Author: adminCordant

THE CORDANT WEALTH FINANCIAL CLARITY BREAK

Retiring from Intel: Calculating Years of Service, Determining Retirement Eligibility and the Benefits of Being an Intel Retiree (Part 1)

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Not everyone leaving Intel, even if it’s their last job, officially retires from Intel. The company has very specific retirement eligibility rules and subsequent benefits accruing to official retirees. And, as with all Intel benefit plans, these benefits can be enormously valuable but are often complex and difficult to determine how they apply to your specific situation. We help our... Read More

How to Stress Test Your Financial Plan: A Look at the Key Variables

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As any engineer can tell you, sensitivity and stress testing are important tools in determining how a system can fail and therefore, determining the safe usage for that system. When it comes to your financial life, it should be no different. Stress testing your financial plan is an important exercise in determining the health of your wealth. While this a... Read More

Margin Debt Hits All-Time High, or Does It?

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If it bleeds, it leads. ~Joe Loder in Nightcrawler Margin debt recently hit an all-time high—$528 billion as of February month end. But, by another measure, margin debt divided by underlying assets, it’s actually at a lower level than it was in February 2009—the start of the market recovery from the global financial crises. So, how concerned should you be... Read More

How Do You Know If Your Investment Strategy Has Stopped Working?

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Over the last three calendar years, Global stocks (MSCI All Country World Index - ACWI) have returned a meager 3.7% annualized leading some to question their investment approach. Large market moves up are obviously fun, and even big moves down are often easier to ride out (at least you can see something happening) than a sideways markets. It’s extended periods of... Read More

Social Security Income: How to Delay and Optimize for Taxes

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We received a couple of questions on our recent post “How to Increase Retirement Wealth With the Right Withdrawal Order” and will address the first one here. (Note: as we mentioned earlier this year, we will be making an effort to address more reader questions on the blog this year, so, if you have questions send them in.) The question... Read More

Make an Appointment Now to Update Your Financial Plan for 2017

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We know that time doesn’t slow down for anyone, but it’s hard to believe we are already more than two months into 2017. Now that you have settled into the year and have hopefully made some headway on your resolutions, it’s time to get serious about making your finances a priority for the rest of the year. As you reflect... Read More

Don’t Let Life Imitate Art When It Comes To Estate Planning

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With #OscarGate squarely in our rear-view mirror, Hollywood can now resume their "normal" lives, and the rest of us can only speculate how the singular moment in the world's most popular award show was botched by someone in the financial services industry. Talk about bizarre. While I'd like to use this space to poke fun at the rich and famous in... Read More

Contradicting Warren Buffett: When Volatility is Risk

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Last week I enjoyed dinner with a group of people, one of which happened to be a hedge fund manager and fellow CFA charterholder. As us finance-types are wont to do, we quickly made our way to a discussion of every investment nerd’s favorite question: what is risk? Warren Buffett, in his 2014 Berkshire Hathaway annual letter (page 18), shared... Read More

How To Reduce Your Target Number and Retire Earlier

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In a recent article, Michael Kitces points out the dual benefits in staying off of the hedonic treadmill as it relates to income increases throughout your career—higher savings today and a lower required replacement income (meaning a lower portfolio balance is needed) when you retire. These two factors make a powerful combination in moving anyone towards their retirement number much quicker... Read More

10 Things We Believe Wealth Management Should Be

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1. We believe in being intentional What do you want to accomplish? Why do you want to accomplish it? Gaining this clarity by answering these “big questions” leads to better outcomes and a higher chance of success. When you get clear on your objectives, only then can the best strategy be put in place to accomplish them. Being intentional about... Read More

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