What Are Your Thoughts?

Prospective client questions answered:

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**If you hit the 401(k) maximum contribution before the end of the year, watch out! Make sure you are still in a position to get the full company match. Some employers will cease the match and you could miss out.**

One of the most important and relevant topics (especially in 2022) is the sequence (or order) of returns risk in retirement. There is little importance to "average returns" when you are in the withdrawal phase. Make sure you have a plan for it!

Baird Sequence of returns risk PDF.

AXA Equitable SORR PDF.

Athene SORR PDF.

This episode includes questions from listeners about what's going on in the stock market so far in 2022.

Questions discussed:

Who/what is to blame for the stock market's negative performance in 2022?

Is investing gambling?

How often should you check your investment accounts?

Is retirement a myth?

In this episode, we discuss using ETF's as a way to hedge against market downturn.

For retirees and investors that want to share in some upside potential with downside protection, this episode is for you.

Sites mentioned:

https://www.innovatoretfs.com/

https://www.allianzim.com/buffered-outcome-etfs/

https://www.allianzim.com/wp-content/uploads/files/Investor-Guide.pdf

The "A" word - annuity. People often have polarizing opinions on annuities. Let's look at the pros and cons and how they may or may not be a tool for some people in retirement.

Annuity types covered in this episode: SPIA and SPDA (Single premium immediate/deferred annuities) and FIA (Fixed-indexed annuities).

Get your retirement guide here: https://bit.ly/LPP-Ret-Guide

Now that you've learned about the pros and cons of the 4% rule(s), let's examine how we can improve them for retirees. In this episode, we discuss a popular strategy called "guardrails" and how to optimize your retirement income.

Have you seen our guide on the top retirement income and investment strategies for all market conditions? If not, you can get our FREE download here.

The full interview with Jon Guyton on the Financial Advisor Success Podcast is here.

A lengthy blog post about Guardrails (including the examples used in this episode) is available here.

You may or may not have heard of the 4% rule for retirement distributions. In this episode, Doug breaks down what the 4% rule is, who it might work for and who it won't, and much more...

Bengen's White Paper: https://bit.ly/4PRuleBengen

Link to 4% Rule(s) Examples: https://adobe.ly/3cr6HKs

What are the biggest threats in retirement?

This multiple-part series kicks off with what those threats are, why they matter, and how to overcome them.

www.lifepointplanning.com/blog

Link to Sequence of Returns PDF: https://bit.ly/AtheneSORR

"The question that I want to answer as an investor is not, how can I earn the highest returns? Because that's not really what matters. The question I want to answer is, what are the best returns that I can sustain for the longest period of time?"

In this episode, I play a clip from a video by Morgan Housel, talking about how average returns that are sustainable beat one-off home runs. I also discuss how to think about returns and your portfolio with the market being down year-to-date.

If you haven't already, please leave a review on your platform of choice.

If you have cash that would otherwise sit in the bank, Series I Savings Bonds might be a place to look.

They're only available for purchase through TreasuryDirect, but could be a great solution for some people looking for a safe way to keep pace with inflation.