Send us Fan Mail

You saved for forty years. You avoided the stinkers. You bought the index fund and left it alone. Then you retired, and the fear showed up anyway: "When will I run out of money?"

In this episode, I explain why that fear hits hardest after the paychecks stop, even for people who did everything right. Nobody can tell you the date, but you can build a system that keeps you from being forced to sell in a bad market. I walk through how to give yourself a paycheck again, why a cash cushion matters, and why you should decide your bad-year rules before the bad year arrives.

You may not get certainty, but you can get shorter phone calls.

If you'd like to comment on this episode, or request a subject for a future podcast, leave me a message in Fan Mail. I read every one.

Send us Fan Mail

Retirement planning doesn't need a spreadsheet with forty variables. It comes down to about five numbers, and you can work them out on the back of an envelope.

In this episode, I walk through what you spend, what's already guaranteed, and how to find your gap. I also show what waiting ten years to start saving really costs, and the one place where waiting actually pays you.

Your assignment is one envelope and about ten minutes.

If you'd like to comment on this episode, or request a subject for a future podcast, leave me a message in Fan Mail. I read every one.

Send us Fan Mail

What are you actually buying? If your answer is a ticker symbol, a tip from your brother-in-law, or a stock that "used to be forty dollars," this episode is for you.

Ben Graham's idea was simple: a stock is a piece of a real business, and price is not the same thing as value. In this episode, I explain why that difference matters, how cheap stocks turn into value traps, and why the market's bad days are usually mood, not business.

I'll also tell you about a retired schoolteacher who came to my office with a highlighted newsletter and a very strong stock tip, and I'll give you the one-sentence test to use before you buy anything.

You don't have to pick stocks to think like a value investor. You just have to know what you're paying for.

Have a comment or a topic request? Leave me a message in Fan Mail. I read every one.