Articles and Videos

Managing Your Financial Future

How To Create Guaranteed Income In Retirement- Season 8: Episode 12

April 12, 2022

A steady income is one of the most valuable things you can have, both before and after you retire.  If that income is guaranteed by some entity — the federal government, the PBGC, or the claims-paying ability of an insurance company — then so much the better. Pensions and Social Security are two forms of guaranteed income that people receive usually after they’ve retired.  While many (if not most) people will have a Social Security benefit paid to them, pensions are less common today than they used to be. So in absence of a company pension, how might you create a form of guaranteed income? 

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Five Important Financial Moves to Make at Age 50

April 6, 2022

As you get older, time gets tighter, and your margin for error starts to go way down. With that in mind, if you’re over the age of 50, here are a five money moves that you should take care of in short order.

Managing Your Financial Future

Want To Retire Early? Here’s What You Need to Know- Season 8: Episode 11

April 5, 2022

In the financial planning world, a lot of focus is put (rightly) on those who want to retire around age 65, give or take a few years.  But what about people who are looking to hang it all up well before that age – maybe 55, 50, or even younger? It’s more common than you might think. Doing it successfully, though, is a much bigger challenge. After all, your nest egg needs to last at least as long as you do, and at that age you’re not yet eligible for Medicare or Social Security.  So how do you make it happen? There are ways to do it. 

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Four Things to Know About RMDs

March 30, 2022

Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your retirement plans can be a really tricky thing to navigate. As you probably know, RMDs are withdrawals you have to make from most retirement plans when you reach the age of 72 (it was 70 ½ for those of you born before July 1, 1949). The amount you’re required… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

How To Allocate – And Withdraw – Your Assets- Season 8: Episode 10

March 29, 2022

There are at least three important pieces to the retirement portfolio puzzle: asset allocation, asset location, and asset withdrawal. The first two are related to the accumulation (or saving) phase, and the third has to do with the decumulation (or withdrawal) phase. Which assets should go where when saving for retirement? Tax-free, tax-deferred, or personal accounts? A combination of some or all? And when you’re taking the assets out of the portfolio, which one(s) should ideally come out first?

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Why We Don’t Panic When the Markets Are Down

March 23, 2022

In any crisis, “playing it safe” to avoid losing your money can seem like the only rational strategy. This is why many investors tend to bail out at the first sign of trouble, which of course sends the markets down even further. But over the past 60 years, we’ve seen repeating patterns of crises, and yet, the market has been resilient, and so far, has recovered every time. 

Managing Your Financial Future

The Benefits and Costs of a Roth IRA- Season 8: Episode 9

March 22, 2022

One thing that many people would agree on is that paying no taxes is better than paying any taxes at all. This makes the tax-free nature of Roth IRA withdrawals very attractive, as long as all of the specific rules are met. Of course, there’s a cost to getting money into a Roth IRA.  Whether… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

What If The Markets Crash Just As You Begin Retirement?- Season 8: Episode 8

March 15, 2022

What if you retire at the “wrong” time? There’s a genuine fear among many people that right around the time they need to access their nest egg, their portfolio will suffer a big decline because of an unanticipated market crash. There’s nothing we can do to predict or prevent a drop in the stock market. … View Article

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Ignoring Conventional Advice on Social Security

March 10, 2022

Conventional advice says it’s always best to wait as long as possible to take your Social Security benefits so that you can take advantage of the delayed retirement credits that will increase your benefits for each month you wait, up until age 70. Waiting longer means a larger check. And that advice does make sense – sometimes.

Managing Your Financial Future

The Hidden Risks in Your 401k- Season 8: Episode 7

March 8, 2022

In the world of investing, time can be one of your biggest allies.  As your time span grows shorter, though, your risks tend to go up: if you need your money sooner rather than later, your stock investments could take a downturn at just the wrong time, leaving you without the funds you need. A Target Date Fund in a 401k is designed to deal with this time-related risk.  As you get closer to retirement, and thus closer to needing your funds, the investments are supposed to become more conservative overall, less volatile, with the goal of preserving your principal. But it doesn’t always work out this way. 

Lucia Capital Group Weekly

The Retirement Crisis That Isn’t

March 3, 2022

You may have heard that there’s a huge retirement crisis in America. They say people aren’t saving nearly enough, they’ll have to rely only on Social Security, and retirees are doomed to run out of money. Even Bankrate tells us that 21% of working Americans aren’t saving anything at all! Sounds pretty scary, doesn’t it?

Managing Your Financial Future

Tossing the “4-Percent Rule” Out the Window- Season 8: Episode 6

March 1, 2022

You may have heard of the old financial planning adage that says as long as you withdraw no more than 4 percent of your portfolio’s balance each year, it has statistically a much better chance of surviving over a 30-year timespan. Some have said the withdrawal rate should be even lower than that —  maybe no more than 2 percent. But whether the amount is 4 percent, 2 percent, or some other number, the more important  issue is this: what is your withdrawal strategy? Will you potentially have to sell stocks when they’re down in value in order to meet your spending needs?  If so, you’re asking for trouble.