Retirement – Earlybirds Invest https://earlybirdsinvest.com Latest Crypto News Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:19:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.7 https://i0.wp.com/earlybirdsinvest.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/cropped-New-Project-2024-12-17T235703.455.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Retirement – Earlybirds Invest https://earlybirdsinvest.com 32 32 240146708 Social Security retirement age: How to raise it without hurting poor people https://earlybirdsinvest.com/social-security-retirement-age-how-to-raise-it-without-hurting-poor-people/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/social-security-retirement-age-how-to-raise-it-without-hurting-poor-people/#respond Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:19:45 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/social-security-retirement-age-how-to-raise-it-without-hurting-poor-people/

The other day, economist Tyler Cowen made an offhand observation that took me aback a bit: that the French, today, enjoy “the longest financed retirements ever seen in the history of the world.”

Verifying the “history of the world” part is beyond my historical skill level. That said, the OECD’s Pensions at a Glance report from 2023 confirms that French retirees are enjoying a lot of years off the job.

French men, per the report, left the labor force at an average age of 60.7. At that point, they have a life expectancy of 84, meaning they can expect 23.3 years in retirement, longer than any of the other countries the OECD examined (mostly rich peer nations plus a few select others). French women can expect 26.1 years in retirement, which is beaten by Luxembourg, Spain, Slovenia, and the world leader, Saudi Arabia, but still very high. (The Saudi case is more about women working fewer and shorter stints than in more liberal polities, as opposed to retirement policy.)

French men and women alike can expect over five additional years in retirement compared to Americans.

Incidentally, the French government fell this week in part due to opposition parties demanding that the centrist coalition in power go back on its decision to raise the formal retirement age from 62 to 64. Funding 23 to 26 years of retirement per person is expensive, which is exactly why President Emmanuel Macron raised the age in the first place, but when the elderly voter bloc is only growing in size, failing to pay that money out can be politically suicidal.

Retirement, American-style

As a non-Frenchman, this fight inevitably makes me think about the coming retirement battle in the US. Our Social Security trust fund is due to be depleted in about eight years. Under current law, when that happens, retirees will see an across-the-board cut of about 23 percent in their benefit levels. Everything I know about how the US government works tells me it will not get to that point. The question, then, is what a deal to prevent those cuts would look like.

One obvious way to avoid the French predicament is to do what Macron did: raise the retirement age. There are two components to the aging problem hitting the US and other rich nations’ pension systems. One is that, because of the size of the baby boom population, more people are hitting retirement age than ever. The number of retired workers newly receiving Social Security hit 3.4 million in 2022, compared to under 2 million in 2000.

Raising the retirement age doesn’t solve this issue. But it does partially address the second issue, which is that the average time spent in retirement has risen as nutrition and medicine have improved. A man born in 1900 and turning 65 in 1965 could expect to live 12.9 more years. The Social Security Administration estimates that a man born in 1960 and turning 65 this year can expect 18.4 more years. Even accounting for the trend of people claiming Social Security later in life, that’s a good number of additional years that the program has to pay out per male retiree.

Between 2000 and 2022, the US gradually raised the retirement age for full Social Security benefits from 65 to 67. But most bipartisan proposals to reform Social Security (that is, proposals with any shot of passage) envision some kind of further age increase. Two years ago, Sens. Angus King (I-ME) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) floated raising the normal retirement age to 70. The Bipartisan Policy Center brought together some ex-politicians and experts in both parties to put together a plan, which wound up advocating an age of 69.

One of the key political virtues of a retirement age increase is that it’s a benefit cut that doesn’t present itself quite as obviously as a benefit cut.

But it does amount to a cut, and potentially a large one. Right now, a 67-year-old woman can expect to live 18.5 more years. Suppose she has to wait until age 70 to claim the same amount of benefits she can now claim at 67. That eats up three of her 18.5 years of expected benefits, an over 16 percent cut. The cut for men, with our shorter lifespans, is even larger in percentage terms.

The most important question to ask about it, though, is whether it’s an across-the-board benefit cut, or in fact a regressive one. There are strong arguments that it is the latter.

Death inequality and Social Security

The eminent Social Security expert and economist Alice Munnell recently highlighted a chart from the program’s actuary’s office that underlined a pretty concerning gap and trend:

A chart showing life expectancy of men at age 62 by quintile of average indexed monthly earnings

Screenshot

If you don’t speak Social Security jargon, this can be a little hard to parse. Essentially, it’s comparing two groups: men born in 1930 considering retirement in 1992 and men born in 1960 considering retirement in 2022. In both groups there is a large gap in life expectancy between the people who earned the least in their careers and those who earned the most. In 1992, the highest-earning men could expect to live 8.4 years longer than the lowest-earning men. In 2022, they could expect 10.3 more years. (“Highest-earning” here means the highest-earning fifth, This is not exactly Elon Musk money: in 2020, being in the top quintile as a man meant an average monthly income of at least $6,391, or $76,692 annually.)

Put differently: not only is there a big life expectancy gap between rich and poor people, but also the gap seems to be growing.

This puts retirement age discussions in a different light. Suppose we’re considering raising not the normal retirement age (now 67) but the early age (now 62), at which point retirees can claim reduced benefits. If we raise the age by three years, then men in the highest income bracket get a cut of 3 divided by 25.6, or about 11 percent. Men in the lowest income bracket get a cut of 3 divided by 15.3, or almost 20 percent. The specific numbers are different if you’re considering raising the normal retirement age, or looking at female workers, but the overall takeaway is the same: raising the age of retirement amounts to a bigger cut for poorer workers.

Recently, economists Henry Aaron at Brookings and Mark Warshawsky got into a heated dispute about how to make sense of these numbers. Warshawsky argues against using life expectancy numbers like those above on the grounds that they inevitably require one to make projections (we don’t know, of course, how long people who retired in 2022 will in fact live, chiefly because most of them haven’t died yet), and for restricting analysis to men aged 65-69. Aaron argues that this is too restrictive (everyone, including insurers, relies heavily on life expectancy projections as well) and neglects that women, for instance, have seen lifespan inequality increase.

To my non-expert eye, Aaron has the better of this specific dispute. But it’s worth emphasizing that the lifespan gap between rich and poor need not be increasing in order for hiking the retirement age to be regressive on net. If, in 30 years, rich men are still living 10 more years in retirement than poor men, an increase in the retirement age will still hit poor men harder than rich men, even if the gap itself hasn’t grown.

The traditional Republican approach to Social Security has been to call for its shortfall to be closed entirely with benefit cuts; the traditional Democratic approach has been to rely entirely on tax hikes. Neither of these has any shot in hell of happening, especially if the Senate filibuster remains in place.

I highly doubt that there are 50 Republicans in the Senate now willing to vote for major benefit cuts, and there certainly aren’t the 60 that would actually be needed. Similarly, I put the odds of Democrats ever electing 60 senators willing to pass a huge payroll tax hike, even just on top earners, at near zero.

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If there’s going to be reform before the trust fund runs out in 2033, it’s going to have to be on a bipartisan basis and involve pretty huge concessions by each side. And I suspect some kind of a retirement age increase will be part of the deal.

If that happens, the best option out there is one that Wendell Primus, Tara Watson, and Jack Smalligan outline in their recent Brookings reform plan. They would raise the retirement age — but only for the top 40 percent of earners. Most retirees would not see the age rise at all, while the top fifth of earners would see it rise to 70. Those in the 60th to 80th percentiles would see smaller hikes. Along with other progressive benefit cuts and tax hikes, the plan would fix the program’s solvency issue.

This retirement age change would make the system somewhat more complicated, as people would have to look up what their specific retirement age is based on their income. But it’s the only plan I’ve seen that keeps the most popular kind of benefit cut from being painfully regressive.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/social-security-retirement-age-how-to-raise-it-without-hurting-poor-people/feed/ 0 58087 5 Pros and 5 Cons of Buying a Second Home in Retirement https://earlybirdsinvest.com/5-pros-and-5-cons-of-buying-a-second-home-in-retirement/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/5-pros-and-5-cons-of-buying-a-second-home-in-retirement/#respond Fri, 12 Sep 2025 14:19:40 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/5-pros-and-5-cons-of-buying-a-second-home-in-retirement/ If you’re serious about shopping for a second home, make it a point to weigh the advantages and disadvantages, so your dreams don’t turn into a nightmare.

Whether you want a lakeside cabin a few hours from home or dream of retiring abroad, you may have begun considering whether buying a second home is right for you.

As with any financial decision, it pays to consider both the pros and cons, even if you can easily picture yourself sipping drinks from your vacation-home veranda.

Couple dining outdoors in front of an A-frame vacation home.

Image source: Getty Images.

Pros

The idea of a second home can be intoxicating, and getting lost in how great it could be is easy. Advantages of a second home include:

1. A private retreat

Let’s say you’ve done (nearly) everything right. You’ve spent decades working hard, built a nice retirement account, and maximized your Social Security benefits. Now that retirement is near, you want an escape, a place you can go and shut out the rest of the world. You dream of a private oasis that allows you to renew and refresh before facing the “real world” again.

2. A potential investment opportunity

If a second home is in a desirable location, it may appreciate in value over time. If it does, you’ll have greater equity to draw from if you ever run into expensive healthcare issues or need funds to finance upgrades and repairs. A second home can become an additional source of equity when you need it most.

3. A potential rental property

Whenever there’s a serious discussion about passive income in retirement, the subject of rental property will surely come up. While there’s nothing particularly “passive” about being a landlord, renting out your second home when you’re not using it can generate additional income, helping to supplement retirement savings.

4. Tax benefits

Depending on the specifics of your situation, a second home may offer tax advantages, such as deductions on mortgage interest or property taxes. If there was ever a time to double down on financial planning (hopefully, with the help of a professional), it’s before plunking down money here. Before signing on the dotted line, you want to be sure that a second home provides financial advantages.

5. Personal flexibility

Having a second home to escape to opens up all kinds of possibilities. For example, if you’re an avid skier living in Arizona, you can purchase a home near ski areas in a cooler climate. On the other hand, if you love your neighbors in Michigan but aren’t sure you can stand one more freezing winter, you can buy a home in New Mexico or another warm spot. A second home allows you to get away to a place you want to be, and to do it on your own schedule.

Cons

No matter how enthusiastic you are about buying a second home, weigh any cons that may pop up. For example:

1. Financial commitment

A second home comes with additional expenses, including property taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities, and mortgage payments if you take out a mortgage. Also, being unable to quickly reach that home if there’s an electrical fire or flooding in the basement could cause undue stress.

2. Limited use

Whether you spend a few weeks or several months at the second home each year, you still pay for the property as though you’re there full-time. There’s no break on property taxes, homeowner association (HOA) fees, or basic upkeep costs just because you’re away. Furthermore, you may need to hire a property manager to look in on the property when you can’t, and inform you if anything needs your immediate attention.

3. Market risks

It’s easy to be lulled into the belief that real estate values can only increase, and that purchasing a property is a rock-solid investment. While it’s true that most real estate has slowly increased in value over time, the soaring prices that began early in the pandemic might make it appear as though there’s no end in sight. But any money you put into a second home — including a down payment, monthly payments, taxes, fees, and ongoing expenses — can be lost if the housing market tanks.

4. Unexpected expenses

Let’s say you move to an oceanside town in a state you love. The people are great, the food is delicious, and the weather could not be more perfect. However, the region is prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, or other natural disasters. With more insurance companies pulling out of high-risk areas, you may find that your homeowners insurance is dramatically higher than expected. Along the same lines, if you purchase a home in an area covered by an HOA, you could experience an HOA fee increase following a natural disaster, even if your home was not directly impacted.

5. A more expensive mortgage

If you borrow any portion of the purchase price to finance a second home, you’ll find that your interest rate is higher than the rate on a primary residence. That’s because lenders consider second homes riskier, and seek to protect their investment by charging a higher rate. You’ll need to put down at least 10%, but you may be asked for a down payment of 20% or more, especially if you have a lower credit score or smaller cash reserves.

Nearly everything in life has positive and negative aspects. Your goal is to determine whether there are enough positives associated with a second home to make you glad you followed your dream.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/5-pros-and-5-cons-of-buying-a-second-home-in-retirement/feed/ 0 58075 Coinbase, OKX push crypto into Australia’s retirement system https://earlybirdsinvest.com/coinbase-okx-push-crypto-into-australias-retirement-system/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/coinbase-okx-push-crypto-into-australias-retirement-system/#respond Mon, 01 Sep 2025 21:49:57 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/coinbase-okx-push-crypto-into-australias-retirement-system/

Two of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase and OKX, are introducing services for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs ) in Australia, giving individuals new ways to add cryptocurrency to the country’s retirement savings system.

While Australians have been able to hold digital assets in SMSFs for several years, Coinbase and OKX are now packaging that access into dedicated products, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Instead of leaving investors to set up their own structures and manage custody independently, the exchanges offer services that combine referrals to accountants and law firms with integrated custody and record-keeping to meet audit requirements.

SMSFs account for about a quarter of Australia’s retirement pool and held about A$1.7 billion (US$1.1 billion) in digital assets as of March 2025, according to the Australian Tax Office. That total is up sevenfold since 2021, making SMSFs the first part of the system to show significant crypto exposure.

Coinbase told Bloomberg that more than 500 investors have joined the waiting list for its SMSF service, with most planning to allocate up to A$100,000 each in digital assets. OKX launched a similar offering in June and said demand has exceeded expectations.

The shift lowers barriers for mainstream investors and marks one of the first organized efforts by major exchanges to tap into a retirement system that ranks among the largest in the world on a per-capita basis.

Related: Bitcoin-backed mortgages debut in Australia amid housing crisis

Crypto rules for retirement plans shift in the US

Australia’s experiment with SMSFs comes as other major economies weigh how retirement money should interact with digital assets, most notably the United States.

Fidelity Investments was the first major provider to test crypto in retirement, launching a Bitcoin 401(k) option in April 2022. The product initially allowed participants to allocate up to 20% of their savings to Bitcoin (BTC) if employers opted in, but it quickly drew pushback from the Department of Labor, which warned fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” with crypto exposure.

That position held until May 2025, when the Labor Department formally rescinded its cautionary guidance and restored discretion to plan sponsors.

The most notable advancement for crypto in US retirement policy came on Aug. 7, when US President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.”

The order directed the Department of Labor to revisit retirement-plan rules, paving the way for alternative assets like cryptocurrencies to be included in 401(k)s and other defined-contribution accounts. 

Unsurprisingly, it was met with both praise and criticism. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer welcomed the order, saying, “The federal government should not be making retirement investment decisions for hardworking Americans, including decisions regarding alternative assets… This Executive Order further supports our efforts to improve flexibility and eliminate unfair one-size-fits-all approaches.”

But critics warned it could put savers at risk. Chris Noble, policy director at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, said in a statement the move could “primarily benefit private equity firms at the expense of retirement security for millions of Americans.”

There are also increasing concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Alongside passing crypto-friendly legislation and executive orders, Trump and his family are heavily invested in the space. 

On Monday, the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token, a project backed by the Trump family, made its trading debut after selling about a quarter of its supply in a private offering that raised more than $500 million.

Magazine: Baby boomers worth $79T are finally getting on board with Bitcoin

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/coinbase-okx-push-crypto-into-australias-retirement-system/feed/ 0 56279 US SEC Chair Atkins: Education is key for crypto in retirement accounts https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-sec-chair-atkins-education-is-key-for-crypto-in-retirement-accounts/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-sec-chair-atkins-education-is-key-for-crypto-in-retirement-accounts/#respond Fri, 18 Jul 2025 15:16:18 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-sec-chair-atkins-education-is-key-for-crypto-in-retirement-accounts/

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins showed openness to allowing cryptocurrencies in 401 (k) retirement plans for Americans, but highlighted the need for responsible disclosure.

During a Bloomberg interview published Friday, Atkins did not rule out allowing cryptocurrencies into 401 (k) plans. Still, he emphasized that education on the risks associated with such an investment is crucial.

“Disclosure is key and that people need to know what they are getting into,” Atkins said when asked about the potential inclusion of crypto into 401 (k) plans. Still, he added that he looks “forward to whatever may come out from the president.”

US President Donald Trump is reportedly set to sign an executive order that could allow 401(k) retirement plans to invest in assets other than stocks and bonds, such as cryptocurrencies. In April, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville said he would reintroduce a bill he sponsored in May 2022 that would scale back regulations on the types of investments used in 401(k) retirement plan fiduciaries.

A 401(k) is a US employer-sponsored retirement plan that allows workers to defer part of their salary into tax-advantaged investment accounts, often with employer matching contributions.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins. Source: Wikimedia

Related: Bitcoin ETFs for retirement planning: A beginner’s guide

Expectations of crypto in 401 (k) plans

Also in April, Fidelity, a financial services company with $5.9 trillion in assets under management, introduced retirement accounts that will allow Americans to invest in crypto nearly fee-free. The three new accounts are a tax-deferred traditional IRA and two Roth IRAs (one of which is a rollover) that will enable the inclusion of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC).

Related: Is Bitcoin a good investment for retirement?

At the end of May, the US Labor Department rescinded guidance issued during the administration of former President Joe Biden administration that limited the inclusion of cryptocurrency in 401(k) retirement plans.

“We’re rolling back this overreach and making it clear that investment decisions should be made by fiduciaries, not D.C. bureaucrats,” US Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said at the time.

Magazine: Older investors are risking everything for a crypto-funded retirement

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-sec-chair-atkins-education-is-key-for-crypto-in-retirement-accounts/feed/ 0 48349 65-Year-Old Forced Out of Retirement After Losing ‘Everything’ in Elaborate Bank Fraud Scam https://earlybirdsinvest.com/65-year-old-forced-out-of-retirement-after-losing-everything-in-elaborate-bank-fraud-scam/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/65-year-old-forced-out-of-retirement-after-losing-everything-in-elaborate-bank-fraud-scam/#respond Sun, 15 Jun 2025 13:32:37 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/65-year-old-forced-out-of-retirement-after-losing-everything-in-elaborate-bank-fraud-scam/

An elderly man lost his entire life savings to an elaborate scam that drained his bank account, ending his retirement plans.

65-year-old Hiep Nguyen of Houston, Texas, says he received a phone call with the caller ID of the “Vietnam Embassy,” the embassy of his native country, the local news station KPRC-2 reports.

But Nguyen says answering that phone call led him to lose $500,000 – the entirety of his life’s work.

“I lost maybe $500,000… I may be homeless now.”

The con artists who masterminded the scam convinced Nguyen that his identity was being used to commit various crimes overseas, like money laundering, and in order to clear his name, the soon-to-be-retired man supposedly had to wire over his money to another bank.

The criminals, who are yet to be identified, used an encrypted messaging app called Viber to send wire transfer details, along with fake government documents to make it seem more legitimate.

After losing everything, Nguyen’s daughter, Kathy, is now supporting him, and says she is in the process of selling her house to make ends meet.

Says Kathy,

“Watch out for your family. Your mom, dad, grandma, grandpas. Just let them know that something like this could happen, and just be careful.”

The Nguyens have filed a report with the FBI, but at time of writing, the scammers are at large.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/65-year-old-forced-out-of-retirement-after-losing-everything-in-elaborate-bank-fraud-scam/feed/ 0 42164 Want $1 Million in Retirement? Invest $100,000 in These 3 Stocks and Wait a Decade https://earlybirdsinvest.com/want-1-million-in-retirement-invest-100000-in-these-3-stocks-and-wait-a-decade/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/want-1-million-in-retirement-invest-100000-in-these-3-stocks-and-wait-a-decade/#respond Tue, 10 Jun 2025 02:36:35 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/want-1-million-in-retirement-invest-100000-in-these-3-stocks-and-wait-a-decade/ These technology giants have proven their staying power, yet still have the growth potential to lift your portfolio to breathtaking heights.

The right stocks can turbocharge your stock portfolio and set you up for a comfortable retirement. However, there are nuances to investing in growing companies.

Sure, a home run stock can make you a millionaire on its own. However, if it were easy, there would be many more millionaires. The hit rate is low, so investors are usually better off looking for proven winners that still have plenty of life left in them.

The world’s largest technology companies are driving ongoing growth trends, including e-commerce, digital advertising, and cloud computing. These same companies could also benefit from upcoming opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI).

Investing $100,000 into each of these “Magnificent Seven” stocks as part of a diversified portfolio could yield a million dollars a decade from now. Here are their names, and why they could make you serious money well into the future.

Green stock price charts shaped into a dollar sign.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Amazon

E-commerce is Amazon‘s (AMZN 1.75%) core business, and the carrot that draws consumers into its Prime membership and ecosystem. However, Amazon is just as much a technology company as any. It operates the world’s leading cloud platform, Amazon Web Services, which holds an estimated 30% share of the global cloud infrastructure market. AWS is Amazon’s cash cow, contributing over half of the company’s total operating income despite representing just a fraction of its total revenue.

That’s especially important, given that AI is arguably the most prominent growth trend of the upcoming decade. AI, like most modern software, primarily runs on the cloud. AI applications are already driving significant growth for cloud capacity, prompting Amazon and other cloud companies to invest billions of dollars in building data centers to handle the load.

Amazon’s valuation, a PEG ratio of 2, is reasonable for its estimated 17% long-term earnings growth. In other words, the stock’s investment returns should reflect that growth over time. If so, cloud tailwinds from AI should boost Amazon’s most profitable business and could more than double earnings and the stock over the next decade.

2. Alphabet (Google)

Most investors know Alphabet (GOOGL 1.62%) (GOOG 1.77%) for Google Search, but it’s a diversified tech giant. It owns YouTube, Android smartphone software, and Google Chrome, develops AI software and quantum computers, and continues to expand Waymo, a ride-hailing service using self-driving vehicles.

Its massive size and broad reach make it highly likely that Alphabet will compete in AI and the opportunities it creates over the coming decade. Wall Street anticipates Alphabet growing its earnings by an average of 15% annually over the long term, despite some fears that AI chatbots could disrupt Google Search, Alphabet’s core business.

Investors shouldn’t dismiss this risk, but fear has priced the stock at a compelling PEG ratio of 1.3, assuming the company meets Wall Street’s growth estimates. If it does, investors could eventually see returns exceed Alphabet’s growth if sentiment rebounds and drives the valuation higher. Alphabet’s anticipated double-digit growth and depressed valuation make it a candidate for substantial returns over the next decade.

3. Meta Platforms

Last but not least is Meta Platforms (META -0.40%), the parent company of social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. The company is immensely profitable, generating $50 billion in free cash flow over the past four quarters from ads shown to the 3.43 billion people who use Meta’s social apps each day.

Meta Platforms still has firm long-term leadership; CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is still only 41 years old. He has been pushing the company toward AI for several years, using AI technology to optimize its core advertising business, and launching an open-sourced AI model with over a billion downloads, and is working to establish Meta Platforms as a key player in next-generation consumer electronics.

Meta Platforms has rallied and is up significantly over the past few years. Yet the stock’s PEG ratio (1.5) remains attractive for prospective investors, and Meta’s estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 18% suggests there is enough upside for the stock to double or more over the coming decade. Meta Platforms must still monetize more of its AI projects, but if successful, investors will be glad they have this company in their portfolio over the next decade.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Justin Pope has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/want-1-million-in-retirement-invest-100000-in-these-3-stocks-and-wait-a-decade/feed/ 0 41149 BlockTrust IRA Brings Quant Trading Tools to Crypto Retirement Accounts https://earlybirdsinvest.com/blocktrust-ira-brings-quant-trading-tools-to-crypto-retirement-accounts/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/blocktrust-ira-brings-quant-trading-tools-to-crypto-retirement-accounts/#respond Thu, 22 May 2025 20:45:54 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/blocktrust-ira-brings-quant-trading-tools-to-crypto-retirement-accounts/

As spot bitcoin

exchange-traded funds continue to grow and Wall Street wades deeper into crypto, more and more people are able to gain exposure to digital assets through their individual retirement accounts (IRAs).

IRAs offer tax advantages and a range of investment options, including stocks, real estate, commodities and, increasingly, cryptocurrencies. But when it comes to crypto, there’s usually only one investment strategy available: to buy and hold.

It’s a strategy that might work well for assets like the S&P 500, which have long track records of steadily appreciating over longer time frames, but bitcoin is still an extremely volatile asset and other coins even more so.

The idea behind BlockTrust IRA, then, is simple: to manage the crypto positions of its customers in order to take advantage of that volatility and maximize their returns.

“We’re the only company that has an AI tool meshed with traders that put people automatically in cash [when need be]. Then we wait for the right signals, and we buy back in,” Jonathan Rose, the firm’s CEO, told CoinDesk in an interview.

“Where people are scared of volatility and scared of risk, we actually want the volatility and the risk associated with that, because that’s how we actually make our clients money,” Rose said. “We are right a lot more than we are wrong, and that’s how we’re able to beat the benchmark.”

BlockTrust’s secret sauce? Animus Technologies, a fund that provides intelligent asset management solutions for crypto. Animus has servers around the world and quantifies humongous amounts of data — to the point that a European government body has reached out to inquire what exactly they’re quantifying data for, according to Rose.

Animus typically only shares its signals with high net-worth individuals and fund clients, Rose said. In other words, crypto retail participants may now benefit, through their BlockTrust accounts, from the kind of trading mechanisms that previously were only available to quant funds.

The sophisticated strategies are currently only available for bitcoin

and ether , but BlockTrust offers exposure to 60 different cryptocurrencies, Rose said. Users of the platform can invest as little as $1,000 for non-managed accounts, or $25,000 if they want a managed account — and trading fees can go as low as 0.4% for the former and 0.14% for the latter.

BlockTrust IRA went live officially in February. In March, the firm had accrued $10 million in assets, and Rose expects it to bring in roughly $100 million before the end of the year.

The company’s early success may also be due to the fact that it’s not just open to U.S. residents, but to people all around the world, as long as they can pass its Know-Your-Customer (KYC) checks. Americans do have the added advantage of being able to use their tax-deferred retirement savings to gain exposure.

Crypto markets are ever changing, and trading strategies that function perfectly for a long time may suddenly become outdated due to shifts in the economic environment or crypto-intrinsic changes — potentially threatening to render Animus’ approach obsolete someday. But Rose isn’t concerned.

“When [the people at] Animus Technologies go to these hedge fund conferences and speak, they always come back with a big grin on their faces, because they’re like, ‘We are so light-years ahead of anyone remotely doing what we’re doing,’” Rose said. “It’s going to take like four to six years for people to even kind of catch up to us.”

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/blocktrust-ira-brings-quant-trading-tools-to-crypto-retirement-accounts/feed/ 0 37730 Late to Retirement Planning? 5 Strategies to Help You Catch Up to Your Peers https://earlybirdsinvest.com/late-to-retirement-planning-5-strategies-to-help-you-catch-up-to-your-peers/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/late-to-retirement-planning-5-strategies-to-help-you-catch-up-to-your-peers/#respond Wed, 07 May 2025 08:50:11 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/late-to-retirement-planning-5-strategies-to-help-you-catch-up-to-your-peers/

There are an endless number of reasons you might be late to retirement planning. Whether it’s unexpected medical bills, supporting family members, student debt, living in a high-cost-of-living area, or simply not earning enough, saving for retirement is sometimes put on a back burner.

There’s no shame in being late to the party. The point is, you’re showing up. And while catching up to your peers may feel downright impossible, there are steps you can take to do so and begin looking toward retirement with excitement rather than dread. Here are five strategies to get you started.

1. Know which expenses are a priority

Catching up to your peers begins with using your household budget as a road map, a constant reminder of your priorities. It begins with making a list of your bills.

Once you’ve done that, go back through and prioritize them from most important to least important. “Most important” bills are the essentials you need to survive, while your least important bills are the things you can cut without worrying about having something repossessed (like a house or car) or being sued (like a loan).

Everyone’s list will be different, but it may look something like this:

  1. House payment
  2. Car payment
  3. Food
  4. Gasoline
  5. Daycare
  6. Student loan
  7. Utilities
  8. Gym membership
  9. Cable subscriptions
  10. Dining out
  11. Hobby supplies
  12. Pet toy subscription
  13. Video game subscription

If you’re concerned that there’s nowhere retirement contributions will fit into your list, start from the bottom and begin cutting. Those are the sources of spending that you may need to trim to free up enough money to build your retirement account.

Couple looking over bills at a dining room table with concerned looks on their faces.

Image source: Getty Images.

2. Jettison high-interest debt

If you carry high-interest debt, now is the time to double down on paying it off. The time and effort it takes to pay off debt may not be fun, but think of it this way: If you’re paying 26% interest on a credit card, paying it off is like slipping extra money into your pocket each month. That’s more you’ll have to put toward retirement.

3. Max out and catch up

If possible, max out the amount of money you can legally contribute to your retirement account each year. And, if you’re aged 50 or older at the end of the calendar year, take advantage of annual catch-up contributions. The more you put away now, the less you’ll have to worry about finances in retirement, and the faster your account will catch up to those of your peers.

4. Create additional income

Suppose you go through your budget and realize you still won’t have enough to make meaningful monthly contributions to a retirement account (even after trimming what you can). In that case, it’s time to begin looking for additional income streams. The goal is to earn enough to make those monthly contributions on which your retirement account depends.

The good news is that you can earn money doing something you love: Consider selling crafts, tailoring clothes, teaching an instrument or a foreign language, working as a handyperson, detailing cars, opening an online resale shop, or shuttling kids to and from after-school activities.

If, like most of us, you already feel stretched, consider which type of side hustle or gig is most likely to please you. Beyond enjoying the job, another thing that will please you is watching your hard work pay off as your retirement account grows.

5. Delay retirement (for several good reasons)

Before saying “absolutely not” to more time in the workforce, consider the benefits associated with adding a few years to your career:

  • More time to save: You’ll have more years to contribute to and potentially grow your nest egg.
  • Higher Social Security benefits: For every year you postpone retirement after full retirement age (FRA), your Social Security benefits increase by 8% — up to age 70.
  • A larger pension: If you receive a pension, working longer can increase the final benefit amount.
  • Employer benefits: You’ll have more time to enjoy employer benefits, like health insurance, profit-sharing, and paid vacations. While you could begin receiving Medicare, employer-sponsored health insurance is often more cost-effective.
  • Potential boost to your health: Unless you have a clear idea of what you plan to do with your time in retirement, sticking with the job a bit longer can provide structure, social interaction, and overall well-being. A study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that working even one year beyond retirement age is associated with a 9% to 11% reduced risk of dying, regardless of health.

There’s an important caveat: Working past retirement age is not good for everyone. If your job is physically demanding, you’re suffering stress on the job, or you feel burned out, staying longer may not be good for your health. It’s far more important to take care of yourself than to stick with a job that makes you sick or carries an increased risk of injury.

Similarly, no two people have precisely the same financial needs. While a neighbor might require $1 million in a retirement account to make ends meet, your numbers may differ. The best way to get an idea of how much you’re aiming for is to develop a post-retirement budget.

Add all expected income sources, including Social Security, pension, annuity, rental property, and so on. Next, create a budget showing how much you expect to spend each month in retirement.

If it looks like your income won’t be enough to cover your expenses, that’s your “gap.” Knowing how large (or small) that gap is can help you come up with a solid savings goal.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/late-to-retirement-planning-5-strategies-to-help-you-catch-up-to-your-peers/feed/ 0 34855 Over 55 With Little Saved for Retirement? 7 Steps to Take Today. https://earlybirdsinvest.com/over-55-with-little-saved-for-retirement-7-steps-to-take-today/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/over-55-with-little-saved-for-retirement-7-steps-to-take-today/#respond Sun, 04 May 2025 10:47:06 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/over-55-with-little-saved-for-retirement-7-steps-to-take-today/

A recent AARP survey showing that 61% of adults 50 or older worry they won’t have enough money to support themselves in retirement is cold comfort if you lie awake at night, concerned about your situation. But whether you’re 50, 55, or older, there is good news: There are steps you can take to improve your future.

Woman looks at a laptop screen with a concerned expression on her face.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Create a post-retirement budget

The first step in taking control is to figure out where you stand. Add up how much income you expect after you retire. Include Social Security, pensions, annuity payments, rentals, and any other sources of income.

Next, list expected monthly expenses, including housing, transportation, food, and other necessities.

Once you subtract the expected monthly expenses from your estimated monthly income, you’ll know whether there’s a gap between the two and, if so, how large a gap you’re dealing with. That gap will serve as your GPS, helping you determine how much you need to save.

2. Take advantage of free money from employer-sponsored retirement plans

If your employer offers a retirement plan and matches a percentage of contributions, do everything within your power to contribute at least as much as they’ll match. For example, if the company matches 3%, you should contribute at least 3% of your salary.

Depending on the type of retirement plan you contribute to, there’s a very good chance it will be tax-deductible now, and you’ll only have to pay taxes on it when you withdraw. That 6% of your earnings may not sound much, but when those funds grow month after month, you can build a nice nest egg.

3. Open an IRA if you’re working

If you don’t work for a company that offers a retirement plan (or even if you do), consider contributing to an individual retirement account (IRA). Whether you go for a traditional or Roth IRA, it takes very little money to open an account, and you can add small amounts throughout the month.

4. Automate

We humans are funny. Once we have money in our hands, our instinct is to spend it. Make it easier on yourself by setting up automatic withdrawals.

If your company offers a retirement plan, you can have your contributions automatically withdrawn from your paychecks (typically pre-tax). Otherwise, set up auto-withdrawals with your bank so that a specific amount of money is taken from each paycheck and deposited into a savings account, money market account, retirement account, or other account you’ve earmarked specifically for retirement.

5. Play catch-up

Retirement accounts often include a catch-up contribution, which allows people over 50 to add extra funds. No matter which account you’re considering, find out how much extra you can contribute and commit to doing so if possible.

Playing catch-up may require finding a new income stream, such as a part-time job or a hobby that can be monetized, like teaching guitar or tailoring clothes. Even if a part-time job doesn’t spark joy at this moment, remember: It’s temporary. What you’re focused on right now is getting to retirement with more money.

6. Rein in spending

You’ve probably heard you can save money by doing little things, like canceling unneeded subscription services, and the advice certainly stands.

However, there are ways to save even more. For example, if you own your home, check your mortgage to ensure you’re not still paying private mortgage insurance (PMI) when you don’t have to. Typically, you can request that your mortgage company drops PMI from your monthly payments once your equity reaches 80%.

For example, if your home is currently worth $300,000 and your balance is $240,000 or less, PMI should go away. If you’re still seeing PMI on your latest statement, contact your lender about having it removed.

While you’re at it, go through your monthly budget to determine which expenses you can do without. Let’s say you’re paying someone to walk your dog or mow your lawn but are physically able to take care of those tasks on your own. Consider letting them go and banking the money you save.

7. Say “no”

No is one of the hardest words we can use when our children or other loved ones ask for money. Unless you plan on someone else covering your bills in retirement, now is the time to let people know you’re getting serious about saving and are in no position to be their ATM. Anyone who cares for you will understand.

Lastly, eliminate any shame you may feel regarding where your retirement savings stand. Shame, embarrassment, or any other negative emotion contributes absolutely nothing to your future plans.

Life happens, and if you’ve found yourself with less money than expected, view it as a challenge. Set a goal for how much you would like to save per month (or weekly if that’s easier), and once you come up with a simple plan, trust yourself to meet your goal.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/over-55-with-little-saved-for-retirement-7-steps-to-take-today/feed/ 0 34332 How Far Behind Is the Typical American on Retirement Savings? https://earlybirdsinvest.com/how-far-behind-is-the-typical-american-on-retirement-savings/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/how-far-behind-is-the-typical-american-on-retirement-savings/#respond Thu, 01 May 2025 12:56:34 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/how-far-behind-is-the-typical-american-on-retirement-savings/ Many Americans are falling short when it comes to saving for a secure future. Find out how far behind the typical American is.

How much should you have saved for retirement? The answer depends on your age. Unfortunately, a substantial number of Americans are behind on their investment goals and could be at risk of running short of money in retirement because of it.

Let’s take a look at where current workers should be based on their age, and how far behind many people are when it comes to hitting this goal.

Adults looking at financial paperwork.

Image source: Getty Images.

Here’s how much you should have saved by age

First things first: Here are the recommendations for how much you should have saved by age, according to Fidelity Investments:

  • Age 30: One times your annual salary
  • Age 40: Three times your annual salary
  • Age 50: Six times your annual salary
  • Age 60: Eight times your annual salary
  • Age 67: 10 times your annual salary

These recommendations exist because it is much easier to invest for your future if you do so over time. When you start saving at a younger age, compound growth can work for you. Compounding helps your money grow without you having to personally invest most or all of the dollars that end up in your retirement account. 

If you don’t have these amounts saved at these ages, you can still catch up — but it will be harder since you’ll have to save more as you’ll have less time for returns to be reinvested and grow your principal for you.

How far behind are typical Americans?

Northwestern Mutual’s Planning and Progress Survey for 2025 showed what percentage of people of different generations had saved for retirement. This is only among those who actually have retirement savings. Based on that number, let’s see how many are behind:

  • 22% of Millennials have less than their yearly income saved, and just 45% have three times their income or more. Since millennials are between the ages of 29 and 44, at least one in five is well below where they should be, and many older millennials are far off track from their investment goals.
  • Among Gen Xers who are between the ages of 45 and 60, just 26% have six times or more of their income saved. This means close to three-quarters may be behind on saving the recommended six times their annual salary.
  • Among Boomers in the 60 to 67 age range, only 28% have at least 10 times their final salary saved.

Of course, these are just averages, and some people within each generation will have a lot more saved. It’s also worth noting that this only includes people who actually have retirement savings, and since somewhere between 25% and 35% of all adults have nothing saved, the reality of how far behind people are may be even worse than these numbers make it seem.

What if you aren’t on track for retirement?

If you have less than the recommended amount saved for your later years, the good news is that you still have time to change course. You should set a savings goal based on your timeline for retirement and should automate the process of investing to make sure you hit that target.

It may require you to cut other spending, and you may have to work up to hitting your goal over time, but it’s important that you take action to invest, as you can’t survive on Social Security alone. The sooner you get started, the easier it will be to catch up, so begin working on building your nest egg today.

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