Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF holds roughly $2.1 trillion in assets and has earned its place in millions of retirement portfolios. The appeal is straightforward: one fund, the entire U.S. equity market, a 0.03% expense ratio, and a 25-year track record.
High-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the National Credit Union Administration up to $250,000, per depositor, per insured institution.
If you have managed to save $1.5 million by 55, you're ahead of most Americans, but that doesn't automatically mean you're ready to walk away from work. Whether $1.5 million is enough depends on factors that have nothing to do with your account balance, but more about where you live, how much you will spend, when you can claim Social Security, and what the market does over the next few decades.
A market downtown in the first few years of retirement, combined with regular withdrawals, can permanently damage a portfolio's ability to sustain income over time. The same downturn occurring 10 or 15 years later, when withdrawals have already been funded by earlier growth, does far less harm.
A 65-year-old man today can expect to live to 84 years old, while a 65-year-old woman can expect to live until 86. For plan sponsors and advisers, that translates into a potential distribution horizon of at least 20 to 30 years. Without incorporating realistic longevity assumptions into glide path design, withdrawal strategies and income solutions, participants face a heightened risk of outliving their savings.
