Investing When You’re Retired

For several years we have taught a course with the above title at Avenidas — the senior center in Palo Alto. The course is based on an extensive and detailed syllabus we have developed for attendees, a syllabus we have continued to revise and expand. The most recent outlines for the course sessions are as follows.

First Session

• Introduction
• Calculating Investment Return
  • Annualized vs. average return, standard
    deviation, inflation-adjusted return
• Investment Risk
  • Types of investment risk
    
  • Quantifying risk
    
  • Diversifying to reduce risk
    
• Investing Like Warren Buffett
  
• Discipline, not Fear, Reaps Rewards
  
• Investment Alternatives and Relative Risks
  
• Annuities and Life Insurance Settlement
  
• Long-Term Care Insurance
  
• Maxims for Investing

Second Session

• Bond and Bond-Type Investments
  
  • Bond features, market and prices
    
  • Historical Treasury bond returns
    
  • Inflation-indexed Treasury bonds
    
  • Preferred stock
    
• Stock (Equity) Investments
  
  • Features
    
  • Historical stock market returns
    
  • The dividend story
    
  • International (foreign) stock markets
    
• Professional Advice and Management
  
  • Investment advisors & management
    
  • Expenses and stealth erosion of wealth
    
  • Exchange traded funds (ETFs)
    
• Lessons and Guidelines
  
  • Lessons from recent history
    
  • Bear market arithmetic
    
  • Expectations for the future

Third Session

• Commodities
• Hedge Funds
  
• Private Equity
  
• Real Estate
  
• Financial Issues in Retirement
  
• Investing When You’re Retired
  
• Balance and Discipline
  
  • Target portfolio allocations
    
  • Withdrawal rate studies
    
  • Investment products