Interesting article at Forbes making a case for the concept of "dying broke." Briefly, the idea is that one should shuffle off this mortal coil the way one came into it: by accident with no assets:
"You can cleverly arrange your financial affairs, so goes the theory, such that your spending stays level. You suffer neither a collapse in living standards when you retire nor an embarrassment of riches on your deathbed."
Essentially, it's looking at one's life as a zero-sum game. While no one relishes the idea of leaving one's heirs with crushing debt, neither is there a moral or legal obligation to leave them well endowed financially. But how does one walk this thin line?
Forbes' William Baldwin posits that a very effective way to do so is through the use of annuities. As we explained late last year, "[One takes] a lump sum of money (say, from an under-performing CD) and put it in one of these newfangled "longevity annuities." After a while, it begins to pay out a lifetime stream of income via annuitization.
Properly structured, one cannot outlive the income stream, but neither is there anything left at the end. It's a challenging game of "chicken," of course, but for some folks, it may be an appropriate strategy.
"You can cleverly arrange your financial affairs, so goes the theory, such that your spending stays level. You suffer neither a collapse in living standards when you retire nor an embarrassment of riches on your deathbed."
Essentially, it's looking at one's life as a zero-sum game. While no one relishes the idea of leaving one's heirs with crushing debt, neither is there a moral or legal obligation to leave them well endowed financially. But how does one walk this thin line?
Forbes' William Baldwin posits that a very effective way to do so is through the use of annuities. As we explained late last year, "[One takes] a lump sum of money (say, from an under-performing CD) and put it in one of these newfangled "longevity annuities." After a while, it begins to pay out a lifetime stream of income via annuitization.
Properly structured, one cannot outlive the income stream, but neither is there anything left at the end. It's a challenging game of "chicken," of course, but for some folks, it may be an appropriate strategy.
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