Blog

One of the most satisfying parts of my work is teaching a Baby Boomer Retirement course. Along with investments and long-term care planning, sequence of returns risk is near the top for generating much discussion with the students. Think of sequence of returns as not just your average annual rate of return being important but also the order of how your returns happen.

While most of us don’t have to worry about weeds in our gardens for some time, we all have to be careful about the weeds growing in our investment portfolios. Like weeds in a garden, portfolio weeds work to strangle the life out what we have set out to do. In the case of our investments these weeds lower our chances for a successful retirement.

BEWARE: The Hazards of Joint OwnershipPlanning for the ultimate disposition of your assets can be complicated, potentially opening some sensitive family subjects. However, a proper estate plan can ensure that your assets ultimately go where intended.The estate planning process should start with a review of jointly held assets.

New Math for Retirees and the 4% Withdrawal RuleMay 9th, 2015 NYT article by Tara Siegel Bernard retirement plansMore than two decades ago, Bill Bengen, then a financial planner in Southern California, said he had several anxious clients with the same question: How much can I spend in retirement without running out of money?

Recently, I received a call from my office telling me one of my clients put in sell orders and it looked like he was transferring all of his money out. This is not any ordinary client. He is a special client we’ll call Fred. He has been with me since the 90s. His late father and elderly mother first invested with me in 1982.

Creation of an Investment Portfolio Tom Diem, CFP®, ChFC® Active vs. Passive vs. StructuredWhen you constructed your investment portfolio you invariably followed one of three schools of thought. Active Management, Passive Management and a Passive variant called Structured Portfolio served as the main contenders for your money.

What to do NOW to Prepare for the Next Market Crash Everyone has his or her own definition of a crash. At Diem Wealth we define a crash as ‘a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross section of the stock market of 20% or more’. Since 1926 the S&P 500 has experienced 26 drops of 20% or more. 7 of these 26 drops were 30% or more...

In 1980, Ted Benna, an employee benefits consultant, started the first known 401(k) plan at his own employer, The Johnson Companies.  Ted found an obscure provision written into law in 1978 enabling companies to help their employees save on a pre-tax basis for retirement.Over time, companies found 401(k) Plans to be an employee benefits panac

Don’t Drive into Retirement Without a Plan If you’ve ever traveled to second or third world countries, you knew you were not in Kansas anymore. Having lived a sheltered life in the Midwest and an Army Tour in Germany, I was not what you’d call a seasoned traveler.