EP 20 - Essential Bond ETF Strategies for Providing Income
Description
In this episode of the EnRich Your Life Podcast, host Rich Leimgruber sits down with Marcel Benjamin, Fixed Income Strategist at State Street Investment Management, to discuss the essential shift in your financial strategy as you move from your wealth accumulation (growth) phase into retirement (income).
Have you spent years building up your savings and are now wondering how to turn that nest egg into a reliable paycheck? This episode is for you!
Marcel breaks down the role of bonds and introduces an innovative approach to managing your income portfolio: bond ladder Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)
What You'll Learn:
Bonds Made Simple: Get a clear, layman's explanation of what a bond is and how it differs from owning stocks.
The Power of Bond Ladders: Discover how staggering the maturity dates of your bonds (a "bond ladder") can help reduce the risk of having to reinvest all your money when interest rates are low (reinvestment risk).
A Modern Solution: ETF Bond Ladders: Learn about using low-cost, actively managed ETFs that are specifically designed to mature like individual bonds. This approach offers the diversification and efficiency of ETFs, avoiding the high costs and lack of transparency often found when trading individual bonds.
Matching Your Money to Your Life: Understand how these "stated maturity" ETFs can be used for Asset-Liability Matching (ALM), tips on aligning your investments with future cash needs, like a child's college tuition, buying a second home, or simply creating a planned retirement income stream.
Corporate vs. Municipal Bonds: Explore the trade-offs between higher-yielding corporate bonds and the potential tax benefits of state and local municipal bonds.
Whether you're looking to create a more tax-aware income stream or simply seeking a defined outcome for a portion of your wealth, this episode is full of strategic insights you can use immediately.
Guest Contact Info:
Marcel Benjamin, CFA
State Street Asset Management
VP SPDR ETF Fixed Income Group
ssga.com
About Our guest:
Marcel Benjamin, CFA, is a vice president in the SPDR ETF Fixed Income Group at State Street Asset Management and serves as a senior strategist supporting the firm's bond ETFs.
Prior to joining SSGA, Marcel was an investment strategist at Swiss Re, helping invest the insurer's balance sheet in dollar and sterling fixed income securities. Prior to that, he was a portfolio manager and trader at Guggenheim Partners Asset Management. Marcel began his career in fixed income portfolio risk management and advisory at BlackRock.
Marcel holds a BA and a BS from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He is a CFA charterholder and holds the FINRA Series 7 & 63 licenses.
