How much will you spend each year? Your spending habits will affect your investment decisions.
How should you balance your investment portfolio to provide sufficient income and growth opportunities? You’ll need both growth and income potential during retirement.
How much should you withdraw each year from your investment portfolio? You need to withdraw the right amount to avoid depleting your portfolio.
From which accounts should you begin taking withdrawals? You may want to withdraw from your taxable accounts first, followed by your tax-deferred accounts.
When should you take Social Security? You can get bigger checks by waiting, but your choice really depends on when you need the money.
After you’ve made these key decisions, you can create the financial strategy you need to enjoy an active, fulfilling retirement.
Help Climb Over Interest Rate Worries With Bond Ladder
Many people buy bonds to help stabilize their investment portfolios. Yet bond prices also fluctuate, primarily in response to rising and falling interest rates. These interest-rate movements can wreak havoc on your bonds unless you can help yourself climb over them with a "bond ladder."
To build a ladder, you buy short-term, intermediate-term and long-term bonds. Then, when market interest rates are low, you’ll have your longer-term bonds earning higher interest rates. And when rates are high, you can take advantage of them by reinvesting your maturing short-term bonds.
You can diversify your ladder with different types of bonds or even certificates of deposit. This diversification can’t guarantee a profit or protect against a loss, but it may help you reduce the effects of a downturn that primarily hits one type of bond.
Contact Wendell at Edward Jones www.edwardjones.com.
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