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Quinn was on hand to promote her best-selling new book, "How To Make Your Money Last." Following the talk, Quinn took questions from attendees and signed several book copies.
Although stock market bubbles and subsequent crashes tend to tug on people's emotions and grab major headlines, Quinn emphasized the need for retirees to invest in well-balanced portfolios for the long run.
Even people who are in their 60's, Quinn explained, are still long-term investors if they are planning for 20 to 30 years.
“You are a long-term investor, don't think like a short-term investor,”
Quinn told the crowd to consider putting a portion of their savings - it can range anywhere from 35 to 70 percent - into stock-based funds. Specifically, the author recommended low-cost funds that track a stock-market average, such as the S&P 500. Doing so, Quinn noted, is a better option than assembling an portfolio of individual stocks, where good-performing ones can be offsets by poor-performing counterparts, or in picking mutual funds that are managed by "hot-shot professionals."
“If you have these funds, you are paying your manager to lose and why would you want to do that?”
Additionally, Quinn suggested investing in U.S. government-bond funds, with one exposed to short-term bonds and another tied to Intermediate-term ones. Investing in government bonds offer a floor on losses when stocks go down, Quinn added, as they tend to rise during the same periods. By contrast, Quinn cautioned against investing in high-yield (or "junk") corporate-bond funds, which have securities that carry higher risks of default. High-yield bond funds, Quinn noted, also go down in value at the same time as the stock market.
Quinn also addressed the annuities market, suggesting either "immediate" ones, where an amount of money is given to a company in exchange for specific payments soon after, or a deferred fixed annuity, where such payments are made after a waiting period. Quinn cautioned against "black-hat annuities," such as the deferred variable kind. A deferred variable type, Quinn warned, come with commissions and higher fees, which can erode any payments advertised in addition to a basic amount.
Quinn, a Daily Voice founding editorial director, is a former resident of Chappaqua and North Salem. She currently resides in the Dutchess County community of Poughquag with husband and Daily Voice CEO Carll Tucker, who grew up in the Mount Kisco area and spoke to the audience.
Tucker once owned The Patent Trader, which was a prominent local newspaper in Northern Westchester. He also served on the board of directors for Northern Westchester Hospital.
A video interview with Quinn and Tucker is attached to this story.
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