"Advisor Perspectives" Articles

It’s become common practice to utilize U.S. historical data when projecting the resilience of your financial plan. However, this can potentially underestimate the risk of a significant market crash, as relying solely on U.S. data may lead to an inaccurate perception of downside risk.

From the moment you enter the workforce and into retirement, you’ll find that all of your earned dollars are in fact not all yours. One way or another, Uncle Sam wants his share, so it’s crucial to consider the different values of your money based on tax implications.

You spent decades stockpiling savings for retirement. After years of frugality and budgeting, however, flipping the switch to then spend those hard-earned dollars isn’t for the faint of (penny pinching) hearts.

The transition from accumulation to decumulation mode can be one of the biggest challenges for retirees. In addition to requiring a mindset shift, it also presents unique obstacles that should be considered as part of your retirement planning process.

Albert Einstein once said, “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the Income Tax.” Beyond being complicated, there is no way to avoid Uncle Sam’s share of your appreciated assets.

Here, past podcast guest, Wade Pfau, highlights how to strategize the withdrawal order between your three tax buckets (taxable, tax-deferred, tax-exempt) by utilizing two different distribution methods: The adjusted gross income (AGI) threshold strategy versus the incremental average tax rate method.

According to the 1950-era modern portfolio theory, volatility is the most appropriate measure for portfolio risk. It draws down to utilizing the statistical concept of standard deviation; but while this makes the metric mathematically simple and easy to estimate, it also carries some disadvantages.

Should you love or hate annuities? To reach a thorough conclusion, answering this question involves a bit of introspect and research. Above all, it’s important to keep in mind that no investment vehicle is perfect, and oftentimes, popularity will shift based on behavioral finance and current economic conditions.

To determine if you are a constrained investor, you would calculate the ratio of your minimum annual living expenses to the value of your net investment assets. If the outcome is more than three percent, you could be classified in the constrained category.

Bucket strategies are immensely popular in the realm of retirement planning strategies, but as with any financial approach, they have their naysayers too.

The behavior and decisions you make around money root far deeper than you might ever realize.

With a lack of clarity still in the financial forecast, this article spotlights two fear and greed-based biases you will want to be aware of, so you can learn to not only manage them, but to also put more focus toward the long-term success of your investments.