Helpful Articles
Reserves
These are articles that were written to help develop ideas for journalists that work for The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Kiplinger’s, Smart Money, AARP, newspapers, financial web sites, etc. They’ve been used as a source of quotes for these publications.
How to survive 4 major retirement hazards
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-survive-4-major-retirement-hazards-2014-09-22?page=1
How to earn 4% to 15%. Stay out of debt!
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-earn-4-to-15-stay-out-of-debt-2014-08-25
Replacement Savings Make Real Money. This Wall Street Journal article suggests some ways to avoid having to use credit to buy expensive things which fail during use. There is a simple, easy to use table, that illustrates about how much a worker should save to replace an automobile or other things as well as how much a retiree should set aside and not include in a computer retirement analysis that calculates the amount that can be spent each year until death.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/replacement-savings-make-real-money-2013-02-07
Budgeting for Uncertain Events. These charts provide important planning information that is almost always neglected in financial analysis and retirement planning in particular. See for yourself what a huge difference this may make in your future life.
Dilbert’s Food Storage Commentary. Dilbert’s Food Storage commentary humorously brings out the need for some different kinds of reserves.
Replacement Cost Budgeting. When you retire, you don't want to have to buy anything more than your residence on credit. Otherwise, the interest costs will add a significant penalty. Here we show how you can simply calculate how much you should be saving each year and how much you should already have in reserves to replace expensive things. Also see the related article, Brutal Facts of Retirement Budgeting below.
Reserves (PDF File)*. Plan for large purchase replacement, likely expensive events and emergencies. Invest appropriately for these and prepare your home with emergency supplies.
The OSIFs of Retirement Planning. In the construction business, we used to call the items we unknowingly left out of our bid price, "Oh S..t, I Forgot." Retirement planners do the same thing. A group of retirees came up with a list of the key things they wished they had thought of when they first made a plan to retire.