Helpful Articles

 Planning, General

 

These are articles that were written to help develop ideas for journalists that work for The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Kiplinger’s, Smart Money, AARP, newspapers, financial web sites, etc. They’ve been used as a source of quotes for these publications.

 

Heath care costs may pose overwhelming burdens on low savers

http://www.humbledollar.com/2017/02/unhealthy-increases/

 

A mini book packed with money-making information:

Simple Financial Tools promise better retirement

 

Good news and bad news: You may end up living a lot longer than you expect

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/story/?guid=212420c6-aad2-4051-a8e9-cff7c63a18b1

 

8 keys to a successful financial retirement 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/8-keys-to-a-successful-financial-retirement-2016-10-24

 

What do debtors have in common with a cartoon?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-do-debtors-have-in-common-with-a-cartoon-2016-10-06

 

Forget these retirement essentials at your peril

 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/forget-these-retirement-essentials-at-your-peril-2016-03-31

 

Retirement planning made easy and inexpensive

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/financial-management-made-easy-and-inexpensive-2016-03-22

 

Financial success requires a change in focus as we get older

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/financial-success-requires-a-change-in-focus-as-we-get-older-2016-03-11

 

Don’t let shiny things reroute your retirement

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dont-let-shiny-things-reroute-your-retirement-2016-03-02

 

Dealing with the uncertainties of retirement investing

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dealing-with-the-uncertainties-of-retirement-investing-2015-11-25

 

THE LIST will be important to your retirement plan

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-list-will-be-crucial-to-your-retirement-plan-2015-10-16

 

Key decisions for survivor's benefits

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/key-decisions-to-be-made-when-it-comes-to-survivor-benefits-2015-09-28

 

Retirement Resources for an Uncertain Future

 

Life is short, but retirement can last for years

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/life-is-short-but-retirement-can-last-for-years-2015-05-26

 

There’s more to retirement planning than saving money

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/theres-more-to-retirement-planning-than-saving-money-2015-05-14?link=mw_home_kiosk

 

A Game Plan for Seeking Work Later in Life

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2015/01/22/a-game-plan-for-seeking-work-later-in-life/

 

How retirees learn from the costly mistakes of youth

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-retirees-learn-from-the-costly-mistakes-of-youth-2014-12-22

 

How unplanned events can rock retirement probability models

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-unplanned-events-rock-retirement-probability-models-2014-12-01

 

Six steps to calculate your retirement budget

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2014/12/01/six-steps-to-calculating-your-retirement-budget/

 

On-line retirement calculators don’t calculate this.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/online-retirement-calculators-dont-calculate-this-2014-07-02

 

25 questions to ask potential financial adviser.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/25-questions-for-a-potential-financial-adviser-2014-06-19/print?guid=3027B438-BD70-43CE-8F1C-84EBDECE46C0

 

Vanguard asks Bud a number of retirement questions in one of its publications:

https://retirementplans.vanguard.com/VGApp/pe/EducationNewsCenter#al=false&st=Featured&sst=ALL&articleId=11224&smt=ALL&ps=0&tab=libraryTab&libView=AllTopics&po=10

The Vanguard reporter was one of about 3,000 that attended an online presentation I made in the recent Retirement Revolution seminar.  Here was the presentation, but be forewarned, it was 40 minutes long:

http://www.retirementrevolution2013.com/hebeler/

The first 3/4 of this presentation is about the problems retirees face financially and the last quarter about preparing to minimize the effects that problems may have on your future.

 

A Wall Street Journalist asked how the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) will affect retirees.

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2013/10/28/how-retirees-will-suffer-under-the-aca/

 

Here are some of the most devastating planning mistakes often made by both working and retired people from the  Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-planning-mistakes-that-can-devastate-retirement-2013-10-28?link=MW_TD_popular

 

10/14/13.  Market Watch published an article that offers solutions to a problem that almost everybody faces in retirement:  When Relatives Ask for Money.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-relatives-ask-for-money-2013-10-14?link=MW_TD_popular

 

Avoidable retirement problems--well not always!  This MarketWatch.com article of mine describes common retirement problems, many of which could have been avoided by earlier actions.   

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/overcoming-retirement-regrets-2013-10-02

 

Front page of the on-line Wall Street Journal:  The Best Way to See the U.S. on a Retirement Trip.

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2013/09/10/the-best-way-to-see-the-u-s-on-a-retirement-trip/

 

Front page on the on-line Wall Street Journal:  Retirement planning mistakes that couples make.

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2013/09/09/the-worst-financial-mistake-retirees-make/

 

Inflation Fallacy:  We all worry about the stock and bond markets, but how about something even more important to our financial lives?  That may well be inflation where the effect of a few high inflation years is underweighted in retirement planning and purposefully understated for the elderly.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-inflation-fallacy-hurts-retirement-savers-2013-08-08

 

Back-of-the-envelope Retirement Planning from The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch describes a simple way to either check results from another plan or to make your own plan without a computer program.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/back-of-the-envelope-retirement-planning-2013-08-01

 

Retirees experience numerous things which were unforeseen.  This brief article from The Wall Street Journal addresses the need for emergency funds.

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2013/07/17/bud-hebeler-a-lot-can-surprise-you-in-20-or-30-years-of-retirement/?KEYWORDS=hebeler

 

Skills key for new grad or soon-to-be retiree.   This article of mine in The Wall Street Journal's Market Watch shows that there is a great benefit to be qualified for more than one occupation.  That's been the experience for me, my family and readers who have confirmed their experiences.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/skills-key-for-new-grad-or-soon-to-be-retiree-2013-06-24

 

Retiree Regrets:  A Wall Street Journal editor asked me what I thought was the major regret that retirees had late in their life.  I offered several things people have told me, not just one.  The editor published my answer which you can find in the following link.

http://stream.wsj.com/story/experts-retirement/SS-2-135536/SS-2-236062/?mod=wsj_streaming_experts-retirement

 

Save Like a Squirrel from The Wall Street Journal's Market Watch. Here are some easy ways to make a rough calculation how much you should be saving for retirement or able to spend in retirement. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/save-like-a-squirrel-2013-01-24

 

Emergency Preparedness:  Both workers and retirees need savings, supplies and training for emergencies which are an inevitable part of living.  It would be impossible to quantify these, but this series of articles alerts us to things that we can do to be better prepared.  The articles were written for a monthly church newsletter and selected by Starlene Ward, the editor.

 

If you are using a planning program that uses statistics from the past, beware: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/back-testing-and-your-retirement-future-2012-12-17

 

Squirrel Savings uses the analogy of a squirrel saving nuts for the winter to produce a simple estimate of how much a person should save before retirement or can spend in retirement.

 

If forecasting is inaccurate, why do it?  This article explains reasons that go beyond simply trying to determine how much to save for retirement or how much a retiree can afford to spend. It describes the importance of comparing alternatives such as when to start Social Security, whether to by an immediate annuity, long-term-care insurance, etc.

 

Safe Withdrawal Rates.   In an attempt to keep retirement planning simple, analysts and journalists oversimplify retirement planning--most often producing results that exhaust investments prematurely. This article explains the problem and what to do about it.

 

The Best Present.  Here is a reference for the kind of things you should have ready if you become incapacitated or die. Your spouse, children, caretaker and executor will be forever grateful!

 

Multiple skills provide resilience.  Learning new skills continuously throughout our lives will provide us with the capability to survive the technology and physical changes that inevitable will face us.

 

Watch your planner's planning!  This article points out very common problems with current planning programs on the Web as well as those used by professionals. Unfortunately, most of these errors led to overly optimistic forecasts.

 

Is Debt Friend or Foe?  This is both a national and personal question.  Both answers will affect your plans

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On Being Conservative.  Using conservative assumptions and making provisions for emergencies has turned out to be very good for me during my 20 years of retirement.  An excerpt of this article appeared in the August 2009 issue of Financial Planning.

 

Growing Savings, Income and Investments Now.  People are searching both for ways to save more in this environment as well as to find prudent ways to invest their money.  This article may give you some ideas that will help you find places to spend less, earn more and invest appropriately.

  

Planning and Investing in Difficult Times.  Most people have significantly smaller savings now that the market has tumbled so.  Recovery is likely to be very long in coming.  The article displays some of my responses to a Business Week journalist in Q & A format.

 

Using Historical Financial Data.  Even many planners forget that financial statistics represent the past, not the future.  This article shows some of the most misleading aspects of historical data.

 

Is there a way out of this economic mess?  The future is not very bright for many future retirees.  This article describes the difficulties and suggests some solutions.

 

Doing Better Than Your Peers.  Here are some tips on things that you can do to live better than your peers in retirement considering the environment that I believe most of us are going to face in the future.

 

Head in the Sand Planning.  There are a number of major problems with forecasting that the financial industry and the government trivialize to present an optimistic view of the future. This article shows how you can make some simple adjustments to make more realistic projections.

 

What? Retirement Funds from Your Home?  This discusses the wisdom of planning to get some money from your home for retirement. In general, if your plan shows you are going to have to sell you home to provide funds, it’s better to downsize as early as possible even though there are situations where reverse mortgages may help.

 

Inflation and Debt in Retirement Planning.  This article shows four planning related things you can do to help protect your future from the devastating effects of inflation.

 

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