Making money: A primer for homebuyers

3 top pieces of financial advice — from husbanding your nest egg to fighting mystery charges

Keep sitting on that egg.
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Husbanding your nest egg

"It was beautiful while it lasted," says Kelly Greene in The Wall Street Journal. But stark financial realities have trumped the conventional wisdom that your retirement nest egg will be enough for your lifetime if you withdraw 4 percent a year after retiring. In fact, "timing is everything," especially if you have a traditional stock-bond portfolio. If you hit a bear market as soon as you retire, 4 percent a year will deplete your savings too quickly. But you can hedge against that threat by adding variable annuities, which guarantee income but also allow you to dip in for more in an emergency. The IRS's life-expectancy tables can also help you figure out how much you can safely withdraw each year. And keep your eye on the market. "If stocks are pricey when you retire," be cautious with your withdrawals. But if they're trading at bargain prices, you'll probably have a little more wiggle room.

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Sergio Hernandez is business editor of The Week's print edition. He has previously worked for The DailyProPublica, the Village Voice, and Gawker.