Risk in retirement..............

To me and probably to you, the hallmarks of a successful retirement are dignity and independence. Today the average American male lives to be 74, the average female lives to be 80. I know the key to financial independence, perhaps over decades of retirement is an income you can’t outlive—an income that’s rising even as your cost of living continues to go up.

The biggest financial risk to all of us, besides not losing one’s money, is outliving it, which means owning the stock market is more critical today than ever before. Remember, the Consumer Price Index over the last 30 years has tripled. For grins, how many people do you know who have tripled their income in their retirement years?

Risk is the extinction of their purchasing power. Safety is increasing their purchasing power.

Last week I paid 39 cents for a postage stamp. I will bet you my shoes that the price of stamps is only going one way. The government inflation numbers are rather comical. They lie. Inflation has probably averaged 4% a year during my lifetime.

Would anyone care to guess which way the price of stamps is going for the rest of their life?

In 1976 when I completed my Economics degree the price of a postage stamp was 13 cents

As you can see, consumer prices have roughly tripled since then.

The stock market has gone up thousands of points since then.

Anyone think they don’t need stocks for the long-term?