Recent content by 4merKPer

How much do you need to live on and how much is your social security? That will give you (and us) an idea of what your $117,000 needs to provide you.

Hey, maybe the rest of the world will conclude the U.S. is too big to fail and bail us out... :facepalm:

The downgrade reflects recognition finally that the emperor has no clothes. The debt-ceiling bill was simply another in a long line of phony legislation that uses tricks in an attempt to hide the true nature of our economic condition. Follow the link to "Federal Budget 101," which uses a great...

S&P Downgrades U.S. Debt for First Time From WSJ: S&P Downgrades U.S. Debt for First Time Thoughts on the impact?

No solution, but I can never understand how government, whether local, state or federal, which regulates all manner of things can never regulate itself. I belong to a homeowners association. It is required to execute regular assessments of financial condition, including reserve funding for...

Waking up every two hours crying? ;D

Yay! Despite the big sell off today, I'm still up 1.01% YTD. o_O Of course there's always tomorrow. A little gallows humor! "Stay the course, stay the course..."

Since I put up the poll, I suppose I should weigh in. I'm up 2.8% ytd with about 50/50 AA. Kudos to all in the positive (especially for those that are 3+%. For those that are negative, I hope you're hanging in there and hopefully are taking the long-term view.

Now that we have averted the so-called default crises and the market has wiped out all of its gains ytd, how has your portfolio fared? Vote and comment on your asset allocation.

In the article the key to the author's security: He's a security expert who knows how to secure the data on his computer. If you don't know how to do that, and you have sensitive data like SSN's, CC #'s, personal financial data, etc. on your PC, you'd better secure your home network.

Well, now that you brought up concerns about the stability of the pension payer...What's the thinking on taking a lump sum payout from MegaHealthCorp instead of the pension annuity and then purchasing an immediate fixed annuity from a more stable financial firm? It is still desirable to have an...

I looked at the joint survivor options, but the payout is indeed reduced substantially and didn't look very attractive. Thanks for the input all. Looks like I have more study and research to do!???

I'm pretty certain the beneficiaries are anyone I chose, which I like with this option.

Need advice regarding non-COLA pension payout options. At age 60, what's the better option to provide for my wife (her age would be 55)?: Standard single life income annuity payout of $56K, no benefit to beneficiaries. Buy term life insurance separately. Single Life Income annuity payout of...

I knew my days were numbered when I felt ill on Fridays, because there were only two days until I had to be back at work.