How Much is Enough to Retire?

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The worrisome shape of the American retirement … Louis Navellier’s way to fix it … is oil going to $120? … why green energy won’t take over anytime soon

How much do you need for a comfortable retirement?According to Northwestern Mutual’s most recent research, Americans put the number at $1.25 million.Unfortunately, most people have not saved anywhere close to that amount.Data from Northwestern Mutual shows that the average retirement savings account hit $98,800 in 2021. That was up from $87,500 in 2020.Things were moving in the right direction, but this year has been a disaster.Thanks to the bear market, that value of the average retirement savings account has fallen 11% to $86,869 – below 2020’s level.Meanwhile, inflation has been crushing retirement savings efforts.According to a recent survey from Allianz Life, 54% of Americans have cut back on retirement contributions or stopped saving entirely.But that’s better than some investors who are already retired, living on fixed incomes. As prices have exploded without income rising similarly, it’s forcing some very painful “I can only buy this or that” economic decisions.

The good news for investors in or nearing retirement is that Social Security benefits will see a massive cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) next year

The increase will be 8.7%. That’s the largest jump on record since 1981, when checks rose by a record 11.2%.The bad news is that many retirees have already been slammed by inflation, and the COLA will feel a bit like a BAND-AID on a knife wound.In recent months, legendary investor Louis Navellier has been researching this growing crisis. Here’s part of his analysis, from his recent issue of Market 360:

…Inflation has shattered many folks’ retirement plans. Millions of Americans who worked hard all their lives, thinking they were covered, are now facing a retirement crisis… and inflation is only making it worse…According to Northwestern Mutual’s latest 2022 Planning & Progress study, 43% of folks aren’t confident that they’ll have enough money when it’s time retire…The expected retirement age has risen to 64, up from 62.6 in the prior year.Christian Mitchell, executive vice president and chief customer officer at Northwestern Mutual, noted: “It’s a period of uncertainty for many people, driven largely by rising inflation and volatility in the markets.”So, if you ever worry about your financial future – especially when the market becomes turbulent – I completely understand. It’s a scary thing to think about if you’re not prepared.

If you’re one of the many readers who feel this way, just this morning, Louis released a special briefing about a project he’s been working on called Project Oracle.This is the latest iteration of his quantitative approach to investing. It’s a labor of love he’s been refining for decades. And Louis believes it could help save the retirements of countless desperate Americans.

What is Project Oracle, and how can it help retirees?

Let’s go straight to Louis:

At the heart and soul of Project Oracle is a “predictive” algorithm.You see, there are millions of numbers associated with any company. And some of these metrics–when aligned in a specific combination– can be an excellent indicator of how a stock will perform over the near term.But it takes trillions of data points and massive amounts of computing power to figure which stocks meet this criteria…And that’s what Project Oracle has been engineered to do. And as a result, it can find the most explosive stocks on the market.

Louis makes it clear that investors of any age can benefit from Project Oracle. After all, a market gain is a market gain. But when he designed this system, he was thinking of retirees.Back to Louis:

If you want to “catch up” on your retirement or if you want to make inflation worries a thing of the past, this is definitely for you…You don’t have to be good with technology to benefit from Project Oracle.It’s a refined, user-friendly process—you don’t have to be a computer whiz like me. I analyze its results and send you my research and recommendations.

You can receive Louis’ latest briefing on Project Oracle here. He explains the details, how it can help you “catch up” on retirement, and how to access its results.

I’m willing to bet that Louis’ Project Oracle system has been flagging top-tier energy stocks

After all, energy companies just posted record earnings. Plus, crude oil prices have been climbing in recent weeks after dipping this past summer.Here’s Louis with more:

Crude oil prices are back over $90 per barrel on the anticipation that China’s demand will pick up as Covid Zero policies end. Further complicating crude oil prices, the Biden Administration is anticipated to stop draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) later this year, especially in the wake of the midterm elections and the leadership change in Congress. A big surge in crude oil prices to $120 per barrel are expected to occur in February and March when seasonal demand picks up.

But what about the green revolution? Solar, wind, and various renewables? Aren’t those technologies major headwinds to the prices of traditional energy sources?Well, yes, green energies are our future. But economic realities dictate that it’s a distant future.Today, and for the foreseeable future, the world needs fossil fuel energy. This will be a tailwind for top-tier oil and natural gas companies for years to come.

The challenge with the world going too green, too fast

The leaders of the developed world want to move the global economy to green energy immediately. But there are problems with this – not least of which is the reality that not all countries can afford this transition.In Louis’ recent Market Commentary, he highlights how the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) is underway right now. One of the biggest questions at the conference is how rich countries will pay poor countries to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.After discussing various challenges with this, Louis points toward an issue that many developed countries are ignoring – many developing countries are hesitant to go green, based on Sri Lanka’s experience.Back to Louis for those details:

…After Sir Lanka destroyed their economy by trying to comply with ESG and carbon dioxide emissions by switching to organic fertilizer and away from chemical fertilizer that reduced their crop levels, there is tremendous apprehension at COP27 that rich countries can help poor countries. I should add that coal demand is rising in poor countries and since many rich countries in Europe had to revert back to coal due to the chaos associated with breaking away from Russia natural gas, COP27 is anticipated to be a bust, since many rich countries look like hypocrites.

Building on this mention of hypocrisy, Louis highlights a promising new green energy source – “green” hydrogen

You might recognize the term “green hydrogen,” as we’ve profiled it before in the Digest. While this could be a gamechanger for the energy markets (and investors) in the coming years, widespread adoption won’t occur overnight.It’s important to understand that a tremendous amount of hydrogen used today is derived from natural gas. It’s not the 100% environmentally friendly “green hydrogen” that is carbon free.So, while green hydrogen is the eventual goal, the path to get there will first run through “less green” production processes that are reliant on natural gas.You’re not hearing about this much from the leaders of the developed world. But investors who understand this recognize that profits are coming for top-tier natural gas companies that are in the middle of this energy transition.Back to Louis:

The bottom line is there is no such thing as a mass market for green hydrogen, so most hydrogen is derived from natural gas. In other words, it is hard to “fix stupid” policies and I think the switch to hydrogen fuel cells in commercial trucks and other energy applications, will just boost natural gas demand, especially in California.

By the way, if you’d like to better understand the difference between green hydrogen and gray hydrogen (and even “blue” hydrogen), our macro investment expert Eric Fry explained the details in our August 23 Digest.

Before we wrap up today, one last reminder to check out Louis’ Project Oracle special briefing

If this year has put your retirement on shakier ground, find out why Louis believes he can help you get back on track. There’s even a free bonus from Louis. We’ll end today with him describing it:

 I’m giving away a free stock pick now to get you “ahead of the game.” It’s a stock that could skyrocket 100% or more in as little as 3 months…Which means if you get in now… by the time January rolls around you could have already had the chance to double your money, giving you a great start to the new year.The stock is a company that’s at the heart of the electric vehicle revolution. And I uncovered it thanks to my cutting-edge stock research system called “Project Oracle”.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/11/how-much-is-enough-to-retire/.

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