Robert Carlson
Many people ask me how I found my way to this business of writing the only publication devoted to all the financial aspects of retirement and retirement planning. It was not a direct route, and certainly not something I dreamed of as a youngster. I was trained as an accountant and attorney. I passed the CPA exam at the end of college at Clemson University and went straight to the University of Virginia School of Law. My intention was to become a tax attorney and adviser. But I always served on the school newspaper, enjoyed writing, and unlike most people who have a facility with numbers, was told I wrote well.
I soon learned that I liked writing and researching for a broad audience more than practicing law. I found myself editing several different newsletters over the years and also writing books and reports. I settled at a newsletter called Tax Avoidance Digest that eventually changed its name to Tax-Wise Money. While writing the newsletter in the 1980s I noticed my mail (yes, it was snail mail in those days) started to contain a lot of questions about how to take money out of IRAs. After looking around I realized there was no good source of information to which I could direct these readers. There were IRS regulations, but they were long and difficult to read.
In response I wrote and published a little book I titled Retirement Tax Guide. It discussed the short-lived surtax on seniors to pay for a federal catastrophic care (or long-term care) benefit. The tax and benefit were quickly repealed. The book sold well enough, and I had a list of buyers who kept writing with questions.
Again after looking around the market In 1991 I decided to launch a monthly newsletter that would cover all the financial aspects of retirement. My tax work and research had long ago brought me into broader financial issues. I realized that looking at the entire financial picture was much more interesting and useful than examining only a segment, such as investments, taxes, or insurance. Retirement Watch was born by sending a postcard offer to buyers of my little book. That book by the way has gone through four editions, and in 2008 I completely re-wrote it and am researching publishing options.
Retirement Watch has been popular and done well. There was, of course, a need for an independent source of expert information and advice on all the financial aspects of retirement. That need has grown as the population has aged. Readers seem to appreciate the objective, unbiased nature of the research and range of topics covered. Rather than having a solution in search of problems, we listen to our readers to learn what their problems are, and then we seek potential solutions. We also do not take a cookie-cutter approach to solutions. We try to offer different solutions and define which members should consider each.
In addition, there is a desire for our margin-of-safety investment advice. Early on we took a different approach to portfolio management, one that is more suitable to today’s retirees and retirement environment. That approach to portfolio management has stood the test of time and put our readers on a much higher investment level than most individual investors.
As Retirement Watch grew, other opportunities arose. Two books have been published by John Wiley & Sons: The New Rules of Retirement and Invest Like a Fox…Not Like a Hedgehog, and Retirement Watch Weekly, a free e-letter published every Friday, conveys valuable tips and actionable insights on retirement topics like estate planning, taxes, IRAs, and many more.
When not working on Retirement Watch I am interested in a range of other matters. I am active in my community. That led in 1992 to an appointment to the Board of Trustees of the Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System. In 1995 I was elected chairman by the board and since have been reappointed a trustee and re-elected chairman. From 2000 to 2005 I also served on the Virginia Retirement System Board of Trustees. These appointments not only allowed me to contribute to the community but provided information that is not generally available to those who advice individuals on their retirement.
During this time I earned a private pilot’s license and obtained an instrument rating. Other activities I enjoy are bicycling, hiking, and golf. I also formed a separate business, Carlson Wealth Advisors, L.L.C. Through this business I manage portfolios for Retirement Watch members and others who are interested.
That is a short essay of how Retirement Watch developed and what I have been doing the last few decades. Of course, I have a more formal biography set out below.
About Bob Carlson
Bob Carlson is editor of the monthly newsletter, Retirement Watch, and a weekly free e-letter, Retirement Watch Weekly. In these, he provides independent, objective research covering all the financial issues of retirement and retirement planning. Carlson also is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System, which has over $2.8 billion in assets, and has served on the board since 1992. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System, which oversaw $42 billion in assets, from 2001-2005.
His latest book is Invest Like a Fox…Not Like a Hedgehog, published by John Wiley & Co. in 2007. His previous book was, The New Rules of Retirement, as published by John Wiley & Co. in the fall of 2004.
He has written numerous other books and reports, including Tax Wise Money Strategies, Retirement Tax Guide, How to Slash Your Mutual Fund Taxes, Bob Carlson’s Estate Planning Files, and 199 Loopholes That Survived Tax Reform. He also has been interviewed by or quoted in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest, Barron’s, AARP Bulletin, Money, Worth, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, the Washington Post, and many others. He has appeared on national television and on a number of radio programs. He is past editor of Tax Wise Money.
The Washington Post calls Bob’s advice, “smart… savvy… sensible… valuable and imaginative.” He’s been widely quoted in The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS MarketWatch.com. SmartMoney.com, Reader’s Digest, Barron’s, AARP Bulletin, Money, Worth … just to name a few. You can also hear Bob as a featured guest on nationally-syndicated radio shows, such as The Retirement Hour, Dateline Washington, Family News in Focus, The Michael Reagan Show, Money Matters and The Stock Doctor.
Carlson is an attorney. He received his J.D. and an M.S. (Accounting) from the University of Virginia and received his B.S. (Financial Management) from Clemson University and passed the CPA Exam. He also is an instrument rated private pilot. He is listed in several recent editions of Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.
Show Links:
How to Make Sure Your Nest Egg Lasts the Rest of Your Life (and Then Some…)
Not too many years ago, most people did not need retirement plans or help with retirement planning. Retirement lasted only five years on average. Not everyone retired. Those that did retire generally had adequate income from employer pensions and medical expense coverage plus Social Security and Medicare.
All that changed. Life expectancies increased, dramatically increasing the length of retirement to 20 years or more. Employers reduced or eliminated pensions. Employees save and invest for retirement on their own through 401(k) plans and other accounts. Employer-paid retiree medical coverage is greatly reduced, and Medicare raises premiums. Americans more and more are on their own for retirement and must plan for much longer retirements.
To complicate things, retirement finances have changed and are changing rapidly. Bull markets rapidly turn into bear markets which become financial crises. Investment options change all the time. Taxes, long-term care, medical expense coverage, annuities, life insurance, estate planning, and other aspects of your retirement finances rapidly have innovations and turmoil.
Now there is no shortage of people seeking to be the retirement advisors for tens of millions of Baby Boomers: brokers, financial planners, accountants, insurance agents, mutual fund companies, and more. Too often these advisers have their own agendas or are so busy marketing and managing their businesses that they do not keep up with the latest news and trends. Cookie cutter approaches and rules-of-thumb dominate too much financial advice. Personal needs, situations, and desires can take a back seat or be pushed out of the vehicle.
But if you attempt to tackle retirement planning on your own, you can easily become confused and overwhelmed by the mountain of advice available to you. Type the search term “retirement planning” into Google and it returns about 13.5 million hits. Type in “IRA” and it returns almost 50 million hits! And most of these hits are for websites that simply want to sell you a particular product, or contain information that’s out of date.
A membership in Retirement Watch offers a simple, trustworthy alternative not only to effectively plan, save and spend your nest egg, but to live a richer and more rewarding retirement than you ever thought possible.
It’s the kind of help you can use to finally take control of your future … once and for all. No more mistakes. No more overlooked rules. No more wondering what’s best. Now you can make clear, smart decisions.
Each month brings a new issue packed with expert answers and simple solutions you need to make sure you never run out of money in retirement. The members-only section of the web site offers regular updates and news in Bob’s Journal, an archive of past issues and articles, and many more tools. It’s a powerful, unbiased retirement planning tool to help you eliminate the worry and guesswork. Retirement Watch keeps you updated on the fast-changing retirement issues you need to know to plan, save, spend and enjoy a wealthier, happier retirement.
I show you how to boost your retirement savings … how to safely invest for bigger profits … how to best spend your assets in retirement so you never outlive your money … how to make sense of dizzying changes to laws and regulations affecting your retirement … how to protect your health and wealth with the best insurance options, annuity options, estate planning strategies…and so much more!
It’s must-have, up-to-the-minute advice you won’t find anywhere else. You see, as an attorney and accountant-as well as Chairman of the Board of one of the nation’s largest local government retirement plans-I have access to information and contacts most people lack. So I’m able to share with you little-known tax-saving and investment strategies you likely won’t hear about anywhere else. That’s the kind of “inside” retirement advice you’ll find in Retirement Watch.
Because there are so many facets to retirement planning, I cover a broad range of topics in Retirement Watch-the investment markets and portfolio management, estate planning, helping the grandchildren, managing your IRA, reducing income taxes, long-term health care, annuities, Medicare and other medical expense plans, Social Security opportunities and changes, and more.
Retirement Watch was the first publication to cover all the financial aspects of retirement, and I believe it remains the only source of its type. The advice and recommendations are based on independent, objective research. I am not selling you anything other than my best recommendations for how to increase your financial independence. My only goal is to provide you with the best retirement strategies that have helped make my tens of thousands of satisfied subscribers happier and far more financially secure than they ever dreamed possible.
