How long are you and I going to live? None of us knows, of course, but this number is important for a variety of planning issues—including, of course, how long your money will have to last in retirement. Actuarial tables tell us how long people will live on average, but that isn’t much help for planning a specific person’s life, and the averages conceal a lot of variation.

Living today is a huge advantage over living in the past, and living in a developed nation is a benefit as well. As you can see from the chart, most children born in the late 1700s had a life expectancy below age 35; today, the global average is 70, and people who make it to age 65 have a good chance of living to 85 or longer.

As Halloween approaches we are all reminded of the scary spooks and ghouls that haunt our lives. Few things are scarier than the sequence of returns risk I wrote about in my lastpost. Like the weather, we cannot control sequence of returns risk, but we can protect ourselves from experiencing its full wrath.

Some crucial maneuvers will help soon-to-retire people avoid trouble

I recently contributed to this important Wall Street Journal article by Jane Hodges.

The size of your nest egg isn’t the only thing you should be focused on as you close in on retirement.

So say financial planners and experts, who point to several financial moves investors can make in the years before they leave work that might help them preserve their savings, reduce their tax bills and provide for loved ones and heirs.

“Race you to the buoy,” my daughter, Judy, shouted. She had thrown down the gauntlet and was now engaged with my husband, Peter, in a swim contest. They decided on a timed race because Judy couldn’t trust her father not to pull her foot as he swam behind her. I timed them from the Cape May, NJ beach with a smile, wondering who would emerge victorious from the wavy ocean; it was a fairly matched challenge as Judy is an accomplished middle school swimmer while my husband wins in the size and experience areas.

“I’ll trade you LAX for Fenway Park,” my daughter Judy said while playing monopoly with her cousin, Liz. As a fee-only financial advisor, Monopoly is one of my favorite games. It focuses on many valuable personal finance lessons, including making change, handling money, budgeting, and mortgages. I really took notice, however, when I heard her say, “I passed Go! Give me $2,000,000.” $2,000,000? What happened to $200? It was all down hill from there.

Some of the most entertaining times to be a long-term investor are those periods when short-term investors are looking over their shoulders for an excuse to sell. They’re convinced that the market is going to go down before they can get out, and so they jump on any bad news that comes across their Bloomberg screen.

And, of course, Friday was a marvelous time to see this in action. With all the economic drama playing out in the world, there were plenty of opportunities to panic. The Greek Prime Minister has resigned! Sell! China devalued its currency a few days ago by 2%! Head for the hills! Chinese stocks are tanking yet again! Get out of American stocks while you can! The Fed might raise short-term interest rates from zero to very nearly zero! It’s the end of the world!

You’ve probably read that the island territory of Puerto Rico formally defaulted on its municipal debt obligations over the weekend—an unsurprising event that has been expected by insiders for more than three months. What did surprise everybody was the fact that the Puerto Rican Public Finance Corporation (PFC) found a way to make a partial payment on its $58 million in interest obligations—even if the amount was only $628,000.

“It’s a great investment!” replied Ed when I asked him why he had purchased his variable annuity. “I get 5% guaranteed—and if the markets do better I get all the upside too!” The promise sounds too good to be true. And, in this case, it is too good to be true. I’ve seen this annuity many times over the past few years. The sales pitch is very convincing—who wouldn’t want no downside risk and full upside benefits. Has anyone tried to sell you this annuity?

Yes, it’s true, anyone can save 10% or more in four year college expenses. That could easily mean more than $25,000 in your pocket. And, there is no need to complete the FAFSA financial aid form or score 800s on your SATs to garner a scholarship. This opportunity is open to everyone.

I am basking in the glory of my son Peter’s recent college graduation. As a financial planner, I am thrilled that the $60,000 per year payments have ended, and, as a parent, I am proud that he has achieved this significant milestone. As I reflect on his college experience I realize I have some wisdom to share both as a parent and as Fee-only financial planner.

“What do you think of these annuities?” Mel asked. “An insurance guy I know is advising us to transfer all of our remaining IRAs into these two investments, and I’m not confident it’s the right approach for us.” Since these annuities didn’t look appropriate for Mel and Ginny, I figured the annuity salesman’s rationale was the big commissions he would earn on the sales.