A report issued by the CFPB in August 2017 claimed that using a reverse mortgage to delay Social Security is a bad idea. This report gained a lot of press coverage and is likely serving as the primary resource for people seeking to learn more about the matter. I will provide the analysis that shows why the CFPB is wrong.

Is time segmentation a superior investment strategy for retirees relative to total-return investing?

For time segmentation to work, there must be a clear procedure for how to extend the bond ladder. Unfortunately, with its varied implementation, that procedure is often overlooked. I will examine the potential for time segmentation by considering three different ways to implement it.

Time segmentation is wildly popular in practice and it goes by many different names. But it is also the least studied retirement-income approach. Whether time segmentation is a superior investing approach for retirement income has led to many heated debates.

DALBAR’s method for calculating average investor returns unfairly understates these returns. DALBAR does not properly calculate an internal rate-of-return for an ongoing series of cash flows, which renders its results meaningless. DALBAR’s response to this article is also provided.

When comparing strategies for coordinating home equity with portfolio distributions to generate retirement income, the tenure option fairs well. As a way to fund retirement efficiency improvements, using the tenure payment option from the line of credit as an alternative to purchasing a SPIA or DIA is worth exploring further.