rgscl

Comments

• To an amazing guy Jonathan, who touched so many of us in such a positive way, we will miss you but remember you for the legacy you have built. My condolences to his family (Elaine and his kids/grand kids), no words will fill the void. May you rest in peace

  Post: Farewell Friends

  Link to comment from September 23, 2025

• Agree with you, not sure why this should be an all or nothing approach. I see value in setting aside a small portion of one's portfolio to dividend paying stocks. If nothing else dividends choreograph to the investors that company is confident enough in its cash flows. And to me as an investor, I see dividends as adding "ballast" - stability of sorts.

  Post: Dividends Part II – At least

  Link to comment from August 24, 2025

• Both great points, also stick to the primary market offerings

  Post: Online Banks

  Link to comment from August 24, 2025

• Exactly what I was going to say, it is a one stop shopping. I would definitely suggest Fidelity or Schwab (and likely Vanguard as well) depending on where you have your accounts.

  1. It makes yield shopping easier
  2. It is all under one screen (as opposed to logging into multiple banks to monitor)
  3. And when they mature, you don't need to close the existing bank account and open/move to a different bank

  Post: Online Banks

  Link to comment from August 24, 2025

• Right you're, you do pay a bit to get this additional coverage. Here is an example for a couple aged 65 and starting payments in 10 years, for a life time monthly payment of $2500.00, the premiums would be just joint life: $222,272 - minimum payout 0 ("zero") Joint life with 10Y certain: $221,819 - minimum payout 300,000 Joint life with 20Y certain: $239,890 - minimum payout 600,000 As you can see the difference is not bad (IMO).

  Post: Outliving Your Money? Let’s Do the Math on Annuities

  Link to comment from August 17, 2025

• Several of us pointed this out in the discussion below, if you're setting aside 10 or 20% your portfolio to annuities, I would like to think that "control" is a moot issue since you control the other 80-90%. If one were to plunk down the entire portfolio into an annuity of any kind (which no one here has suggested), then you would be correct that you lose control. The phrase that I see used quite often in this discussion is, "using annuity as part of your overall plan". And to me this means 10-20% of your investable assets. I should add that if someone is lucky enough to have a pension with guaranteed monthly income, then this would obviate the need for an annuity. Think of it this way, you have no more or no less control over this annuity than you have over a company pension (if you're lucky to have one). And that pension is a portion of assets/income stream.

  Post: Outliving Your Money? Let’s Do the Math on Annuities

  Link to comment from August 17, 2025

• >>If you die early the ins company wins In case of annuities (and assuming it is not joint), you can still opt for 10Y or 20Y guaranteed. In this case the annuitants heirs or estate will get the "paychecks". This pedantic detail aside, I totally agree with your larger point - this isn't a win or lose game. It is exactly as you said "Retirees need to focus on income and maximizing that income when they most need it". And if you can get this with some peace of mind, then all is good.

  Post: Outliving Your Money? Let’s Do the Math on Annuities

  Link to comment from August 17, 2025

• >>At the end of the day, a SPIA is an insurance policy that protects against longevity Only if you get the "lifetime" annuity. There are also "term certain" SPIA/DIA's that can serve as a "bridge" to say, social security or RMD.

  Post: Outliving Your Money? Let’s Do the Math on Annuities

  Link to comment from August 14, 2025

• Yes they do, some are better than others. NC for example has a backstop of $250,000.

  Post: Outliving Your Money? Let’s Do the Math on Annuities

  Link to comment from August 14, 2025

• "I would never use all accumulated investments to buy an annuity, but I would use a portion for a immediate annuity along with SS to cover what is needed for basic expenses and allow me to sleep at night even when the markets are failing." Exactly right, in my view.

  Post: Outliving Your Money? Let’s Do the Math on Annuities

  Link to comment from August 14, 2025