How Much You Need to Retire

My Opinion, Links to Other (Professional) Opinions, Inputs from Visitors, ...
Investing Online

My Favorite Investment Sites, Ratings from Others, Online Trading, Watching your Money, ...
Investing On-The-Road

Getting on the Internet, TV Alternatives, Phone (800 Number) Alternatives, ...
Invest!
Click a Picture
You're Visitor #
Nothing in this site is copyrighted -- I'd be honored if you'd reuse anything you find here for your website
2013 Update: The Indexed Annuities that I discuss below have turned out to be one of my better investments. I put in $10,000 in 2004 in a 13-year annuity, have withdrawn $1000 almost every year, and still have a balance of $8000. I wish now I'd put $100,000 in, but I think I'm a little late (age 72) for another 13-year investment. If you're in your 50s, you might want to look into it.

2004 Update: Up until now, I've really given no investment advice in this area. I tell you how to play the market (if you want to) and I tell where to look for advice. When I first created this page in late 1999, the Stock Market and Self-Directed IRAs were THE THING!  With the looong Bear market that we've had, things have changed and so has my portfolio. I've gotten into a few Mutual Funds, a little Gold, etc. BUT, RECENTLY, I ATTENDED A GREAT SEMINAR!  I learned about some new things, like Indexed Annuities (invented in 1994) and Long-Term Care Annuities (invented in 2003).

CLICK HERE to scroll to the bottom of this page and read more about them.
***  Specific Topics of Interest  ***
Indexed Annuities

Here, in 100 words or less, I'm going to tell you everything I know about Indexed Annuities. Basically, they are like CDs in that you can't lose your investment, but they're like equities in that you can make a whole lot more than the 3% or whatever is being paid on CDs. I did a Yahoo! Search on "indexed annuities" and got over 27,000 hits, so I'm not going to put alot of detail here. Whatever you want to know is out there somewhere. One of the better websites is annuityadvantage.com, where they have some really basic info on these investments and list over 300 with details on how each works. To quote their definition "An equity-indexed annuity is an annuity that earns interest that is linked to a stock or other equity index. One of the most commonly used indices is the Standard & Poor's 500 Composite Stock Price Index (the S&P 500)."

The seminar that I attended was presented by Paul McCarthy and Julie McCarthy Decker. I later went to visit them and invested in a 13-year annuity. I get 100% of the S&P increases to a max of 2.5% per month, my profits are locked in annually, and I can withdraw up to 10% per year without penalty. If you're interested, feel free to contact Paul and Julie. I especially like their policy of providing their investors with free annual investment evaluations. They're financial advisors and will give your their opinion on everything in your portfolio, with no pressure to act on any of their advice.

I'm only including this info here because I've been looking for investments that are somewhat more stable than the stock market, but pay better than CDs. This appears to be it! If you have any opinions on Indexed Annuities, feel free to email me at the usual rjhoffman@yahoo.com.
Retire!
Retire!
3 Ways to Save Money for Retirement
Baby Boomer Stuff
Cheap Prescriptions
Great Retirement Home!
How Much Do I Need?
Newsletter - Free!
Retire and Travel for $1000 a Month - my first book
Retire and Travel - 20 Years Later - my latest book
Retirement Survey
Retirement Tips and RV Stuff Library
The Great Retirement Ripoff
Unretirement Tips
Ways to Retire Early
Working While Wandering
RV Travel!
RV Travel!
Gas War
America Views
Barnages, RV Ports, RV Lots, RV Villas, ...
Best Camping Club
Campground Membership for Sale
Cool & Unusual RVs and Stuff
Fantasmagorical RV Links
Fuel Prices  U. S. and Canada
Great Sunsets
How to Get to the Internet-on-the-Road
My Travel Log
Newsletter  Free!
Nevada Senate Bill SB-412
Retire and Travel for $1000 a Month - my first book
Retire and Travel - 20 Years Later - my latest book
Retirement Tips and RV Stuff Library
Route 66
Top Ten RVing Needs
Towing Tips
Used RV Sales
Working While Wandering
Invest!
Invest!
3 Ways to Save Money for Retirement
How Much Do I Need?
Investing Online
Investing On-The-Road
Get Online!
Get Online!
How to Get to the Internet-on-the-Road
Investing Online
Entertainment
Entertainment
ClubWPT Poker
Hoffman's Photo Tour
A Condo Grew in Florida!
A Few Good Jokes
Dear Oldguy
Old Faithful
Poker
Setting Up My RV
USA's Best Burgers
World Poker Tour (WPT)
USA's Best Burgers
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
Buyer Beware!
Get Your Own Website for Only $50!
How to Protect Your Identity
In Memory of Panda  A Faithful Friend
Lake House for Sale
Life Tips
Our Dogs
Doggie Book: Please Freshen My Water
Yahoo! Photos FREE!!
Annuity Assist presents both positive and negative features of annuities in general, with emphasis on negatives
Annuity Calculator