Hello everyone,

I know it has been a while!  I need some feedback on this one!  What do you do when your broker is at an open house right around the corner from you and you both have about the same people stopping in at your open houses?  Who should get the client?  I tell the people that come through that they better check out the home that is right around the corner and he does the same.  So we end up having the same people come through.  What is fair in this situation?  Let me know what everyone thinks!

I have an open house this Sunday, January 24 from 2-4!  It is at 2145 Pico, El Dorado, KS!  This is a 3

bedroom, (potential 4th bedroom).  Has 3 full baths, large well appointed basement!  Great wet bar!  Pool

table area.  Large great room!  3 Car garage.  Ready and waiting for your family to settle in this great

home!  Priced below appraisal at $167,500!

Hello Everyone,

I am wanting some feedback on this one!!  I want to know what some of you have done in the past that has helped you gain clients.  I want all of your tips and ideas!!  Do you have a special technique in networking, let me know what it is!  What are great ways to market yourself?  I know there are the same old mailers, and ads in papers!  Let me know what has worked for you in getting your name out there and getting people to notice you!  Send me your tips!!  I want them!

RISMEDIA, November 25, 2009-Friends and families will gather tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving and partake in their annual traditions. Whether they spend the day eating turkey, enjoying a parade, baking pies, watching football or all of the above, Americans know how Thanksgiving works. Or so they think.

"Year after year, friends and families get together to observe Thanksgiving and follow their annual traditions," said Conal Byrne, Editor-in-Chief, HowStuffWorks.com. "Few people understand why they are giving thanks, eating turkey or making cranberry sauce; they assume it is their family's tradition. The truth is that Thanksgiving traditions have been influenced by many different cultures over the centuries."

This fall, HowStuffWorks.com, an award-winning, credible online resource that provides easy-to-understand information and explanation for thousands of topics, offers curious Thanksgiving guests something else to be thankful for: a cornucopia of little-known facts from an article titled, "How Thanksgiving Works," which might make this year's celebration even more meaningful.

The Pilgrims and Indians were not the first to celebrate "Thanksgiving." Every autumn, the ancient Greeks enjoyed a three-day festival to honor Demeter, the goddess of corn and grains. The Romans had a similar celebration in which they honored Ceres, the goddess of corn.

You thought Grandma's cornucopia was ancient. The cornucopia actually dates back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. In Greek mythology, the cornucopia is an enchanted severed goat's horn, created by Zeus to produce a never-ending supply of whatever the owner desires.

Thanksgiving Day parades began as a marketing technique. The tradition of Thanksgiving parades goes back to the early 20th century, when people began to associate Thanksgiving with the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In order to attract customers, stores like Macy's sponsored elaborate parades like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Turkey pardons date as far back as the 1800s. The tradition is thought to be connected to Abraham Lincoln sparing a turkey named "Jack" from becoming the main dish in a holiday meal.

There's a reason we eat turkey. The connection between turkey and Thanksgiving goes back to the prevalence of wild turkey in the New World. At the time of the first Thanksgiving, Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford commented on "the great store of wild turkeys."

Corn and cranberries date back to the first Thanksgiving. Before you accuse the cook of going overboard with side dishes, consider this: after turkey, the most significant dish on the table is corn. This abundant crop was an important staple to the Pilgrims. Cranberries were also probably on the first Thanksgiving table. The American Indians taught the Pilgrims to make a cranberry sauce called "ibimi," which means "bitter berry." When the colonists saw the berry, they renamed it "crane-berry," because its flowers resembled the long-necked bird called the crane.

Football is a Thanksgiving tradition too... kind of. In ancient harvest festivals, people usually celebrated with games and sports, so you could argue the football tradition has very deep roots.

RISMEDIA, October 12, 2009-Recently, there's been a fair bit of anecdotal discussion around the assertion that foreclosures, once a problem just for the sub-prime segment of mortgages, have been moving up-market. That is, people are suggesting that we're seeing more foreclosures in the mid- to high-end segments of the market. 

Turns out, there's a lot of truth to this idea. In 2006, at the height of the real estate bubble, homes in the bottom one-third of home values made up almost 55% of all foreclosures. Homes in the middle one-third of home values made up almost 29% of foreclosures and homes in the top one-third represented just 16% of foreclosures. In the accompanying chart, you can see the dramatic changes in the distribution of home values among foreclosed homes. In July 2009, the bottom one-third made up 35% of foreclosures, compared to 35% and 30% for the middle and top one-thirds, respectively. Those are shocking numbers: Thirty percent of foreclosures are homes in the top tier of local home values. That means that top-tier homes make up almost twice the proportion of foreclosures as they did just three years ago. 

High delinquency rates in Prime, Alt-A and Option ARM mortgage products and declining cure rates (the rate at which borrowers resolve their delinquency status) are resulting in many more foreclosures among borrowers outside of the sub-prime mortgage market (and in higher priced segments of the market). Amherst Securities Group recently provided some data showing the higher delinquency rates for these products and the strong relationship between increased negative equity and decreased probability of resolving delinquency status (see their Exhibit 9, which shows, of borrowers who are 30 days delinquent, the percentage who become 60 days delinquent by their current loan-to-value ratios, where values greater than 100 indicate negative equity). As of the end of the second quarter of this year, Zillow estimated that 23% of single-family homes with mortgages are underwater on their mortgages, so expect cure rates to stay lower than they would be otherwise. 

Methodology
Looking at the distribution of foreclosures by home value can be significantly distorted by the variances in home values across the country. For example, it might appear that high-end homes as a percentage of all foreclosures is quite high nationally, but the reality is simply that areas with lots of foreclosures happen to be areas where home prices are higher. In order to better isolate the distribution of foreclosures by price segment without introducing the geographic variability of home prices, we have examined home prices while controlling for the local price level of all homes. 

Specifically, from all homes in the Zillow database with valuations (~70 million), Zillow computed the ratio between the current house value and the current level of the Zillow Home Value Index for the county in which the home is located. We then computed the 33rd and 66th percentiles of this ratio and assigned all homes to three price tiers: bottom (homes where the ratio was less than the 33rd percentile), middle (homes where the ratio was between the 33rd and 66th percentiles) and top (homes where the ratio was greater than the 66th percentile). We then extracted all foreclosures since 2000 and computed, by month, the percentage of foreclosures in the month represented by homes in each price tier. 

RISMEDIA, October 12, 2009-Trulia, Inc announced that 25.6% of homes currently on the market in the U.S. as of October 1, 2009 have experienced at least one price cut. More than one in four current listings on Trulia have been reduced in price for the fourth straight month. The total amount slashed from home prices is $28.4 billion, a $967 million increase from June 2009. The average discount for price-reduced homes continues to hold steady at 10% off of the original listing price. 

Northeast with Most Homes Reduced; West Sees Biggest Cuts
Five of the 10 states with the highest percentage of homes with price reductions are in the Northeast- Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New Jersey. One in three homes in these states has cut their list price at least once. 

Seven of the 10 states leading the country with the biggest listing price cuts are in the West, where heavy foreclosures have taken their toll. In Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, Hawaii, Utah and California, cuts are an average of 13% off the original list price. Of the $28.4 billion slashed nationally, New York, California and Florida account for 35% of the total value of reductions. 

Report Findings
For the first time in four months, Jacksonville no longer holds the top spot for highest level of home-price reductions: Memphis replaced Jacksonville with 36% of current listings experiencing at least one round of discounts. Several cities continue to see high levels of cuts on home prices with Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Portland and Raleigh, all earning a place in the top 10 for the third consecutive month. 

"Interest in real estate typically wanes at the end of the year, which means that sellers who didn't aggressively price their homes may find themselves making difficult decisions to reduce their prices or delay the sale until interest piques again in January," said Pete Flint, Trulia co-founder and CEO. "We are seeing the beginning of this trend in the Northeast and Western United States with discounting happening at all price points, and expect it to continue." 

Cities experiencing significant increases in percentage of listings with price reductions from June 2009 to October 2009 include:
-Kansas City, MO - 50% increase in price reductions
-Colorado Springs, CO - 32% increase in price reductions
-Louisville, KY - 27% increase in price reductions
-Indianapolis, IN - 27% increase in price reductions
-Portland, OR - 25% increase in price reductions
-Oklahoma City, OK - 24% increase in price reductions
-Memphis, TN - 24% increase in price reductions
-Tulsa, OK - 23% increase in price reductions
-Milwaukee, WI - 22% increase in price reductions
-Arlington, VA - 22% increase in price reductions 

Cities showing the highest percentage of declines for listings with price reductions from June 2009 to October 2009 include:
-San Antonio, TX - 37% decrease in price reductions
-Las Vegas, NV - 36% decrease in price reductions
-Oakland, CA - 17% decrease in price reductions
-San Jose, CA - 16% decrease in price reductions
-Los Angeles, CA - 14% decrease in price reductions
-Honolulu, HI - 11% decrease in price reductions
-Long Beach, CA - 11% decrease in price reductions
-Dallas, TX - 11% decrease in price reductions
-Washington, D.C. - 10% decrease in price reductions
-New York, NY - 9% decrease in price reductions 

Luxury Market Not Immune
Luxury homes (those listed at $2 million and above) continue to bear the brunt of discounts being offered with an average of 14% being slashed from the original asking price compared to the national average of 10%. Additionally, luxury homes represent less than 2% of all current listings on Trulia, but are responsible for 25% of the $28.4 billion in home price reductions. 

RISMEDIA, October 8, 2009-(MCT)-Green living in a down economy has become a concern for many Americans, but while adopting eco-conscious practices may seem challenging at first, it's simple to make an impact. 

"It's easy to be planet-friendly and human healthy," said eco-expert Kim Carlson, founder of EarthSmart Consumer Certified, a retail product certification program that collaborates with leading environmentalists to ensure the products we buy don't damage our planet. "You just have to kind of know your way around that world and once you do-it's easy. It's just changing a few behaviors." 

Minor modifications such as using power strips for your electronics and switching out your old light bulbs for compact fluorescent ones will reduce your carbon footprint and save some money, but you can always do more. 

"We're hitting and bumping up against the limits of the resources here on the planet," she said. "Wise use of those resources is the whole point of being green." 

Below are a few tips Carlson, author of "Green Your Work: Boost Your Bottom Line While Reducing Your Carbon Footprint" suggests to help others develop healthier lifestyles, become more aware of the environment and eat with green in mind. 

Choose products with reduced packaging
As consumers, most of us don't pay attention to the packaging of the products we buy, and with all the distractions (long lines, free samples, etc.), it's understandable why.

-Tip: Pre-packaged goods are convenient but they could be packaged differently, so stick to the perimeter of your grocery store for non-processed foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products and meats, which are both minimally processed and minimally packaged. Then hit the bulk aisle for rice, cereal, pasta and nuts. You'll have more space in your cabinets and fewer packages to toss out later.
-Reminder: Buying dry goods over wet products will result in lighter trucks using less fuel and fewer emissions released into the atmosphere. 

Shop with reusable grocery bags
"Any time you can reuse something, you're ahead of the game because you don't have anything to throw away," Carlson said about the widespread use of the popular reusable shopping bags. "You don't have to worry about composting or what to do with it; you just keep using it until it wears out."

-Tip: Take advantage of new technologies when you can. "There's bags that are being produced out of bioplastics like corn and switchgrass," Carlson noted. "Things that can biodegrade."
-Reminder: Most reusable bags cost about $1, so stock up-every bag makes a difference. 

Buy locally raised ingredients
Purchasing local products instead of their commercial counterparts will keep your dollars close by and guarantee fresher and more nutritious foods.

-Tip: Pay a visit to the nearby farmer's market. Buying produce such as lettuce, eggplant and potatoes from neighborhood vendors is a great way to invest in your community and purchasing in-season products will assure you of quality and lower prices.
-Reminder: Ask the sellers where the items come from at each stand to ensure they were grown in your area. 

Select sustainable seafood
Fishing practices worldwide have destroyed habitats, depleted fish populations and polluted the oceans, but smarter shopping could offset the consequences of over-fishing.

-Tip: Pick up one of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch pocket guides, which are handy region-specific booklets full of suggestions for favorable seafood purchases. Also, eat at your favorite restaurants that recognize the issue and work to serve quality, sustainable dishes.
-Reminder: Ask for "ocean-friendly" seafood: Arctic char, bay scallops and rainbow trout, among others, are "abundant, well-managed and caught or farmed in environmentally friendly ways," one guide states. 

Green night out
It's one thing to buy local ingredients and products with reduced packaging for your meals at home, but if your family frequents restaurants several times a week, broaden your scope.

-Tip: Choose environmentally cognizant restaurants-typically non-chains-that serve locally grown cuisine, recycle waste and conserve energy resources.
-Reminder: When you come across a great eco-friendly restaurant, spread the word! 

Other ways to make an impact
Eating is a social bonding experience; it should be a carefree occasion, not a chore.

-Tip: Plant your own garden, replace meat with wheat or introduce unusual grains into your diet to mix things up a bit.
-Reminder: When cultivating a garden, you can choose to go all-organic with soil, plants and fertilizer, or low-impact, by abstaining from using pesticides. 

RISMEDIA, October 8, 2009-With the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit deadline quickly approaching, the Internal Revenue Service recently reminded potential home buyers they must complete their first-time home purchases before Dec. 1, 2009 to qualify for the special first-time home buyer credit. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act extended the tax credit, which has provided a tax benefit to more than 1.4 million taxpayers so far. 

The credit of up to $8,000 is generally available to home buyers with qualifying income levels who have never owned a home or have not owned one in the past three years. 

The IRS encouraged all eligible homebuyers to take advantage of the first-time home buyer credit but at the same time cautioned taxpayers to avoid schemes that help ineligible people file false claims for the credit. Currently, the agency is investigating a number of cases of potential fraud and is using computer screening tools to identify questionable claims for the credit. 

Because the credit is only in effect for a limited time, those considering buying a home must act soon to qualify for the credit. Under the Recovery Act, an eligible home purchase must be completed before Dec. 1, 2009. This means that the last day to close on a home is Nov. 30. 

The credit cannot be claimed until after the purchase is completed. For purchases made this year before Dec. 1, taxpayers have the option of claiming the credit on their 2008 returns or waiting until next year and claiming it on their 2009 returns. 

For those considering a home purchase this fall, here are some other details about the first-time home buyer credit: 

-The credit is 10% of the purchase price of the home, with a maximum available credit of $8,000 for either a single taxpayer or a married couple filing jointly. The limit is $4,000 for a married person filing a separate return. In most cases, the full credit will be available for homes costing $80,000 or more.

-The credit reduces the taxpayer's tax bill or increases his or her refund, dollar for dollar. Unlike most tax credits, the first-time home buyer credit is fully refundable. This means that the credit will be paid to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax owed.

-Only the purchase of a main home located in the United States qualifies. Vacation homes and rental properties are not eligible.

-A home constructed by the taxpayer only qualifies for the credit if the taxpayer occupies it before Dec. 1, 2009.

-The credit is reduced or eliminated for higher-income taxpayers. The credit is phased out based on the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). MAGI is adjusted gross income plus various amounts excluded from income-for example, certain foreign income. For a married couple filing a joint return, the phase-out range is $150,000 to $170,000. For other taxpayers, the range is $75,000 to $95,000. This means the full credit is available for married couples filing a joint return whose MAGI is $150,000 or less and for other taxpayers whose MAGI is $75,000 or less.

-The credit must be repaid if, within three years of purchase, the home ceases to be the taxpayer's main home. For example, a taxpayer who claims the credit based on a qualifying purchase on Sept. 1, 2009, must repay the full credit if he or she sells the home or converts it to business or rental use at any time before Sept. 1, 2012. 

Taxpayers cannot take advantage of the credit even if they buy a main home before Dec. 1 if: 

-The taxpayer's income is too large. This means joint filers with MAGI of $170,000 and above and other taxpayers with MAGI of $95,000 and above.

-The taxpayer buys a home from a close relative. This includes a home purchased from the taxpayer's spouse, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

-The taxpayer owned another main home at any time during the three years prior to the date of purchase. For a married couple filing a joint return, this requirement applies to both spouses. For example, if the taxpayer bought a home on Sept. 1, 2009, the taxpayer cannot take the credit for that home if he or she owned, or had an ownership interest in, another main home at any time from Sept. 2, 2006, through Sept. 1, 2009.

-The taxpayer is a nonresident alien. 

by Erin Joyce
Thursday, October 1, 2009

provided by

For most people, each and every day involves some type of financial decision. So how do you feel about your financial decision-making skills? If you think you are making sound choices, ask yourself this: Have you weighed the consequences of your choices against their apparent benefits? In many cases, the answer is no. 

Let's take a look at six common financial choices that sound like smart moves, but could leave you scratching your head wondering where you went wrong.

1. Applying for a Line of Credit
   Advantages: Starting a line of credit will diversify your credit sources, which is good news for your credit score. It also allows you to access funds you may need for large purchases, like buying a car, without having to scramble to arrange the funds when you decide to buy.
   
   Consequences: A line of credit is too often treated like free money. In many cases, such easy access to funds leads borrowers to rack up consumer debt for things they don't really need. And there's nothing free about this cash injection: borrowers have to make minimum payments on the line's outstanding balance. In addition, a balance will limit borrowing power on other loans, such as a mortgage. 

    

   More from Yahoo! Finance: · Uncommonly Clever Economic Indicators · A Clip-and-Save Renaissance · Millionaires: Putting Themselves on Budgets? Visit the Banking & Budgeting Center

    

2. Withdrawing From Your 401(k) or Retirement Savings to Pay Down Debt
   Advantages: If you have a big debt to pay off, you may choose to either put off contributing to a retirement or savings fund, or to withdraw money from an existing fund. The upside to this is that paying down debt is a good thing, and the sooner it is paid off, the greater the savings in interest expenses for the borrower.
   
   Consequences: By withdrawing funds set aside for retirement, you are robbing yourself of the benefits of compounding. Also, pulling the money out of your savings could leave you in a very bad position should something unexpected, like a job loss, happen. The earlier you start saving, the more money you will be able to accumulate for retirement. If properly invested, money saved now is almost always better than more money saved later. (For more on the power of compound interest, see Compounding Your Way To Retirement.)
   
   
3. Choosing Only the Safest Investing Vehicles
   Advantages: If you invest in risk-free or nearly risk-free vehicles, the risk of losing your hard-earned cash is extremely low. This can be a viable option, especially if you are nearing retirement.
   
   Downside: However, you are again missing out on the opportunity to have your money work for you. Take into consideration your age and stage of life when deciding your risk level. Although everyone's risk tolerance is different, generally speaking, the younger you are, the riskier you can afford to be. This is because you have the time to make up any losses, and also because the higher risk may be warranted because it helps combat the effects of inflation on your portfolio's gains. The closer you are to retirement (or to whatever goal you are saving for) the more conservative you should be in order to protect your investment. (To learn more about risk, see Determining Risk And The Risk Pyramid.)
   
   
4. Avoiding Debt Altogether
   Advantages: "Debt free". It sounds good, doesn't it? And it can be. Living debt-free is a wonderful goal and is more achievable than you might think.
   
   Downside: However, debt can also be a tool. If, in your quest to remain debt free, you are turning down "good debt", that is, debt that allows you to leverage your investments, you are doing yourself a disservice. Examples of good debt include taking out a mortgage to buy a house. This is because houses and property tend to appreciate over time, and owning your home can lower your living expenses compared to renting. Another example would be taking out a student loan for post-secondary education. While student debt can be a huge responsibility, it is also an investment in yourself that boosts your potential earning power.
   
   
5. Cutting Your Variable Spending
   Advantages: If you are looking to cut your spending, this suggests that you have a budget to modify. That's great! Often variable expenses (expenses that are not fixed, such as entertainment, dining out and personal spending) are out of line with the amount we earn. An honest appraisal of where your money is going is a great step to getting your budget in fighting shape.
   
   Downside: This seemingly great idea is only great if you include the second part of it: sticking to your new budget. Unrealistic expectations, or treating your budget goals as "guidelines" rather than rules, could leave you spending more than ever. (For more tips, see Get Emotional Spending Under Control.)
   
   
6. Paying Off a Major Loan in One Payment
   Advantages: You've been working hard and saving - smart! Before your loans start accumulating interest, or even if they have, you decide to pay them off in one payment. That's a wonderful accomplishment that will save you months', or years' worth of interest.
   
   Downside: If you choose this route, make sure you take a look at your interest rate. Some loans have such a low interest rate that you'd be better off putting your money in a savings account that earns you a higher return and paying off your debt monthly. Keep in mind this is only a good idea if 1) your savings interest rate is higher than your debt interest rate and 2) you are disciplined enough to pay the debt off on time, every month, and not to spend your hard-earned cash on luxuries instead. The bonus? Responsibly paying off monthly debt helps you to establish a good credit history. This is especially helpful if you don't have a credit history (or you are trying to rebuild a bad one).

There's nothing worse than making a choice you thought was conscientious only to find out it had hidden consequences. Make sure you do your homework and your financial situation will be the best it can be.

RISMEDIA, September 26, 2009-(MCT)-Back in the good old days, before the crisis of 2008-09, many experts suggested that all you needed to do was withdraw 4% per year, adjusted for inflation, from your nest egg. That strategy, experts said, was a near-guarantee that your nest egg would last a lifetime. 

Well, go tell that to the guy selling apples and pencils on the street corner. Yes, conventional wisdom has proven to be more conventional than wise. And now everyone is trying to figure out the best way to turn a nest egg into an income stream that will last throughout retirement. And that includes AARP, which recently released two tip sheets that "challenge conventional thinking and offer general guidance about how to make the best decision for you and your circumstances." 

One of the tip sheets, "Making Your Nest Egg Last a Lifetime," which was written by Anthony Webb of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, suggests the following: 

1. Delay claiming Social Security.
Retirees and would-be retirees need to consider matching their fixed and best-case, inflation-adjusted sources of income against their fixed expenses. And one way to create the best inflation-adjusted source of income at the moment is to delay taking Social Security for as long as possible, certainly at least until your full retirement age if not longer, said Janet McCubbin, director of financial security at AARP's Public Policy Institute. 

At the moment, many people claim Social Security-even though it means a reduced benefit-at age 62, using the faulty logic that they may not live past the so-called break-even point. The break-even point is the date at which the sum of your reduced early benefits no longer exceeds what you would have drawn with the heftier, delayed benefits. 

There are plenty of Wed-based calculators to help you figure your break-even age, but such calculators fail to address at least three issues. One, the calculators typically don't address married couples. As is well known, husbands tend to die before their wives. And that means husbands who take a reduced Social Security benefit ultimately reduce their surviving spouses' benefit as well. Two, predicting your life expectancy is nearly an impossible task. And three, creating the largest Social Security benefit is fast becoming a basic component of a sound retirement-income plan. 

"Delaying is like buying extra income that lasts a life time," said McCubbin. "For most it's optimal for the husband to wait to collect till at least full retirement." 

2. Consider purchasing an annuity.
It's not right for everyone, said McCubbin. But for those who are retiring with a large nest egg and who don't have enough fixed and guaranteed sources of income to match their fixed expenses, an annuity might fit the bill. In essence, you want a fixed and dependable stream of income that covers your basic living expenses, she said. 

According to AARP, an annuity would not, however, be appropriate for someone with little in savings or someone with a large share of preretirement income already replaced by Social Security or by a traditional pension plan. Annuities are not without their problems at the moment. Pricing is affected by adverse selection, for instance. But McCubbin said much is going on in the way of product development that could make annuities more widely accepted over the next few years. Such developments include in-service annuities, trial annuities and security-plus annuities, as proposed by the Aspen Institute. 

3. Pay down your mortgage.
Many would-be retirees should enter retirement debt-free, owning their home free and clear, according to McCubbin. Unfortunately, many would-be retirees pay little attention to their homes as an integral part of their retirement-income planning process. In fact, most people age in place until they become sick or a spouse dies and then they decide to sell their home, according to AARP. 

Instead, homeowners should analyze far in advance their living arrangements and whether they want to have a mortgage in retirement. According to AARP, some retirees might also want to consider whether a reverse mortgage is appropriate as well. A reverse mortgage is a complicated and sometimes expensive transaction so it's wise to get a handle on the pros and cons of such products before signing any contracts, AARP said. 

4. Allocate your assets wisely.
Many retirees place large portions of their nest eggs in investments that provide a guaranteed return on capital. According to conventional wisdom, retirees should rebalance their nest eggs in favor of bonds as they age. But AARP's view is that retirees should build portfolios that are broadly diversified and based on one's tolerance for risk. 

5. Withdraw funds carefully.
And that brings us back to the place we began. Conventional wisdom suggests that you should withdraw no more than 4% of your savings during retirement. But now, at least according to AARP, retirees need to be a bit more thoughtful and flexible about this. 

"In tough economic times, you may want to withdraw a smaller percentage of your savings, if possible," AARP said. "When the returns on your investments improve, you can increase your withdrawals. Given the fluctuating nature of this income stream, consider pairing this changing income stream to variable or lifestyle expenses, such as gifts, vacations, etc." 

What's more, AARP suggested that the amount retirees ultimately withdraw should be based on realized returns, not rules of thumb. It's not easy to make your nest egg last a lifetime and the process is only likely to get harder. But AARP's five suggestions are certainly a step in the right direction. 

(c) 2009, MarketWatch.com Inc.