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Colleen's Corner

Asset Allocation

Often financial "experts" make asset allocation difficult to understand. My goal in this series of articles is for you to understand asset allocation thoroughly, in an easy to understand format.
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NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGESTODAY+/-LAST WEEK
30 yr fixed mtg 3.80% 3.76%
15 yr fixed mtg 3.11% 3.02%
5/1 ARM 2.69% 2.68%
30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 4.38% 4.39%
5/1 jumbo ARM 2.94% 2.89%
Rates may include points
NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGESTODAY+/-LAST WEEK
$30K HELOC 4.60% 4.59%
$50K HELOC 4.24% 4.24%
$30K home equity loan 5.77% 5.76%
$50K home equity loan 5.50% 5.47%
$75K home equity loan 5.47% 5.44%
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NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGESTODAY+/-LAST WEEK
36 month new car loan 3.13% 3.13%
48 month new car loan 3.24% 3.25%
60 month new car loan 3.34% 3.35%
72 month new car loan 3.31% 3.31%
36 month used car loan 4.36% 4.36%
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NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGESTODAY+/-LAST WEEK
6 month CD 0.46% 0.46%
1 yr CD 0.70% 0.70%
5 yr CD 1.38% 1.38%
1 yr IRA CD 0.71% 0.71%
5 yr IRA CD 1.49% 1.49%
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Your Retirement Date

Colleen Mulder-Seward, MBA
Retirement Calculator, Inc.
retirementdate.com

Your Retirement Date

As with any milestone in your life, your retirement date should be made with careful thought given to all the factors involved.  The factors that affect your retirement are different from those of anyone else.  Your financial goals and objectives, age, health, financial position, risk tolerance, and family needs all play a role in your retirement decision.

The response to the confused retirement investor has been the creation of target date mutual funds.  These funds are easy to spot among the listing of mutual funds, because the fund's name includes the retirement year - for example Fidelity Freedom 2025 Fund.  Don't expect to find a mutual fund for every year - they are usually offered in five year increments. 

Target date funds contain an asset mix of stocks, bonds and cash.  Each of these categories has risk associated with it.  Generally, the more risk you assume, the higher the return.  The relative risk pyramid below shows various investment choices ranked from highest risk and potential return at the top of the pyramid, to the lowest risk and potential return at its base.

Highest risk & return

Options, futures, low-priced or "penny" stocks

Small-cap stocks, low quality stocks, collectibles, mid-cap stocks, low quality or "junk" bonds, specific industry/sector mutual funds

Quality growth stocks or mutual funds, large cap stocks or mutual funds

Lowest risk & return

High quality convertible bonds or High quality convertible bond mutual funds, high quality preferred stock or high quality preferred stock mutual funds, balanced stock and bond mutual funds

Money market accounts or  money market mutual funds, high quality corporate bonds, high quality corporate bond mutual funds, high quality municipal bonds or high quality municipal bond mutual funds

U.S. savings bonds, U.S. treasury issues, federal agency securities, insured savings and checking accounts, insured certificates of deposit

The fund changes its investment mixture and becomes more conservative as the target date nears.  The goal of these funds is to provide the right blend of growth and principle protection of your money for when the target date arrives. 

As mentioned earlier, each retirement need is different for each person.  A fund's allocation may not match your individual the risk tolerance and financial objectives.  Risk tolerance is your tolerance to assume risk.  You can discover your risk tolerance by completing this questionnaire.

You can compare your ideal asset allocation mix against that of various mutual fund companies - as they vary from fund to fund even when they have the same target date.  To find and compare target date mutual funds, start at Yahoo's mutual fund center.  Enter your planned retirement date and click the "search" button.  As seen to the right. Yahoo then displays all matches for your search criteria. 

Once here simply click on any of the blue underlined fund ticker symbol on the left side of the screen.   You will be taken to the screen shown.  Almost there, now click on the "Holdings" link on the left side of the screen.  Now you are at the "Overall Portfolio Composition (%)" for your fund. This is where your print out of funds matching your retirement date comes in handy. Enter the symbol of other mutual funds that interest you from the list into the "Get Holdings for:" area on the right side of the screen. 

Note the composition for each fund portfolio and the one that most closely matches your ideal asset allocation mix will let you sleep the best at night.   

Seeking financial education and careful planning can make this milestone in your life a success.  Consider a FREE subscription to the Retirement Intelligence Information Services newsletter to keep informed of the latest retirement news and education topics like this article has demonstrated.  As George Santayana said, "The wisest mind has something yet to learn."

How do I keep up-to-date on the latest news impacting my retirement?

To keep informed about retirement topics, try a FREE membership to Retirement Intelligence Information Services. At no cost to join, you will receive a bi-monthly newsletter full of financial information to inform and empower you to have a successful retirement. As an added bonus, www.retirementcalc.com will include the Retirement Calculator Software Version 2.0 (a $24.95 value seen live on CBS TV) for FREE. 

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Analysis of the Economics of Early Social Security Withdrawal

Robert J. Phillips
Chief Retirement Consultant

Deciding whether or not to take the early withdrawal of social security at age 62 can be difficult. If you need this income at 62 to fund your retirement the decision is fairly straightforward. Take it early! On the other hand, if you have another source of revenue to fund your retirement your decision will be primarily based on lifestyle, health and investment preferences.

Several factors can affect your decision. First is your life expectancy. If you are in good health and have a family history of living beyond 90 then waiting for full benefits may be best. Two other factors impact this decision. First and most important is the value of money or your expected return from your investments. If you are using other investments instead of social security to fund your retirement you should use the rate of return of these investments as your value of money. There is another way to look at the value of money. If you do not require the social security money to live, you can invest the distributions for the future. The rate of return of this investment is your value of money. If your investments will make larger returns such as stocks this would favor taking the early withdrawal.

The last factor impacting your decision is inflation. Social security includes an annual adjustment based on inflation. You cannot control this variable but you should be aware of its impact. If future inflation is significant it will favor a later full distribution

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Find Out Your Breakeven Age

We developed a calculator to assist in analyzing the impact of taking early benefits at age 62 or waiting for full benefits at age 66 to 67 depending on the year you were born...If you were born in 1960 or later your full benefits will begin at age 67 and your reduction for early benefits at age 62 will be 30%. If you were born between 1946 and 1960 your full benefits begin as early as age 66. We have included a chart that summarizes information.

To use the calculator you need to input your year of birth. You also need to input a value of money up to 10% and a projected inflation adjustment. The calculator analyzes income generated over time from both the early and full benefit investments. It calculates the age at which full social security will catch up and breakeven with the early withdrawal. If you were born before 1960 your breakeven age will be impacted by the year you were born. An early breakeven age favors waiting for full benefits.

The social security calculator is not the final answer whether to take an early withdrawal but it does give you additional economic data to assist in that decision. Ultimately you must balance income, investments and lifestyle to optimize your enjoyment during your retirement years.