Nevin's Data "Points"

  It’s hard to believe that I’ve now been “retired” for three years. That said, there are some things that, in hindsight, I wish I had known and/or acted on sooner. And a couple that I actually did - but might easily have overlooked.  Here they are: Do More Roth — Sooner I’ve long been a huge fan of Roth. It’s not hard to look at the federal government’s finances, the current tax brackets, and figure out that the rates aren’t likely to get any lower in the future. And yes, for the last decade or so of work, I went all Roth, including catch-ups. In fairness, Roth wasn’t an option for most of my retirement savings career. Even so, in those first years, recordkeepers weren’t really ready — and I, like most of my generation, had by then been so thoroughly coached on the advantages of pre-tax accumulations — well, it was easy to shrug off Roth as one of those things of which only the wealthy could afford to benefit. But — and particularly as I got closer to retirement — the questio...

Every so often an industry survey will come out with an “average” 401(k) balance (1) . The specific numbers vary, but they are consistently less than even the most optimistic would see as sufficient to provide a financially viable retirement. Now, in fairness, the validity of an “average,” while mathematically simple, depends heavily on its components. Most are no more than the total of all the balances of those in the 401(k), from those just entering the workforce (and thus, by definition, with negligible balances) – and with decades to go to retirement – to those who are perhaps just days away from that point. Looking at no more than the “average,” you can’t tell how many are in which category. So, while the average can, over time, provide a sense of the direction in which things are moving, it tells you very little about the adequacy of that savings to fund an individual retirement. One way to help provide a more meaningful measure is to segment those balances by specific ag...