Chamberlin Financial Inc.

10/17/2026

The financial risks to consider when evaluating self insurance?

Choosing to bear the financial burden of an adverse event is called self-insuring. Do you know what that entails?

10/12/2026

Consider a bucket plan to go with your bucket list.

A bucket plan can help you be better prepared for a comfortable retirement.

10/12/2026

10/10/2026

Are you ready to solve a credit report crime with John Q. Gumshoe? Grab your magnifying glass and click here to learn more.

Solve a mystery while learning how important your credit report is with this story-driven interactive.

10/08/2026

Strip out inflation and the S&P 500 has earned about 5.72% a year since January 2000.

Before inflation: 8.39% a year. $100 grew to about $857.
After inflation: 5.72% a year. That $100 buys what about $441 buys today.

Still good. But not the 20%-plus years we've gotten used to recently.

Why so much lower? Starting in 2000 meant starting at the top of the dot-com bubble. The market lost money three years in a row, then fell 37% in 2008. Six losing years in all. And these figures assume every dividend was reinvested. Without dividends, the numbers are lower still.

Here's the part that matters for retirees: the losing years did most of the damage. Missing those years is worth more than catching every one of the great ones.

That's the idea behind our blog article "When the Worst Case Is Still a Gain." https://tinyurl.com/27tnlr9n Part of a portfolio can share in some of the market's up years and be credited zero in the down years, instead of taking the loss.

With the market at record highs, the question isn't what it will do next.

If the next year looks like 2008, how much could you afford to lose, and which part of your money would you want protected?

10/08/2026

Interest rates spiked in September, and most investments felt it. 📉

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed from 4.79% to 5.29% in just one month. Bonds and most stocks fell, but tech stocks barely flinched. Sound a little like 1999?

If you're retired or close to it, here's what matters most: when your plan is built around income, a rough month on paper doesn't change the income coming in.

Read our October market commentary for the full story 👇

September's interest rate surge sent bonds and most stocks lower while tech soared. What it means for retirees and income-first investors.

10/08/2026

AI spending by the five largest tech companies has gone from $71 billion a year to a projected $800 billion. Every participant is acting rationally. None of them is free to stop.

For anyone drawing income from a portfolio, the question isn't whether AI succeeds. It's how much of your retirement depends on the answer.

AI hyperscaler spending is projected above \$1 trillion a year. History says heavy spenders underperform. What that concentration means for retirement income.

10/08/2026

Should gold be part of a diversified portfolio?

It depends less on where the price is than on what role you'd want it to play — and most people don't answer that part first.

Learning more about gold and its history may help you decide whether it has a place in your portfolio.

10/08/2026

Stocks finished the third quarter mixed. The S&P 500 gained 2.03%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.47%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.70%. Halloween is next on the calendar, with U.S. consumers expected to spend $13.5 billion this year.

Stocks were mixed in the third quarter as economic, geopolitical, and corporate earnings news pushed the broad market higher while weighing on the Dow Industrials.

10/07/2026

Dave Ramsey says Social Security was never designed to replace your income in retirement.

He's right. For most retirees it covers the basics at best.

The question I'd add: once you've saved, how do you turn that money into a paycheck that lasts 30 years?

Saving is step one. A retirement income plan is step two.

chamberlinfinancial.com/retirement-income-navigator

The bestselling personal finance author emphasizes a major financial consideration when saving for retirement.