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30% of retired baby boomers are living below the poverty line. They have no way of augmenting their income and only receive a government pension which is not enough to live on. These people did not receive a company pension nor did they save enough money to last well into their retirement years. As well many people are living longer than most people expected. Retirement plans looking great is not reality for many people.

They only have government pensions to rely on. Many baby boomers have found that they have to move in with family to survive. Moving in with your children is one option, and with brothers or sisters is another option, downsizing and moving in with friends is another option. But most people would prefer to be independent during retirement and have a high quality of life. For many this just does not happen.

Retirement plans looking great – Speak to an Adviser

If you’re still working now is the time to stress test your retirement savings plan. Work with a financial analyst or financial adviser to figure out how much money you can save for your retirement, how long it will last and how much you can expect to receive on a monthly basis. Your monthly income from savings is so important. It determines how you will pay your bills in retirement.

Planning to work into old age is not a good plan. There are too many things that can get in the way of being able to work well into your retirement years. For example health issues get in the way, being laid off gets in the way, not being able to find a job as well is a major obstacle. Stress test your retirement plan today and figure out just how much money you need to save.

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We recently listened to a stock market financial analyst from New York talk about whether the bull market of 2013 will continue or whether we will have a 4% correction or higher in the coming year.  Is there a stock market bubble now? The short answer to the question put to the financial analyst, about whether there would be Stock market correction of at least 4% was that he did not know.

It took him about five minutes to answer the question. He analyzed and discussed all the possible issues that could cause stock market correction. However like a politician he does not answer the question. With so many assumptions and guesses that it is really difficult to know what he was really saying. Or to tell whether he thinks there will be a stock market bubble correction in the near future.

Stock market bubble

As we write this particular post, there are no new wars starting up. Which could affect the markets, there are no major storms or hurricanes that are impacting major market areas or oil platforms, the economies of the world seem to be moving along slowly with no major change but all on the uptick and there does not appear to be anything in particular that could cause a market correction to begin to happen.

The upshot of his discussion was that there will be a market correction of at least 4% sometime in the future, he just did not know when. It was also impossible to time-the-market so if you’re concerned about locking in your profits at this point in time it is something that you might want to think about however you could be giving up future profits based on the market continuing to climb. This last statement is typical of the kind of advice and discussion this particular financial analyst provided.

It is tough to know what to do as an investor, however if you have a long-term strategy in place, it is best to stick to that strategy and not try to time market uptick’s and market downtiks. Focus on income, High-quality stocks with dividends, bons with excellent interest income and mutual funds with low and MERs.

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Will there be a stock market correction any time soon? As of May 2017, the market has dropped a bit over 400 points. It is still doing very well if you are in blue chip stocks that pay excellent dividends. The market  is still much higher than it was in 2008 and it does not seem to be in any danger of a serious Stock Market Correction at this time. We are in the middle of a continuing bull market which is driving the markets to new highs. UPDATE – it is now 2019. there has been a lot of volatility over the past two years. As long as you can stomach the roller coaster, the market is above where it was in 2017 and investors are making money.

Stock Market Correction

But even these types of companies can be impacted if there is a stock market correction. So lets assume there will be a correction sometime in the next few months. Conventional wisdom says sell high and buy low , but do not try to time the market!

But what if you are invested for the long term and focused on dividend income. Should you sell or stick it out and enjoy the dividend payments? Thus investor thinks that this would be the best strategy, since the income is maintained and as long as the companies you are invested in are high quality, the stocks will rebound! This is exactly what occurred in 2008. first the market dropped like a stone and then rebounded to even higher levels than it was pre 2008.

What do you think will happen? Should you stick with your investments as they are now?

Cyprus has faded from the news after they took a large haircut on the savings of all accounts in the banks. This represented a large contribution by anyone with an account in the bank including residents and foreigners as well. It was particularly significant since it set a precedent and there is a lot of foreign money in Cypriot banks! Who is next? Some say that Spain is the next EU problem for politicians to deal with.

Spain is rumored to be the next country to cry for help. With Germany in the driver’s seat will they make the same demands of Spain? With the precedent set, you can be sure Germany will demand a great deal and the Spanish know that. They will work hard to avoid further bailouts to be sure. Germany is very powerful in the EU today because its economy is strong and resilient. Right now they get to make the rules.

World stock markets will be affected since Spain is larger than any of the other countries. We will have to wait to see what happens, but to be sure there will be lots of volatility in the markets in the coming year! so far as of the end of 2015, Spain is really not the issue for the markets and for the EU economy.

Next EU Problem – Migrants

The real issue now is all of the migrants from Syria, over 1 million people at last count. They keep pouring into Spain as well as the rest of the EU. This is the Next EU Problem and it is a big one.

Not that I am against the Syrian refugees, but what about all of the other areas in the world. There over 300,000 people living in tents in Kenya for the past couple of years and no one is talking about them. Why the Syrians and not the Kenyans?

Well it looks like another week of the markets going up and down. Nervous are investors trying to figure out what to do with their portfolios. Market volatility makes everyone nervous. As of writing this post, indications are that the stock futures are pointing up, but as we all know, it really means nothing with the current debt crisis in Europe. Until the European countries get their collective act together we are going to see a lot more of this.

What are investors supposed to do in this climate? Well if you are invested in quality stocks and bonds, most experts will tell you to stay put. Certainly that is what my adviser is suggesting at the moment. On the other hand if you are invested in speculative stocks and mutual funds, it might already be too late to get out. You will be selling at a loss and trying to time the market is next to impossible. If your stocks are paying good dividends, at least you will be collecting income while you are waiting to see which way the markets are going to go.
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The markets are on a roller coaster again and this time headed into a deep trough! Or as some would say this is temporary and as soon as the worlds countries get things stabilized we will be back to normal! Who do you believe and what should the average person do in these difficult times? An update from June 2013 suggests that the market rose to new heights and is now about to tumble again. We will have to wait and see what happens this year in a year with market volatility.

We think government workers every where should be really nervous. Private industry has been shedding jobs for years and conserving cash, something that the worlds governments have yet to do. If this latest round of market and debt problems gets really bad, the government is going to need to reduce their costs as well. First thing to go will be programs and then the workers that administer those programs. All we can say is try to make sure that you are working on something that will not be cut!

Market Volatility  – Dow Tumbles

But back to the issue of the market and the up and down swings we have seen. On Thursday, Sept 22, the Dow tumbled as did many other markets. If you are invested in good quality bonds and stocks, then you are probably ok. Sure you have lost money , but only if you sell. If you sell now you are locking in those losses. Hold on to quality and as long as you have time, the market is likely to bounce back! Too many people are panicking and selling low and locking in the losses that are now in the market.
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