Not so long ago, retiring with a comfortable nest egg took some time, but it wasn’t impossible.
That’s because from the late 1960s to 2007, the average interest paid on a 10-year government bond was 7%.
If you worked hard, put money away in a bond portfolio, and reinvested your interest, $100,000 in bonds would become worth $750,000 in 30 years. That would have thrown off a comfortable $52,500 a year.
Not champagne and caviar money… But certainly enough to have a dignified retirement.
All of that ended when the Federal Reserve decided to wage a “war” against declining stock prices during the 2008 Financial Crisis.
In its frantic efforts to save the stock market, the Fed cut interest rates to near zero. Then, it printed $3.6 trillion in new cash to buy back distressed bonds from its banker buddies.
This was not a victimless crime.
You – the American saver and future retiree – got screwed.
How? Remember how $750,000 in bonds would give you $52,500 a year in income?