BUILDING A SAFE RETIREMENT PORTFOLIO IN 10 YEARS

My prior posts have all been about how my parents history and how it played into the money crisis that they are currently in. Looking back, you always start thinking if you had done things differently then you might not be in the current situation. But life doesn't quite work this way. As the saying goes "there is no use crying over spilled (spoiled) milk".

So it's time to digress from history and look into the future. I have one very simple (but tough) goal for my parents. I plan on helping them build a "safe" retirement portfolio that they can then use to supplement their income. I only have 10 years to do this realistically, as the parents can't keep on working forever. I hope that the portfolio provides at least 60% of their current living expenses - of course adjusted for inflation.

Since I have such a short window, I have to set forth a few key items that I need to keep in mind.
1. No stocks. No mutual funds. No ETF's
2. No 401k.
3. Don't rely on social security.

I'll elaborate on each rule in future posts.

Of course the list above is a moving target and I'll modify it as I go along.