Critical Mass - Care and Feeding For Once Attained

Top 812. Aug 10, 2005 9:06 PM

» Normxxx - Five big traps

Five big distribution traps
Costly mistakes can hamper retirement-savings withdrawals

By Robert Powell, MarketWatch | 9 August 2005

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Americans tend to dwell on the tax savings of using a 401(k) retirement-savings plan or the tax-free withdrawals of a Roth IRA or the tax-deferred growth of a 403(b) when instead they ought to focus on the big picture. And part of that big picture includes all of the retirement-plan distribution traps that may await them or their heirs.

"People are not aware of the importance of planning for eventual distributions," says Ed Slott, a certified public accountant and author of "Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune."

Retirement-plan distribution mistakes can result in costly tax bites for retirement-plan owners or beneficiaries. And there are a lot of traps for the unwary. Here are what experts say are the top retirement-plan distribution traps and how to avoid them, or at least mitigate them.

1. Failing to name a beneficiary for your plan or IRA

The biggest of all traps has to do with beneficiaries. Retirement-plan owners often make three mistakes: they fail to name a beneficiary or contingent beneficiaries or change the name of beneficiaries in the wake of life events such as a divorce or the birth of a child.

Slott says not naming a beneficiary for your IRA or company plan is, by far, the worst mistake since it directly affects the long-term payout of your IRA after death and determines who will receive it. If you don't name a beneficiary, the distributions and tax bite could be larger than need be.

"If you do not have a named beneficiary, then whoever receives your IRA will probably have to go through probate and will not be able to take advantage of the stretch IRA (which can be distributed over the life of the beneficiary)," he says. "Only a named beneficiary or what's called a designated beneficiary can do that."

What's worse, if you don't name a beneficiary, your IRA may go to someone you did not want it to.

IRA and retirement-plan owners fail to name a beneficiary in part because they think the distribution is covered in their will or other estate-planning documents, says Slott. But it's not. "The IRA beneficiary form trumps all other legal documents and, in fact, is the estate plan for what may be your largest single asset," he says.

The second part of this mistake is not naming a contingent beneficiary for your IRA or plan. Slott says the contingent beneficiary is a major part of the planning process and should always be named on the beneficiary form so you know who will inherit the IRA if your beneficiary either wants to disclaim -- that is, refuse his or her inherited IRA for planning reasons -- or dies before you.

Slott says a common plan is to name your spouse as primary beneficiary and then name your children as contingent beneficiaries.

"After your death, if your spouse is otherwise provided for, say with life insurance or other assets, then your wife can disclaim and the IRA will pass to your children since they are named as contingent beneficiaries and can stretch the inherited IRA over their lifetimes," says Slott. "Since they are named as contingent beneficiaries on the beneficiary form, they can become a designated beneficiary if the primary beneficiary disclaims or dies."

The third part of this mistake, says Slott, is not keeping IRA or plan beneficiary forms up to date. "This is also critical, since things change in your life and you would want your beneficiary form to always reflect the most current situation in your life," he says.

His advice: Every time there is 'life event,' such as a birth, a death, a marriage or a divorce your beneficiary form should be revised to reflect these changes.

2. Taking the right minimum required distribution

If ever there was a trap awaiting poor, unsuspecting seniors it's the rules governing MRDs, which dictate when benefits must be paid out of retirement plans. "Understanding these rules is key to successful tax planning for retirement plans," writes Natalie Choate in her book "Life and Death Planning for Retirement Benefits."

Marvin Rotenberg, director of retirement services at Bank of America in Boston, says many seniors get tripped up by MRD rules, especially during the first couple years of having to take a distribution. In some cases, they fail to take a MRD, saying that they don't need the money. In other cases, they use the wrong year-end account balance and the wrong life-expectancy factor from the Uniform Life Table to calculate their MRD.

In essence, retirement-account owners must take their first MRD beginning in the year after turning age 701/2. To calculate the MRD, you simply divide what the IRA account balance was at the end of the year in which you turned 701/2 by the life-expectancy factor. That's the easy part. But if you turn 701/2 during the first half of the year, you would use a different life expectancy factor (27.4) than if you turn 701/2 in the second half of the year (26.5).

What's the big deal if you use the wrong life-expectancy factor or fail to take a MRD? Uncle Sam will impose a 50% penalty on the amount you should have taken but didn't. For small accounts, the penalty will be a nuisance. For big IRA accounts, it represents a lot of money that would have been better spent on vacations and the like. "You don't want your distribution subject to a penalty," says Rotenberg.

How to avoid this trap? Check and double check what life expectancy factor and year-end account balance you should use long before turning age 701/2. Also, Rotenberg says seniors ought to factor in potential state income-tax consequences of taking two MRDs in one year. In New York, for instance, retirees don't have to pay any state income tax on the first $20,000 of income from a retirement account. But if a person takes two MRDs in one year, which is allowed only in the first two years, they may find themselves being taxed unnecessarily on the second MRD.

3. Get to know NUAs and other tax breaks

Plenty of retirement investors who own company stock in their retirement plan pay more in taxes than they need to because they are unfamiliar with the net unrealized appreciation rules, says Barry Picker, a certified public accountant and author of "Barry Picker's Guide to Retirement Distribution Planning."

In essence, those who retire or leave a company and who own company stock in a retirement plan can either roll the stock over into an IRA and eventually pay taxes at ordinary income rates after selling that stock and withdrawing those funds. Or they can distribute the company stock into a taxable account, paying a tax on the cost basis of the stock and then paying -- provided it's been held long enough -- the lower long-term capital-gains rate when they ultimately sell the stock.

Picker says another tax break is allowed for company retirement-plan participants born before 1936. They get to use to 10-year averaging to calculate distributions, which sometimes can be more favorable than other options.

4. Getting no respect

Many IRA beneficiaries don't realize that IRAs are considered "Income with Respect to a Decedent" by the IRS, says Bruce Harrington, vice president and product manager of retirement plans at MFS. At death, he says, IRAs are included in the IRA owner's estate, creating -- if applicable -- an estate-tax liability as well as an income-tax liability for beneficiaries.

"The 'IRD Rule' allows beneficiaries to take an income-tax deduction for any estate taxes paid on an IRA's assets, thus limiting double taxation," he says.

5. Ignorance is expensive

Not knowing that a nonspouse beneficiary cannot do a rollover and not knowing how to set up an inherited IRA can be expensive mistakes, says Slott. "Only a spouse can do a rollover," he says. "But most inherited IRAs are wiped out because of this error."

Advisers, and especially attorney's handling the estate of an IRA owner, rarely know this rule and often they advise the beneficiary to put the IRA into his own IRA. "That cannot be done," says Slott. "That is a rollover and is not permitted. This will trigger immediate taxation of the entire inherited IRA and the stretch option will be lost forever, not to mention the big tax bill the beneficiaries will receive."

The only way that an inherited IRA can be moved is by a trustee-to-trustee transfer -- a direct transfer from one financial institution to another without touching the money in between, Slott says.

He also says the inherited IRA must be set up correctly. The deceased IRA owner's name must remain on the account. "Not knowing how to set up an inherited IRA is a costly error since it usually ends the account and triggers immediate taxation," says Slott.

Others agree that inattention, ignorance or other factors on the part of those people or institutions providing retirement-plan advice can often prove disastrous.

"It seems the IRA providers dealing with beneficiaries pay them too much or too little, but never just the right amount," says Choate. "One big trap is the 'catch 22' of IRA provider errors when it comes to advising the beneficiaries who have inherited an IRA."

Choate says it's not unusual for her to get two calls a day from unhappy beneficiaries.

"In the morning someone calls and says 'I inherited my mom's IRA, went to the IRA provider, and they gave me a check for the entire balance, which I deposited in my savings account. Then I found out about the stretch IRA. The IRA provider never told me I could leave the money in an inherited IRA and take it out gradually over my life expectancy.'

"In the afternoon I get a call from another beneficiary: 'I inherited my dad's IRA seven years ago. I never touched the money. The IRA provider and my dad's financial provider never told me I was supposed to be taking annual minimum required distributions. Now I owe huge penalties and have to beg the IRS to waive them.'"

The bottom line: Retirement account owners and their beneficiaries should work only with qualified and competent advisers.

The contents of this letter/report does not necessarily reflect the opinions or viewpoint of normxxx. They are provided for informational/educational purposes only.

-- posted by Normxxx

Top 813. Aug 11, 2005 6:03 AM

» pbradford6 - Re: Five big traps

In response to Five big traps posted by Normxxx:

Thanks Norm for an interesting article. Can you tell me where I can find the tables to calculalte the MDR?

Thanks.

-- posted by pbradford6

Top 814. Aug 11, 2005 6:24 AM

» allancoleman - Re: Five big traps

In response to Re: Five big traps posted by pbradford6:

hi pbradfort6 ,

fortunately you don't have to do it yourself anymore . your " deferred " account custodian will inform you each january , based on your account balances the end of each calendar year , what your required minimum distribution is for that upcoming year . you have until the end of that calendar year to take that amount out of one of your deferred accounts .

because of the penalities , you are advised to take out slightly more . and if you want some idea what your amount will be before hand , you can divide your total deferred accounts amounts by 27.4 for your beginning distribution at age 70 and it'll be slightly less ( 26.5 for age 71 for example ) for each year thereafter . calculations and other tables are in the back of IRS publication 590 .

by the way , ROTHs are NOT subject to required minimum distribution regulations . smile .

-- posted by allancoleman

Top 815. Aug 11, 2005 8:06 AM

» Normxxx - Re: Re: Five big traps

In response to Re: Five big traps posted by pbradford6:

Yes. Try the IRS first; they have the tables, but you may have to search.

They are all over the web also, so a google search should turn them up- but in that case make sure you are using the right table- I don't think it's changed over the last few years.

However, if you have brokerage accounts, your broker will be happy to provide the info, though I found that of three brokers, one was in error!

Your age (for the tables) is your age at the end of the tax filing year, but your IRA amount is the amount in your accounts on 31 December of the preceding year. You have until April 1 of the year after you have to take your first distribution to actually take it; thereafter it must be taken by 31 December of each year. Particularly tricky is determining your first required year of distribution.

Please do not rely on my tax advice. Check with your tax advisors; this info is just to alert you of more pitfalls.

-- posted by Normxxx

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB1124...

Top 816. Aug 20, 2005 11:35 AM

» pbradford6 - Broker/Financial Advisor

Hopefully this is the correct forum to post this message. :-) The following is from today's Barrons.

Brokers in Sheep's Clothing

By EDWARD P. MAHAFFY

IS YOUR TRUSTED ADVISER really just a salesperson? Sometimes it's hard to tell, given all the titles used by brokers: financial adviser, financial consultant and financial planner, to name just a few. Many of these sound quite similar to "investment adviser" -- but there's a big difference. Investment advisers, unlike brokers, have a fiduciary duty to their clients. That means they have a legal obligation to place the client's interests ahead of their own, and to clearly identify all sources of compensation, the amount of compensation and any potential conflicts of interest. It's all laid out in the Investment Advisers Act of 1940

A broker has no such obligations, unless the client has given him discretionary authority to trade without the client's approval. Many brokers, however, masquerade as investment advisers. Television ads by brokerage firms trumpet "objective" advice and make the firms sound more like trust companies. The firms try to project an image of having a fiduciary duty without actually having one. But how can any sales organization offer truly objective advice?
[sheep]

As an independent broker and investment adviser with more than 20 years of experience, I've had ample opportunity to see how brokers operate. My conclusion: Although there are many honest and knowledgeable brokers in the world, the nature of their compensation and the relationship with their employer can seriously diminish clients' chances of having fee-efficient, tax-efficient, well-performing portfolios. Here are five things to watch out for:

MOST BROKERS ARE PAID by a formula that increases the broker's portion of commissions and fees as revenue increases. For example, a broker might be paid 30% of revenue of up to $249,999 -- and 35% of revenue above that amount. This is retroactive to the first dollar, so when revenues hit $250,000, the broker effectively gets a bonus of 5% of the total, or $12,500. Some brokers will sell anything to anybody before year-end to cross that threshold. And the products they will rely on the most are the ones with the highest fees and the highest commissions, such as variable annuities and mutual funds with "loads," or front-end sales charges. The situation is even worse if a broker has been offered an increased payout as a bonus for switching firms. For instance, he or she might be offered 80% of revenues for the first 12 months.

A BROKER'S SALES MANAGER also presents conflicts. Sales managers tend to reward the brokers that sell the products that fatten the firm's bottom line -- load funds, variable annuities or perhaps the firm's proprietary products. Few brokers will confront management over such tactics for fear of reprisal. The brokers that "play ball" are often the ones that make the most money because management assigns them the best accounts. Those that choose not to play ball often receive fewer new accounts and are marked by management as troublemakers.

FEE-BASED ACCOUNTS, which allow clients to trade as frequently as they wish for a fee of usually 1% to 1.5% of assets, can eliminate a broker's temptation to "churn" the portfolio to increase commissions. But the accounts, which are increasingly popular, encourage another form of abuse: The broker may suggest one for a client whose trading activity is low. Such clients would probably find it more sensible to pay a commission each time they trade. Morgan Stanley recently agreed to pay $6.1 million in fines and restitution for allegedly overcharging for fee-based brokerage accounts. The NASD said the firm, from 2001 through 2003, failed to identify customers in its Choice accounts who would have paid less in traditional, commission accounts. Morgan Stanley neither admitted nor denied the charges.

SO-CALLED SEPARATELY managed accounts, a popular form of customized portfolio, can lead to unusually high fees. With these accounts, the broker charges a "wrap fee," with the broker's fee wrapped around the fee of the investment manager. And the broker's fee is often a good deal more than the manager's fee -- sometimes twice as much. Total annual fees can exceed 3%. When the fee is debited from the account each quarter, the broker's portion is not itemized, so the client is in the dark on exactly what the broker received.

SWEEP ACCOUNTS, the brokerage industry's alternative to money-market funds, are very profitable for the firms. They make much more money on sweeps than they would by farming out your cash to a money-market mutual fund. In a sweep account, the brokerage makes similar short-term investments with your idle balances. But the rates are usually much lower than for money-markets funds -- typically 2.7% nowadays, versus 3.1% for the funds. And a money-market fund has a fiduciary duty to provide the best rate possible for its shareholders, while a brokerage firm does not.

There's no need to be intimated by all this. If you do choose to deal with a broker, request a full accounting of how much you are paying in fees -- and try to negotiate them lower. Point out that E*Trade offers to rebate 50% of your mutual funds' 12b-1 fees, which are recurring commissions. If your broker suggests moving you into a fee-based account, ask for a comparison based on past and proposed commission activity to see if it's right for you. Insist that any wrap fee be lowered by at least 15% to 20%. Most brokers can afford that in order to keep a good customer, since the fees are so high to begin with. If your broker suggests mutual funds with loads, ask about lower-cost exchange-traded funds. If he recommends a variable annuity, request a comparison with a no-load fund.

In my view, the better route is to pick a bona fide, fee-based or fee-only investment adviser. They are not completely free of conflicts, of course. Like brokers, they may steer you toward a certain family of mutual funds because the fund company has a revenue-sharing agreement with the adviser's firm. But unlike the broker, they are legally bound to disclose this information, as well as all sources of compensation. You should request a comparison of getting charged by the hour, by the project or as a percentage of assets.

Advisers belonging to the National Association of Personal Financial Planners are especially notable, because they must submit their work for peer review and adhere to a code of ethics. You can find one at www.napfa.org. An adviser like this might just save you a bundle.

-- posted by pbradford6

Top 817. Sep 12, 2005 6:08 PM

» Normxxx - Ten retirement lessons

Ten retirement lessons from the smartest people I know

By Paul Merriman | 12 September 2005

In an article that first appeared in Southern California Senior Life, Paul Merriman shares what he's learned from smart people who have retired successfully.

Since the mid-1960s I have been helping people manage their money and their lives before and during retirement. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the downright ugly. A successful retirement, like a successful life, rarely happens by accident or default. It happens by design. I’ve had the good fortune to know thousands of very smart people. Here are 10 lessons they have taught me.

Lesson One: Happiness in later life is not a direct function of how much money somebody has.

This is hard for many folks to accept, but it’s never a surprise to the smartest people I know. Happiness depends much more on attitudes and behavior than on the numbers in somebody else’s computers. (And in today’s world, that’s essentially what money is: numbers in distant computers.)

Lesson Two: Wealth comes from choices, not chances.

Smart people don’t wait for luck to make them wealthy. Every day, they cultivate habits and follow rules that others don’t. If you want to be wealthy, live below your means. Pay yourself first and build wealth, not a lifestyle that saddles you with expenses. When you save and invest, make your money work hard for you. My new book contains eight chapters that tell exactly how to do that.

Lesson Three: Those who plan also prosper.

Smart people plan for retirement— in writing. I know a written plan has no magic of its own. But people who are serious enough to put their plans in writing are likely to identify where they are, where they want to go and what they must do to get there.

Lesson Four: Don’t wait to start saving.

Smart people learn early in life how to defer gratification. If you’re in your 20s, retirement seems pretty remote. But time gives you an opportunity to do a lot, for a little. A one-time investment of $5,000 when you’re 25 will grow (at 10 percent) to $140,512 by the time you’re 60. But if you waited until you’re 45, you’d have to invest $33,638 to get the same result.

Lesson Five: Retirement belongs to those who are still with us.

Smart people take care of their health. If you want to retire rich, you’ve got to live long enough to retire and be healthy enough to live it up. Smart people see their doctors periodically and follow the advice they are given. They don’t neglect their mental health, either.

Lesson Six: The quality of your life is shaped by the quality of the people in your life.

The happiest people I know seem to have many favorite people in their lives— including some who are younger than they are. At the end, life can sweep away our dignity and money, but if we have friends with whom we can share joy, pain and respect, we are blessed.

Lesson Seven: We older folks could learn some common sense from high school students.

That may surprise you, but it shouldn’t. Every year I speak to high school students. I ask them if they had money to invest, would they want to invest like millionaires or like poor people. They never get this wrong. But I’m continually amazed why so many of their parents continue to invest like poor people. In a nutshell, here’s the difference:

If you invest like a millionaire, you’ll carefully choose an advisor who has no conflict of interest with you. You will invest in hundreds or even thousands of stocks. You’ll take a long-term view. You’ll keep your costs low and your expectations realistic.

There are many ways to invest like a poor person. One popular route is going to a broker and buying some “hot” individual stocks, hoping to get rich by exploiting insight and knowledge that you believe you or your broker have— that for some reason everybody else on Wall Street is too dumb to recognize. Yeah, right!

Lesson Eight: Active trumps lazy, every time.

Smart people of all ages keep themselves active mentally as well as physically. People who regularly challenge their brains live longer than those who get intellectually lazy. Want to have a long, happy retirement? Then do stimulating things like reading, crossword puzzles, taking a class— or teaching one. If you can, travel to unfamiliar places and try new things.

Lesson Nine: Smart people don’t wait around for “real life” to start.

The happiest people I know, whether they’re retired or still working, would have no trouble making a list of 100 things they’d love to do if they had the time. Places to go. People to see. Books to read. Golf courses to master.

Smart people know that all the tomorrows we assume are ours can be snatched away in an instant. They identify their passions, their dreams and their goals, then find ways to make those dreams reality, starting now.

Lesson Ten: The very best investment you can ever make doesn’t cost a dime.

This isn’t news to the smartest people I know. Every one of my readers has something valuable to give that has not yet been given. It might be money. It might be time or volunteer work. It might be a helping hand. It might be simply that wonderful gift of actively listening.

If you will take the time to discover what this gift is, and if you will give it generously, I guarantee your life will be richer and more satisfying. I also guarantee that you will make (and leave) the world a little better place. You might be surprised by how few people purposely and consciously live their lives this way.

Those who do are the smartest people I know.

______________

The contents of this letter/report does not necessarily reflect the opinions or viewpoint of normxxx. They are provided for informational/educational purposes only.

-- posted by Normxxx

Top 818. Sep 13, 2005 12:51 PM

» pbradford6 - Re: Ten retirement lessons

In response to Ten retirement lessons posted by Normxxx:

Thanks for sharing this with us Norm.

-- posted by pbradford6

Top 819. Oct 5, 2005 4:16 PM

» Normxxx - Guaranteed Retirement Disaster!

Your Retirement Disaster -- Guaranteed!

By Buck Hartzell (TMF Buck) | 29 September 2005

Invert, always invert.
I didn't say that, Carl Jacobi did. Jacobi, a famous mathematician, also excelled as a teacher. Among his other distinguished accomplishments, Jacobi discovered that you can solve for X by first determining what is not X. Today I'd like to apply that same strategy to another complex problem -- your retirement.

What does the perfect retirement look like? Good question. There isn't a specific answer, either. There is, however, a firm answer for what is not the perfect retirement, and my aim today is to instruct you on a surefire way to plan for a disastrous retirement. If you elect not to follow this checklist, you're probably well on your way to a worry-free retirement. The choice is yours.

Hope for the best
Don't worry about calculating how much you'll need for retirement; don't save or live below your means. After all, saving is much less fun than spending.

Consumer spending is 70% of our GNP. Government, corporate, and consumer debt levels are at all-time highs. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan noted on Aug. 26 that "debt has fostered economic growth, which has created imbalances in the form of a housing boom and the swelling current account trade deficit." For a truly miserable retirement, just keep doing what we're doing. Make sure you live for the moment and mortgage tomorrow to the hilt.

Count on Uncle Sam
That's right, good old Uncle Sam will take care of you. Medicare and Social Security are all you'll ever need to live in the lap of luxury.

The average Social Security retirement benefit was less than $11,000 per year in 2003, and Medicare is bound to be around for a few more years before it runs out of money. So don't take control of your own destiny: Uncle Sam is looking out for you. Yeah, right!

Choose to decay
Earlier this year, Motley Fool Rule Your Retirement editor Robert Brokamp interviewed Chris Crowley, author of Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until 80 and Beyond. Crowley offered some thoughts on how to live a healthy and vibrant retirement. But that's not our goal; for a truly unhappy and unhealthy retirement, follow these precepts:

1. Don't exercise. Exercise sends a constant "grow" message to your body to get stronger and more limber. By not exercising, your nerves will decay and your joints will wear out.
2. Eat junk. Indulge yourself with french fries, fast food, and delicious Krispy Kreme donuts. And don't ignore trans-fatty acids, high-fructose corn syrup, nicotine, and alcohol each and every day.
3. Disconnect and wither. Close up shop and narrow your social circles. The key to an unsuccessful retirement is a life of isolation.

Take (big) financial risks
Bond yields are low, and returns on cash are staggeringly low. Don't be satisfied with a measly 3% return on your cash. Follow the herd and get in on some volatile market action.

A good place to start is real estate, which is a no-brainer with prices flying so high today. You can employ all kinds of destructive instruments for a chance at better returns. Let's start with leverage. Borrow the money you need, and better yet, use an interest-only loan. Then speculate in a condo in Miami. Everybody else is doing it -- 40% to 70% of condos in the Miami area are being bought as investments. That could definitely end badly. Using large amounts of leverage in a speculative market is a fine recipe for fiscal disaster.

Buy what you don't know
There's no need to research your investments or even know exactly what business they're in. Don't get caught on the sidelines while others are getting rich on stocks like Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Taser (Nasdaq: TASR). (Whoops! Guess we missed that last one.) Remember, these are just pieces of paper -- not parts of a business. And no matter how much you pay, there will always be someone else wanting to pay more. Above all, avoid index funds. There's nothing worse than the (sometimes) slow and steady growth of the S&P 500 (AMEX: SPY).

Or if you don't feel confident picking your own stocks, pay a lot for a full-service broker like those at Morgan Stanley or Merrill Lynch. Or, a "good" Mutual Fund with a hefty load; after all, the more they charge, the better they must be. Right?

But for some truly great opportunities, keep tabs on recent IPOs, penny stocks, lottery tickets, and online gaming.

Put all your eggs in one basket
Asset allocation is for fuddy-duddies. Make sure you invest all of your savings in few obscure, high-risk investments. If you want to make some serious money, you've got to pick something that's difficult to understand and very technical. And, having found it, if it is going through the roof shortly, why not put all your money on it?

Robert also interviewed financial planner Roger Gibson in August. According to Gibson, "When you reduce the volatility of a portfolio, all other things being equal, the rate at which money compounds increases." That's no way to ruin your retirement. Buy the most volatile "ultra" growth stocks.

Spend more than you should
You just retired and earned yourself an extra 40 hours of free time each week. What are you going to do? Eating out and shopping are two great hobbies. We've heard a lot of stories from folks who took the lump sum and spent it in the first five years! If you want to be sure you run out of money, withdraw at least 10% of your nest egg each year. That's more than double what Robert has recommended to his Rule Your Retirement subscribers. Hey, imported cars, new clothes, big-screen TVs, and 40-foot RVs don't come cheap.

Foolish final thoughts
You should now have several excellent ideas of how to ruin your retirement.

______________

The contents of this letter/report does not necessarily reflect the opinions or viewpoint of normxxx. They are provided for informational/educational purposes only.

-- posted by Normxxx

Top 820. Oct 6, 2005 10:02 AM

» pbradford6 - Re: Guaranteed Retirement Disaster!

In response to Guaranteed Retirement Disaster! posted by Normxxx:

Thanks for this posting. I sent a copy to my son whoes motto is "What, me worry?"

-- posted by pbradford6