Early Retirement Blog

If you are retired – are you fed-up with the Federal Reserve? Many retirees are invested in, U.S Treasury bonds and bills, and are watching their incomes drop. Since the credit crisis began, in August 2007 , the Federal Reserve has been lowering the interest rates on treasury securities. At the same time, inflation especially the cost of food and energy, has been on the rise.

This is a double whammy for retired individuals and families. Many retirees shift their portfolios from, riskier stock market investments, into safer U.S. Government backed treasury bills and mutual funds when they retire. The past few months have seen an increase in the cost food, gasoline, and heating oil. While the yield, on government backed securities, has been reduced. Retirees are now paying more, for the same items, with less income than they were receiving six months ago. Compounding the pain is the swooning performance of the stock market. Any relief in sight? Most probably not.

The cause of the Federal Reserve rate cuts, a comatose credit market due to the housing crash, appears likely to continue. And with the prospect of an economic slow down, the Federal reserve in an effort to keep the economy going, has signaled that it may reduce interest rates further. Meanwhile, oil and other commodity prices remain high, and world-wide demand doesn’t appear to be waning. What’s a retiree to do?

Conserve. In one word, that is all a retiree can do, to try and manage the current economic situation. With declining values in housing, stock, and bond markets, their doesn’t appear to be any positive economic growth on the horizon. All a retiree can do at this point, to minimize the damage to their portfolios, is to reduce their expenses.

Conservation of your financial resources, in a time of financial uncertainty, is the most prudent investment you can make. To learn about how conservation can help your retirement visit – Green Retirement