Hi Jan,
Dividends feel different from selling shares, even when the math says otherwise. This week we look at why that feeling is so persuasive, and why leaning too hard into dividend income can end up reshaping a portfolio in ways that work against you. It's less about avoiding dividends and more about not letting how the cash arrives dictate how the money gets invested.
| | | | Can You Live Off Dividends in Retirement? Selling an investment in retirement can feel very different from receiving a dividend. One feels like spending down something you worked for years to accumulate. The other feels like skimming income off the top while leaving the underlying investment alone. Retirees who spent decades being told to save, invest, and avoid touching principal can be understandably reluctant to sell shares once retirement begins. A dividend seems to solve that problem neatly. You receive money in your account, the number of shares you own stays the same, and there is no visible sense that the portfolio is being dismantled to pay for living expenses.
By Retirement Researcher | | | | How Retirement Changes the Risks You Face Retirement is often described as the reward for decades of work. Financially, however, it represents a profound shift. For years, the objective is to earn, save, and grow assets. Then retirement arrives, and the focus changes almost overnight. The goal is no longer accumulation; it is sustainability. That shift changes the risks you face in ways that are easy to overlook.
By McLean Asset Management
| | | | Retirement Withdrawals: When to Use Your Portfolio, When to Use a Buffer
Alex and I work through listener questions this week, including how to bridge the years before Social Security starts with a TIPS ladder or annuity, and when it makes sense to pull from a volatility buffer instead of your total return portfolio during a down market.
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