The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning E-Book

Taylor Larimore

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 634

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

The Bogleheads are back-with retirement planning advice for those who need it! Whatever your current financial situation, you must continue to strive for a viable retirement plan by finding the most effective ways to save, the best accounts to save in, and the right amount to save, as well as understanding how to insure against setbacks and handle the uncertainties of a shaky economy. Fortunately, the Bogleheads, a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, are here to help. Filled with valuable advice on a wide range of retirement planning issues, including some pearls of wisdom from Bogle himself, The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning has everything you need to succeed at this endeavor. * Explains the different types of savings accounts and retirement plans * Offers insights on managing and funding your retirement accounts * Details efficient withdrawal strategies that could help you maintain a comfortable retirement lifestyle * Addresses essential estate planning and gifting issues With The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning, you'll discover exactly what it takes to secure your financial future, today.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Praise

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

THE BOGLEHEADS

THE COMING RETIREMENT BOOM OR BUST

ABOUT THIS BOOK

CHAPTER REVIEWS

Acknowledgements

PART I - THE BASICS

CHAPTER ONE - The Retirement Planning Process

INTRODUCTION

LIFE IN RETIREMENT AND YOUR RETIREMENT WELL-BEING

WHEN TO BEGIN THE RETIREMENT PLANNING PROCESS

THE TIME VALUE OF MONEY AND OTHER IMPORTANT CONCEPTS

CALCULATING YOUR NUMBER

LIFESTYLE IMPACT ON SETTING A RETIREMENT DATE

LIFESTYLE CONSIDERATION: THE COST OF TRANSPORTATION

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR NUMBER

A WARNING ABOUT USING SCIENCE IN FINANCIAL PLANNING

BUDGETING FOR RETIREMENT

ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES TO CLOSE AN ANNUAL INCOME GAP

CHECKING ON YOUR PROGRESS AND MAKING ADJUSTMENTS

ANNUAL AFFORDABLE SPENDING CALCULATIONS

CHECKING STRATEGIES AND TRACKING PROGRESS

LIFE’S UNKNOWNS AND THEIR IMPACT ON RETIREMENT PLANNING

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER TWO - Understanding Taxes

INTRODUCTION

WHY AMERICANS SHOULD UNDERSTAND U.S. TAX LAW

FEDERAL INCOME TAXES

TYPES OF INCOME FOR TAX PURPOSES

FEDERAL TAXES ON SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME

ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX (AMT)

STATE TAXES

LOCAL TAXES

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

PART II - SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AND RETIREMENT PLANS

CHAPTER THREE - Individual Taxable Savings Accounts

INTRODUCTION

TYPES OF TAXABLE ACCOUNTS

TAX LOSS HARVESTING

MINIMIZING TAXES

NONRETIREMENT TAXABLE ACCOUNTS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER FOUR - Individual Retirement Arrangements

INTRODUCTION

IRAS DEFINED

CONGRESS MAKES IRA LAW

SPECIFIC IRA RULES AND BENEFITS

ROTH IRA VERSUS TRADITIONAL IRA

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER FIVE - Defined Benefit Employer Retirement Account

INTRODUCTION

DEFINING DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS

HOW DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS WORK

TRENDS IN PRIVATE-SECTOR DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS

PUBLIC-SECTOR PLANS

KNOW YOUR PLAN

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER SIX - Defined Contribution Plans

INTRODUCTION

TYPES OF DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS

OTHER DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS

MANAGING YOUR ACCOUNT

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER SEVEN - Single-Premium Immediate Annuities

INTRODUCTION

SPIA BASICS

HOW ANNUITIES WORK

CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITIES

ANNUITIZATION STRATEGIES

THE SAFETY OF SPIAs

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT INCOME FROM SPIAs

MANAGED PAYOUT FUNDS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

PART III - MANAGING YOUR RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS

CHAPTER EIGHT - Basic Investing Principles

INTRODUCTION

DIVERSIFY TO REDUCE THE RISK OF A LARGE LOSS

REBALANCING

COST CONTROL

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS

COMMON INVESTING MISTAKES

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER NINE - Investing for Retirement

INTRODUCTION

INVESTMENT POLICY STATEMENT

IMPLEMENTING AND FOLLOWING YOUR PLAN

SOME WORDS ABOUT RISK

CHANGING ALLOCATIONS OVER TIME

TAXES AND YOUR INVESTMENT PLAN

NONINVESTMENT ASSETS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER TEN - Funding Your Retirement Accounts

INTRODUCTION

PRIORITY OF ACCOUNT FUNDING ORDER

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

PART IV - THE RETIREMENT PAYOFF

CHAPTER ELEVEN - Understanding Social Security

INTRODUCTION

HOW MUCH WILL YOU GET FROM SOCIAL SECURITY?

YOUR ANNUAL SOCIAL SECURITY STATEMENT

HOW OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME AFFECT BENEFITS

THE TAXATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS

WHERE DO SOCIAL SECURITY DOLLARS GO?

SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM

MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM RETIREMENT AGES

BENEFIT CALCULATORS AVAILABLE FROM THE SSA

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER TWELVE - Withdrawal Strategies

INTRODUCTION

BUDGETING FOR RETIREMENT

LUMP SUM OR ANNUITY

INCOME FROM OUTSIDE SOURCES

TAKING WITHDRAWALS

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Early Retirement

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS EARLY RETIREMENT?

IMPORTANT AGES TO CONSIDER

MORE FACTORS TO CONSIDER

SAFE WITHDRAWAL RATE

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

HOW TO RETIRE EARLY

WINDFALLS, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND DISABILITY

UNRETIRING

CHANGING YOUR MIND ABOUT EARLY RETIREMENT

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

PART V - PROTECTING YOUR ASSETS

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - Income Replacement

INTRODUCTION

LIFE INSURANCE

PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY

INSURANCE AS A WEALTH ACCUMULATION VEHICLE

INSURANCE FOR PENSION MAXIMIZATION

INSURANCE TO PAY ESTATE SETTLEMENT COSTS

INSURANCE FOR BUSINESS NEEDS

DISABILITY INCOME INSURANCE

HOW TO SHOP FOR LIFE AND DISABILITY INSURANCE

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - Health Insurance

INTRODUCTION

MEDICAL INSURANCE

TYPES OF MEDICAL INSURANCE

EMPLOYER POLICIES

POLICIES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND THE SELF-EMPLOYED

GOVERNMENT HEALTH PLANS AND ACCOUNTS

LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - Essentials of Estate Planning

INTRODUCTION

GOALS OF ESTATE PLANNING

PROPERTY TITLING

METHODS OF PROPERTY TRANSFER AT DEATH

PROBATE

DIVORCE, MARRIAGE, AND REMARRIAGE

BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS

SELECTING TRUSTEES, ADMINISTRATORS, AND FIDUCIARIES

ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Estate and Gift Taxes

INTRODUCTION

ESTATE AND GIFT TAX LAW

BASIS RULE CHANGES IN 2010

ESTATE TAX COMPLIANCE AND TAX CALCULATION

GIFT TAXES

GENERATION-SKIPPING TRANSFER TAX

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

PART VI - FINDING GOOD ADVICE WHEN YOU NEED IT

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Seeking Help from Professionals

INTRODUCTION

ADVISERS CAN HELP

WHO SHOULD GET PROFESSIONAL ADVICE?

FINANCIAL PLANNING VERSUS MONEY MANAGEMENT

FINANCIAL PLANNING DEVELOPMENTS

COMPARISON OF FEE STRUCTURES

FINANCIAL ADVISER DESIGNATIONS

SELECTING AN ADVISER

ARE YOU HIRING A PLANNER OR A MONEY MANAGER?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER NINETEEN - Divorce and Other Financial Disasters

INTRODUCTION

DIVIDING ASSETS IN A DIVORCE

QUALIFIED DOMESTIC RELATIONS ORDERS

DIVORCE AND SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS

AGREEING TO A DIVISION BEFORE MARRIAGE

REMEMBER TO CHECK DESIGNATED BENEFICIARY

FACING A FINANCIAL DISASTER

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER TWENTY - Meet the Bogleheads

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT OUR MENTOR, JACK BOGLE

WHO ARE THE BOGLEHEADS?

THE BOGLEHEADS’ ONLINE FORUMS

THE BOGLEHEADS WIKI

THE BOGLEHEAD BOOKS

BOGLEHEADS LOCAL CHAPTERS

THE BOGLEHEADS REUNIONS

OUR MISSION

APPENDIX I - Pearls of Wisdom

APPENDIX II - Recommended Reading

Glossary

About the Editors

Index

ADDITIONAL PRAISE FORTHE BOGLEHEADS’ GUIDE TO RETIREMENT PLANNING

“If you’re interested in funding your own retirement rather than some Wall Streeter’s retirement, this is the book for you. Read it cover to cover and you’ll end up knowing more than 90 percent of financial professionals. Hats off to the Bogleheads for the great service they have done for consumers with this book.”

Allan S. Roth, CFP ®, CPA, MBA, Author of How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street

“To find true financial joy, you need to integrate sound financial principles into your life. Retirement is an opportunity to live the life you always dreamed of—but only for the prepared. That’s where the Bogleheads shine. You can always count on them for straight talk, thoughtful commonsense commentaries, and a willingness to help others. We can all learn from their grassroots, solid approach to retirement planning that is consistently supplemented with the powerful, rich conversations that take place every day at www.bogleheads.org.”

Sue Stevens, President, Stevens Wealth Management LLC and Financial Happiness LLC

Copyright © 2009 by Laura F. Dogu, Richard A. Ferri, Taylor Larimore, and Mel Lindauer.

All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publishing Data

The Boglehead’s guide to retirement planning/Taylor Larimore . . . [et al.]; foreword by John C. Bogle.

p. cm

Includes index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-55286-5

1. Retirement income—Planning. 2. Finance, Personal. I. Larimore, Taylor, 1924-

HG179.B5688 2009

332.024’ 014-dc.024’014—dc22 2009021676

This book is dedicated to John C. Bogle.

For his wisdom, kindness, and unselfish devotion to helping individuals achieve their dreams.

All royalties from the sale of this book are being donated to:

The National Constitution CenterPhiladelphia, PA

Foreword

It’s hard to imagine a more fortuitous time to write a guide to retirement planning. The global financial crisis and the recession and bear market it has brought in its wake have exposed the tenuous condition of the retirement savings of millions of Americans, who would undoubtedly benefit from the sort of advice the Bogleheads dispense in this book.

On the other hand, it’s also hard to imagine a time when investors might be more reluctant to read anything that has to do with investing. Their nest eggs often depleted and sometimes shattered, and dreams of retirement delayed if not deferred—largely due to the recklessness of a select group of Wall Street experts who seemed unable to measure the risks on the balance sheets of the firms they ran—one could hardly blame an investor who says “the heck with it all,” writing off the financial markets as a rigged game, one in which their capital is used, first and foremost, to enrich the insiders.

But the fact that such a reaction is understandable doesn’t make it correct. For better or worse, most Americans today who want to enhance the modest retirement income distributed through our Social Security system have been given the responsibility of funding and managing their own retirement accounts, charged with investing their way to a secure financial future. The current economic crisis will not absolve us of that responsibility, even as it makes it more difficult. Invest we must.

But that by no means implies that investors should continue blithely along the path they’d been on. As the current bear market has made plain, too many Americans were ill-prepared to shoulder the responsibility that had been placed upon them. Even worse, our mutual fund industry was equally incapable of providing the assistance our nation of amateur investors needed. The conflicts of interest mutual fund managers face—seeking to maximize their own earnings, which reduce, dollar for dollar, the returns earned by their mutual fund investors—proved too great a temptation for them to resolve in favor of their fund investors.

So what is an investor to do? First and foremost, seek wisdom. “Wisdom excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness.” I used those words from Ecclesiastes some 15 years ago, in the epilogue of my first book, Bogle on Mutual Funds, as a way of introducing my Twelve Pillars of Wisdom, which I described as “lamps to guide you on your search for a sensible, productive investment program.”

Reviewing them recently, I was struck by how well they have stood the test of time. I’ll let you judge for yourself:

1. Investing is not nearly as difficult as it looks. Successful investing involves doing just a few things right and avoiding serious mistakes.

2. When all else fails, fall back on simplicity. There may be a handful of alternatives that prove to be better than simply buying and holding a portfolio balanced equally between a total stock market index fund and a total bond market index fund over the long term, but the number of alternatives that will prove to be worse is infinite.

3. Time marches on. The majesty of compounding returns is remarkable. Over 25 years, an 8 percent annual return grows a $10,000 investment by $58,500. But the tyranny of compounding costs is remarkably destructive. Annual costs of 2.5 percent would reduce that return to 5.5 percent and slice your portfolio’s long-term growth by more than half, to $28,100.1

4. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Yes, the stock market is volatile. Yes, its future returns are unknown. But eschewing the stock market incurs its own risks. Our recognition of that and our faith in the resiliency of American capitalism compel the majority of American investors to allocate at least some portion of their nest egg to stocks in an effort to reach their long-term goals.

5. Diversify, diversify, diversify. While it’s impossible to eliminate all of the risk associated with investing, risk can be greatly reduced by diversifying broadly within each asset class (ideally, using a low-cost total market index fund) and then constructing a well-balanced portfolio that owns an appropriate mix of stocks and bonds.

6. The eternal triangle. Risk, return, and cost are the three sides of the eternal triangle of investing, inextricably linked to the long-term growth of your portfolio.

7. The powerful magnetism of the mean. Investment superstars come and go, the vast majority proving to be comets who briefly illuminate the firmament with spectacular performance, only to see their returns deteriorate, returning to, and then lagging, the average returns of their peers and the market.

8. Don’t overestimate your ability to pick superior equity mutual funds, nor underestimate your ability to pick superior bond and money market funds. In equity funds, past returns tell us nothing about what the future holds. Performance comes and goes, and yesterday’s leaders are likely to be tomorrow’s laggards. The top-performing bond and money market funds, on the other hand, are typically populated by the lowest-cost alternatives. In these areas, investors can choose the low-cost leaders with a reasonable amount of confidence in their favorable prospects for continued success.

9. You may have a stable principal value or a stable income stream, but you may not have both. Intelligent investing involves choices, compromises, and trade-offs, perfectly illustrated by the choice between a 90-day Treasury bill’s fixed value and volatile income stream, on one hand, and a long-term Treasury bond fund’s volatile market value and relatively stable income stream on the other.

10. Beware of fighting the last war. Too many investors—individuals and institutions alike—become infatuated with the recent past and find themselves eternally (and futilely) reacting to what has happened in the financial markets instead of building a portfolio that can withstand whatever the future holds, recognizing that particular cycles and trends never last forever.

11. You rarely, if ever, know something the market does not. The financial markets reflect the hopes, the fears, even the greed of all investors everywhere. It is nearly always unwise to act on insights you think are your own but are in fact shared by millions of others.

12. Think long term. The daily volatility of the market is often “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” The wise investor tunes out this noise and patiently focuses on the long term while staying the course.

Of course, these 12 pillars are more than just an epilogue to a 15-year-old book. They represent the foundation on which I built The Vanguard Group. From its inception in 1974, I strove to make Vanguard a firm that emphasized the simple over the complex, the enduring over the ephemeral, and the low-cost over the costly, represented most clearly by the broad market index fund, which guarantees its investors nothing more (and nothing less) than their fair share of whatever returns our financial markets provide.

And as pleased as I am that, 35 years later, history has shown the merit in such an approach to investing, I’m even more pleased with how broadly it’s been embraced by millions of investors, none more so than the group that calls themselves the Bogleheads.

I met my first Boglehead on February 3, 1999. I had flown to Miami to deliver a speech, and Taylor Larimore, the group’s unofficial leader, invited me to join a group of his compatriots for dinner at his home that evening. Taylor and his friends proved to be as wonderful a group of people as I had ever met—intelligent, thoughtful, trustworthy, and eager to help others—in short, good human beings. We all had so much fun that our gathering quickly became an annual event. We’ve held our reunions in cities all over the country, and each one has been larger than its predecessor. Bogleheads 8 is scheduled for Dallas, Texas, in September 2009.

This group of like-minded investors represents the promise of our electronic age, which combines a seemingly endless amount of information with an unprecedented ease of communication. Harnessing both, the Bogleheads band together to help and encourage all comers to sort through the noise in the pursuit of their financial goals. Collectively, the group provides a vast gold mine of wisdom and experience waiting to be explored.

The Bogleheads’ Guide to Retirement Planning is a true gem from that gold mine, a book whose advice is firmly built upon those Twelve Pillars of Wisdom. Truly a group effort (no fewer than 40 Bogleheads contributed to it in some capacity), this book provides the reader with a first-rate primer on saving and investing for retirement, covering everything from opening and funding a retirement account, to investing it wisely, to drawing down your account, to estate planning—not quite cradle-to-grave coverage, but pretty close.

Importantly, these investors/writers/believers do so in a way that even the most novice investor will be able to follow. I’m admittedly not the most impartial judge of their work—heck, I’m probably the least impartial person you could find for that task—but I’m certain that our nation of investors would be far better served if more of them acted on the advice the Bogleheads dispense in this book.

I’m often asked what it’s like to have a group of people name themselves after you. It is, I readily admit, more than a little surreal, at least in the abstract. But getting to know the Bogleheads over the past 10 years or so—both in person and by following their online community—has been one of the more rewarding experiences of my long career, not because of the undeniable boost they provide my ego (though that never hurts!) but because the Bogleheads represent the fulfillment of what I have dedicated my career to building.

When I founded Vanguard all those years ago, I did so in the face of enormous skepticism. It was a brand-new organization—one operating with a then-as-now unique structure—whose success depended not on a vast marketing budget or an army of sales representatives but on faith—a faith that individual investors, one by one, would come to recognize that this then-tiny firm, doing things differently, would serve their own economic interests, and a faith that that would be sufficient to ensure our enterprise’s success.

When I chat with the Bogleheads, they almost invariably thank me for starting Vanguard. But in reality, it is I who should be thanking them. It is investors like these fine human souls who validated my leap of faith and who allowed the Vanguard experiment to flourish. And that success, such as it were, has provided me with far more acclaim than any one person deserves. It is hardly an overstatement to say that whatever success I may have enjoyed in my long career is due entirely to the fact that my faith in investors like the Bogleheads has been so well placed.

And so it is with immense pleasure that I commend The Bogleheads’ Guide to Retirement Planning to you. After reading this book, I’m confident that you’ll agree with me that the Bogleheads, this diverse collection of caring individual investors, are a remarkable group. Even better, when you learn from their collective wisdom, you’ll join the ranks of investors who are well on their way to realizing their investment goals.

JOHN C. BOGLE

Valley Forge, PA

Preface

We live in a country facing many challenges. No one can deny the importance of a strong national defense and an aggressive response to the terrorist threats that we face. No one can turn away from the importance of assuring a sound physical infrastructure when we see pictures in our newspapers of major interstate highway bridges collapsing under the load of rush hour traffic. We all agree that our secondary schools and colleges seed the future of America and they must offer a top-notch education. And we all know that without health, we cannot have wealth. Affordable health care is paramount to the long-term well-being of our citizens and an important driver of worker productivity in a competitive global marketplace.

There are many worthwhile claims on our time and money, but there is one that has major long-term economic implications if not addressed wisely and with resolve. A growing portion of America’s population will reach retirement age over the next 25 years. If we do not seriously address how those retirement income streams will be funded, we run the risk of allowing the greatest single threat to American prosperity to overtake us because of procrastination. The American people, including the younger members of our society, need clear and comprehensive guidance to deal with the challenges we all face on the issue of preparing to meet a burgeoning retirement challenge in the years ahead.

The Bogleheads’ Guide to Retirement Planning is a grassroots call to action. It encourages a broad, individual response to prepare for retirement.

The individual chapter authors are not professional writers. They are people just like you: skilled laborers, white-collar workers, teachers, entrepreneurs, small-business owners, and the like. The authors have no incentive in this not-for-profit endeavor except to make a difference—to help people who want to be helped by providing valuable information on a range of retirement planning topics. What has been written in these chapters has been learned through self-education, primarily by reading books, articles, and research and by participating on the Bogleheads.org forum. Most important, it is information gathered by the life experiences of many people. These authors are a part of a remarkable group of people who call themselves