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
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
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
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
Recently, legendary investor Charlie Ellis was interviewed by Barry Ritholtz on his Bloomberg Masters in Business podcast. The whole interview is worth your time, but here I wanted to focus on just one of the topics they covered: The danger in using rules of thumb. Here is the exchange: Ritholtz: As an investor, how do you aim in the right... Read More
Real estate is all about “location, location, location” as the saying goes and lately, Portland is the place to be. One of the strongest markets nationally, prices have risen 10.3% over the last year compared to 5.1% nationally, as measured by the Case-Shiller Home Price 20-city composite index. In fact, among the metro areas measured by the 20-city index over... Read More
This year on the Cordant blog, we’ll be answering questions that we frequently see, or that relate to a relevant topic for many readers. We'll kick if off with the following question about structuring a competition between two investment managers. Question: I will retire in one year. My 401(k) will be sizeable enough that I'm thinking of splitting it in... Read More
The best strategy in theory might not be the best strategy for you. How can this be? Recently, on the Meb Faber Show, Gerstein Fisher’s Founder and CIO Gregg Fisher said the following: Sometimes the best investment strategy isn't the right investment strategy. He continued: Probably we’d all be well off if we bought nothing but small cap value stocks... Read More
How much can I spend in retirement? For many, that’s the million-dollar question – literally. The first step taken of any retirement planning should be developing a baseline financial plan, and understanding the appropriate withdrawal rate is paramount to this process. During the early stages of plan development for our clients, we often get questions about the 4% withdrawal rule... Read More
"Avoiding a problem with foresight and good design is a cheap, highly leveraged way to do your work. Extinguishing a problem before it gets expensive and difficult is almost as good, and far better than paying a premium when there's an emergency. Fretting about an impending problem, worrying about it, imagining the implications of it... all of this is worthless.... Read More
