Retiring Tina

We have really enjoyed some nice weather lately, but it is inevitable that winter is on its way. Winter … not our favorite time of year. Away with the flip-flops and pool toys and out with the snow shovels and warm coats.

Another pile of mail has made its way to my kitchen counter, and once again I will go through the process of sorting through it all, pitching the “junk mail”, and organizing the “important” mail. I will never cease to be amazed at how much “junk mail” two old people can receive!

I can hardly believe Christmas is just a few short weeks away and I am so excited to have all of the family home for the holidays! Decorating the tree and putting up the Christmas decorations is not as much fun as when the kids were little, but I do it in anticipation of our time together, so that makes it more enjoyable.

Right now there are lots of annual festivals going on around us. No matter what you like there is one for everyone. Cars, pumpkins, apples and crafts galore everywhere you look. We usually try to attend as many as we can, but now that I am retired, we can go to as many as we want!

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. Apples, falling leaves and pumpkins all in a row. Sitting around cozy fires with friends during the weekends. It gets me thinking about all the changes that this time of year brings.

What is the goal of your investment? The obvious answer is; to make more money. But that’s not incredibly helpful from a portfolio construction perspective. Broadly speaking, there are two overriding investment goals: growth and income.

If you own a home, you’re already invested in real estate. As the price of residential real estate in your area rises and falls, the value of your home increases and decreases. That’s far from the only way to be invested in real estate, though. There’s another, easier way called a real estate investment trust, or REIT.

Before I retired, I used to worry about how safe my investments are and whether I could really count on a good return in retirement. Now that I am retired, that worry has actually intensified, as I’m counting on yesterday’s earnings to see me through...