Are Interest Rate-Hedged ETFs a Good Investment Right Now?

Today we are continuing our month-long series of listener questions. On this episode, you’ll hear questions about Roth conversions, interest rate-hedged ETFs, pension payments, and the value of dividends as a source of income in retirement. If you are ready to gain the wisdom that you need to rock retirement, press play now.

Time to pull out your May calendars

Next month we will be focusing on functional health in retirement. You’ll learn what you can do now to get your body in the right place so that you can do all the things that you have dreamed of in retirement. You won’t want to miss the interview we have lined up with a functional health expert, so be on the lookout for this series coming up in May.

While you’re planning what to listen to in May, mark your calendar for May 19 at 7 pm CDT for our live webinar. During this interactive session, we’ll be chatting about the market and inflation, I’ll answer some retirement questions, and we’ll discuss the Rock Retirement Club’s open enrollment of the spring 2022 cohort.

In this live webinar, you’ll learn more about our inclusive online community of more than 800 members where you can create your financial plan, take masterclasses, and attend online meetups on financial and non-financial topics. If you are looking for a way to meet new, like-minded people in the same situation as you and supercharge your retirement, don’t miss out on the May webinar to hear more about the Rock Retirement Club. 

How to calculate a pension on a net worth statement

One listener has a question regarding pensions on their net worth statement. A net worth statement is a financial statement that lists your assets in one column and liabilities in another. By subtracting your liabilities from your assets you can calculate your net worth.

Up until now he has included the lump sum of his wife’s pension in the assets column, but she will soon start collecting her monthly pension, so he no longer knows where to calculate the pension. 

Once you start collecting your monthly pension, you no longer have an asset. Instead what you have is social capital–similar to your Social Security benefit. Social capital doesn’t belong on a net worth statement; rather, it can be included on a household balance sheet. We use household balance sheets in the Rock Retirement Club when calculating projected retirement budgets. 

Are interest rate-hedged ETFs a good idea?

Interest rate-hedged ETFs trade like stocks and hold like bonds. However, rather than being organic financial products, interest rate-hedged ETFs use derivatives to hedge price movements as interest rates rise. 

While these ETFs are a great idea, in theory, one problem is that much of your cost in buying these funds goes to the derivatives. Since these ETFs are manufactured and don’t naturally occur, they can be quite costly. Try to avoid these synthetic tools in your investments. 

Instead of using interest rate-hedged ETFs, you can look at purchasing TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) or I bonds. Another way to achieve the same goal is to build a bond ladder. Listen in to hear how a bond ladder works to see if that would be a good solution to building the bond portion of your pie cake. 

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

• [2:47] My recent win
• [4:46] My morning routine

LISTENER QUESTIONS

• [7:52] Calculating a net worth statement
• [10:45] Are interest rate-hedged ETFs a good idea?
• [15:40] Where to put a lump sum payment so that you wouldn’t have to pay the taxes all at once
• [17:35] Does the 5-year rule apply in a backdoor conversion?
• [20:12] The value of dividends as a source of income in retirement

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

• [24:20] Write it out – Today is the day…

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Boomer Benefits

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center