To Selecting An ETF Manager & 14 Destinations Where Retirees Thrive Abroad Team Bankeronwheels Last Updated: April 25, 2025 Share: Team Bankeronwheels Last Updated: April 25, 2025 Share: Click Here to Read How This Compilation Works Weekend Reading is a collection of Investment Research and Lifestyle topics from all corners of the Web. We source the highest quality insights from Wall Street and Main Street that you may apply to your investment process. Unlike the rest of Bankeronwheels.com, this series is provided without additional guidance. As usual, everything is to be used at your own risk. Below is the type of content we shortlist: Balance is not something you find, it’s something you create. Jana Kingsford Featured Live and Let Buy: Which Bond Funds For Your
What does it really mean to live well in retirement? For many, the initial answer might sound like a checklist: enough money to travel, pay the bills, and leave a little behind. But after the novelty of leisure fades, what then? Most people focus on acquiring wealth during their working years, but few pause to think about what that money is really for. A financially secure retirement is a wonderful goal, but the more rewarding […]
A Heavy Metal Guide to Escaping the Rat Race So you want to retire early? Hell yeah, you do! Imagine stepping away from the daily grind, flipping the corporate world the ultimate bird, and spending your days doing exactly what you want. Early retirement doesn’t have to be just a dream! C’mon, Man, it can be a badass reality if you’re ready to commit. Let’s crank up the volume on what it takes. LFG! Define […]
Before the article, here’s what’s happening this week on our podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors: George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy saga, A Song of Ice and Fire, started in 1996, with Martin publishing the first three books over five years. The books built a cult following thanks to their gritty realism, deep characters, and (let’s be honest) a willingness – or even a penchant – to kill off anyone at any time. Then HBO came calling. In 2011, the Game of Thrones adaptation turned the books into a global sensation of a TV show, just as Martin published A Dance with Dragons, the fifth book in the saga. Since then, though, fans have been (im)patiently waiting for the sixth book, The Winds of Winter. Martin has been working on it for over a decade with no release date in sight. The audience reaction to the delay has ranged from good-natured memes to full-blown despair, especially since the TV show timeline overtook the books’ timeline and ended…controversially. To make matters worse, there is supposed to be a seventh book, A Dream of Spring. A seventh book?! The first five books are hugely popular and highly regarded. But until Martin, now 76, finishes the series, it will feel imperfect. How, why, and when should we let “perfect” interfere with “good enough?” Social Security Lump Sum?!?! Last April, I wrote a surprisingly popular article that suggested retirees could reframe their thinking about Social Security. Instead of a “measly income stream,” they could conceptualize it as a meaningful lump sum asset from which they take a monthly withdrawal. Ex: it’s not just “$2500 per month.” It’s a $600,000 lump sum that’s paying you 5% interest! Valuing Social Security as an Asset in Your Retirement Plan Last week, reader Bill wrote to me to push back on the entire premise of this article: “I don’t think you should consider SS as an asset as its an extraneous/unuseful calculation. Instead, determine your portfolio asset allocation by what you need from your portfolio and when it’s needed. This uses the expected amounts of guaranteed income. Retirement Planning is complex enough that minmizing the variables involved is sometimes helpful and valuing SS as a lump sum is one variable that is not needed.” Technically speaking, Bill is 100% right. When I go “behind the curtain” into a real financial plan, I do not treat Social Security as a lump sum. I treat it as what it is: an income stream. That income stream is part of someone’s overall cash flow analysis, along with their annual spending, irregular big-ticket spending, proposed Roth conversions, and necessary portfolio withdrawals to balance the budget. This “Cashflow Planning” is a fundamental step in someone’s retirement plan. To then treat Social Security as a “lump sum” on someone’s balance sheet would be double-counting. Bill and I shared a few more emails and he wrote:
Save, invest, prosper with My Own Advisor. Retirement Numbers and Rules Professionals from all walks of life and sectors have a knack for making the simple, extremely complex. Same goes for the financial industry. In the spirit of keeping things simple, I have updated some back-of-the-napkin examples about retirement numbers and rules to consider. These are good starting points for your retirement… Join the million dollar portfolio journey. The article Retirement Numbers and Rules is […]
It seams to come up often in discussions at our monthly Meetup Groups, Events, and conferences. This constant debate over if we should rent our own. Personally, I do question this as I’ll be downsizing my primary home in a few years for something smaller, and easier to maintain while I spend the coldest Winter months some place south of the snow belt. Do I own, or do I rent? This is the question. Deciding […]