Smart401k Blog

This post is part of Smart401k CEO Scott Hollsopple’s contribution to the U.S. News & World Report Smarter Investor blog series. To view the original article, click here. Original post date November 10, 2011.

At first glance, the diet industry and financial services industry seem to have nothing in common, other than being multi-billion dollar markets.

But they share a common goal: making consumers believe there’s an easy solution to issues that typically take time, focus, and determination. The problem with chasing the easy way is that it usually doesn’t work.

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Photo Credit Shazwan

Last week, after Kansas City received a dusting of snow, my 20-minute drive to work became an hour-long journey. I found myself dreaming of places where winter is defined by long-sleeve shirts rather than expedition-weight parkas.

I’m still a few decades away from retirement, but it’s never too soon to create retirement goals and use my 401(k) investment plan to reach them. Part of my retirement plan is to become a ‘snowbird’ and journey south for the winter. Since I know what I want to do, it’s easier to create a strategy to reach my goals.

Whether you’re already a snowbird, within a few years of starting your migratory lifestyle or just dreaming and strategizing, here are some things to consider as you do your financial planning:

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We follow lots of really good blogs – mostly related to personal finance and economics. The Blog Round-Up allows us to point you in the direction of some great content from the blogging world. Posts* included in today’s round-up speak to the theme Ideas for Life During Retirement.

This unique post also falls into another series we run called Envisioning Retirement.

More studies and data are showing the benefits of envisioning your own retirement. People who can envision themselves in retirement are more likely to save more money and diligently plan for retirement.

To help you see and feel what your life could be like during retirement, this blog series will provide information and reviews about hobbies, travel and other activities you might enjoy during your retirement years.

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Photo attributions: scrapbooking by shimelle; golf by kulicki; ocean dock by Alaskan Dude; cruise ship by Jesus & Kristle; fishing by Brianmoc; books by indi.ca

More studies and data are showing the benefits of envisioning your own retirement. People who can envision themselves in retirement are more likely to save more money and diligently plan for retirement.

To help you see and feel what your life could be like during retirement, this blog series will provide information and reviews about hobbies, travel and other activities you might enjoy during your retirement years.  (more…)

Most articles about retirement planning focus on you – the future retiree. Oftentimes authors also discuss how spouses’ retirement savings will interact in a retirement strategy. Have you ever thought about how your retirement savings decisions will affect everyone else in your life?

Think about all your family, and even your friends. Your financial situation during retirement could be part of their lives too.  (more…)

What can shopping for pants teach us about retirement investing? While this may sound like a silly question, it can teach us more than you might think. Allow me to explain.

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Whether you’re retired or just ready to take some time off work, you might be feeling the vacation bug this time of year. Recently there was a post in the Smart401k blog about taking a staycation to help save money. Staycations can be great, but if you’re like me, sometimes you just need to get away.

Expenses can quickly add up when you’re traveling – lodging, food, plane tickets or gas, car rental. Before you start stressing too much about the costs of heading out of town, there are a number of ways you can save money and make an amazing trip relatively inexpensive.  (more…)

An article in the May 23, 2011, edition of MarketWatch digs into the root causes of the problems retirees are facing.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The idyllic, play-golf-and-travel vision of retirement may well be a thing of the past. Most new retirees are either nervous or downright frightened about their golden years, according to a new study.

Uncertainty about the future, fear of poverty, lack of confidence in their investing abilities, and distrust of the financial-services industry were four of the most common feelings expressed by 300 recent or soon-to-be retirees in interviews conducted between 2008 and 2011 …    (more…)

I think having kids is the most wonderful thing in the world – I absolutely, positively love being a parent. The only regret I have about parenthood is that I wish we’d started planning and budgeting for it a few years ahead of becoming parents.

Several people said things like, ‘When the time comes, you’ll just find the money.’ Hmm … ultimately that’s been true, but it’s not the best way to set yourself up for budgetary success.

If I could go back in time, I would give Carolyn of five years ago a few kernels of wisdom. It leads me to wonder whether I could apply some of the lessons of parenthood to retirement. (more…)

We’ve heard from an increasing number of people who are asking ‘what’s the deal with target-date funds?’

This newer category of mutual funds has popped up as a popular topic in the news and the blogosphere during the past couple years. (They’re also called lifecycle funds and retirement date funds.)

Are you wondering whether target-date funds are right for you? (more…)