Kiplingers Personal Finance

88 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCEKIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE^ 05/201705/

LETTERS

SOURCE: POLL SURVEYED 169

KIPLINGER’S

READERS.

I read your article on the

reasons to buy supplemen-

tal disability insurance

(“Why You Need Disability

Coverage,” March). Here’s

mine: I was an executive

at a large international con-

sulting firm for 10 years,

and before that I worked

some 15 years in smaller

firms. After working 80

to 100 hours a week for 25

years, I developed a heart

condition (what a surprise)

and could no longer take

the stress and long hours

of working on multimillion-

dollar projects. My employer

told me I could work a 40-

hour week, but I would

have to meet the same goals

and objectives as everyone

working 80-plus hours.

Luckily, I purchased a dis-

ability insurance policy

(70% of income) and paid

for it with after-tax dollars

12 years ago. Had I not taken

out the extra insurance, I

would have been forced to

continue working to pay my

family’s bills, and my cardi-

ologist and I are both sure I

would be dead by now. So to

everyone reading this I say:

Go get covered.

S.P.

Philadelphia

Retire later. To your “6 Rea-

sons to Stay on the Job”

(March), I would add a sev-

enth: delaying required

minimum distributions. I’m

in my seventies, and I con-

tinue to work, just not full-

time. I’m able not only to

delay taking RMDs from my

401(k) but also to continue

to contribute to it. Plus, I’m

active, I love what I do, and

my employer is appreciative

of my performance.

D.R.

Lexington, Mass.

Beyond indexing. I agree

that taking a nuanced ap-

proach to index investing

opens up a wide range of

possibilities (“Index Every-

thing? Not So Fast,” March).

I’m retired, and I’m looking

for total return for growth

and income. I’ve owned

shares of Vanguard Wel-

lington (Admiral class)

for some time, and I think

this risk-averse fund is

a great addition to your

Kiplinger 25 mutual funds.

Its expense ratio is a low

0.18%, and the income

I receive from dividends

and capital gains covers

all or most of my RMDs

annually. I supplement

the Wellington fund with

a short-term bond fund

and cash to ride out market

volatility.

Leonard Napoli

Manahawkin, N.J.

Kudos to these super savers.

I’m very happy for the

Villalta family and proud

of the financial progress

they have made over the

past few years (“Then

and Now,” March). Articles

like this should encourage

anyone who is willing to

save for the future, even

on a small or single salary.

Annika Downard

Orange, Calif.

CORRECTION

In our February issue, we

erroneously reported the

future earnings figure for

students who attended Hills-

dale College (which ranked

number 36 on our combined

list of best value colleges)

as $35,700 a year. In fact,

the U.S. Department of

Education’s Federal College

Scorecard does not include

an earnings figure for the

school. We don’t use the sal-

ary figure in ranking schools

on our list, and the error does

not affect Hillsdale’s place-

ment in the rankings. We

apologize for the error.

Insure Your Income

LETTERS TO

THE EDITOR

Letters to the editor may be

edited for clarity and space,

and initials will be used on

request only if you include

your name. Mail to Letters

Editor, Kiplinger’s Personal

Finance, 1100 13th St., N.W.,

Washington, DC 20005, fax

to 202-778-8976 or e-mail

to [email protected].

Please include your name,

address and daytime tele-

phone number.

READER

Q POLL

Have you ever

succeeded in

lowering your

property taxes?

To see how you can save on your

property taxes, turn to page 37.

24 %

No

76 %

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