Your Unbiased Advisor: Are Target Date funds right for you?

Are Target Date funds right for you?

For investors who want a better than average return that they can “set up and forget” target-date funds provide the best option. An estimated 40 million Americans have put at least part of their retirement money in target-date funds since they first started hitting the market in the early ’90s. The amount of money in target-date mutual funds and exchange-traded funds—whose mix of stocks and bonds go from riskier to more conservative over time—has now reached $1.75 trillion. If you have a 401(k) or other retirement account that invests in the market, chances are that some of your money is in a target-date fund. The best funds are low-cost index funds which provide higher returns and less volatility from wide comprehensive stock and bond markets, national and international. Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 Fund has provided returns of over 11% since 2012. Your money doubles every 7 years at that rate. No advisor fees is key to $million retirement fund.

https://www.amazon.com/You-Beat-Wall-Street-professionals/dp/1986031373

Another way the wealthy avoid their fair share of taxes

Private placement life insurance is already in the portfolio of the rich since life insurance benefits are never taxed. Our representatives made a little-noticed change in U.S. insurance law at the end of 2020 that makes the tool more powerful, at the same time that competition among insurance carriers and advisory firms is giving rich investors more flexibility, lower costs and a wider choice of products on PPLI platforms. Biden’s tax laws, if enacted will make insurance more attractive. The policies can fail if not funded properly over time. Once assets are inside a PPLI, they can’t be taken out without a big tax bill — though they can be borrowed against or rolled into another insurance product. Insurance is combined with other loopholes: Family offices, for example, can buy PPLI policies inside dynasty trusts, which are vehicles that let multiple generations of wealthy heirs avoid the estate tax. As one advisor said: “Rich people can do things other people can’t.” There is one legal tax shelter we can use so we don’t end up paying their taxes.

Don’t pay their taxes: https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Tax-Shelter-Avoid-taxes/dp/1985448300

Why are index funds recommended by Warren Buffett?

“I just think that the best thing to do is buy 90% in S&P 500 index fund.” Unless you are smarter than Buffett with $102 billion in proven stock-picking assets, you should take his advice. Buffett realizes that it is the Miracle of Compounding that has multiplied his assets over time. Yes, he picked some great companies at the right time, but it is compounding of earnings that does the real wealth-building work. “My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest.” Compound interest is money making money on itself. It is time that can make you rich. Buffett began managing money with his paper route when he was 14. To prove it is TIME not stock trading that can make you rich, Fidelity studied the returns of their customers over time. It was not their investment advisors that produced the best account returns. It was NOT moving their money—no trading, no withdrawals, no nothing. Trading slows compounding. Customers’ accounts that did the best were the ones they forgot. Over time, buy and hold at low cost provides our best chance of gaining wealth. Dividends and stock splits were automatically reinvested and produced the highest end accumulations for those who forgot or who are patient investors. Index funds can be the lowest cost—reinvestment is usually FREE. Vanguard leads the index market.

Go with Buffett: https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Compounding-Turn-day-into/dp/1470176513

Most retirees use RMD not annuities for retirement income

Major study of how people manage their income and spending in retirement. Most decreased their portfolios’ equity concentration after rollover. About 30% had an annuity and/or a pension. Their median estimated investible wealth was $300,000–350,000. Their median observable retirement wealth in accounts studied was around $110,000. The most common age to receive Social Security benefits for the first time was 66. The most common retirement age was between 65 and 70. Most used the RMD withdrawal tables to determine income. People who don’t take any distribution before their RMD age had much less observable retirement wealth (roughly a quarter) than those who were taking early withdrawals. This suggests that the need to efficiently draw down wealth is more critical for this less wealthy segment of the population. The RMD approach tends to generate more income later in retirement and can even leave a sizable account balance at age 100. Unlike the RMD approach, reflecting actual spending allows retirees to support higher spending early in retirement and achieve greater utility of their savings. This requires making/following a plan.

https://www.amazon.com/What-your-RMD-much-spend/dp/1718946716

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