Author: Jack Kahn, Director of Program Development

Think about it: what do we investors (computer-driven models excepted) have in common? For one thing, we're all human. So when we make investment decisions, psychological factors must play some role.

Over the past few decades, enterprising psychologists and economists have been looking into this. They've come up with some fascinating findings. For example, the pain of losing money is equivalent to at least twice the joy people experience from a similar financial windfall. (As a result, many people are "risk averse." That means they'll forfeit an opportunity to make easy money, just to avoid the remote possibility of losing a few dollars).

This type of research has led to the creation of an entire academic field called "behavioral finance." We last reported on it in 2002, when Princeton University psychologist Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Now, with the help of a grant from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, we're revisiting the subject, with a series called "Your Mind & Your Money."

If you had to identify the biggest business development of the year's first half, what would you choose? GM declaring bankruptcy? Bernie Madoff being sentenced to 150 years? The Obama financial regulation proposal? Ken Lewis's demotion (to mere CEO, rather than Chairman and CEO) at Bank of America?

It's a tough decision...but I would vote for none of the above. Rather, I would go with the U-Turn in the Stock Market that began in early March.

Why? Until March 9, stock prices were still in free-fall, continuing the crash of 2008. That reflected a continuing stream of bad news on the economy and serious concerns that the financial system might collapse. But then the Stock Market began to turn round and headed in the other direction--rallying some 40 percent over the next four months. (Even that move only brought prices back to where they started the year, but who's complaining?)

For the past year, we've been talking about "Getting Your Finances Ready for Retirement." But sooner or later, you're going to enter the ranks of the retired. So when the planning is over and the time comes to put your retirement plan into effect, what do you need to do then?

Although retirement is supposed to be the time to relax (for some people), becoming a retiree doesn't mean you can fall asleep and forget about your finances. Now the main thing you need to keep track of is whether your income in retirement is sufficient to meet your expenses. If not, then you've got a problem--and you had better take steps to correct it. To assist you in that process, we've put together a simple "Retirement Plan Maintenance Check." While it won't give you the kind of guidance that you might get from a financial planner, filling out this checklist should get you started on steps to get your finances back into balance.

With the Bernard Madoff scandal in the news, you might get the idea that investment scam artists only go after the super-wealthy. After all...that's where the big money is, right?

Wrong. According to attorney Steve Weisman, author of The Truth About Avoiding Scams, retirees are perhaps the group most-targeted by scammers. Why is that? Besides the fact that many retirees have substantial funds sitting in investments, he says scammers know that retirees tend to be overly trusting of others. Often, according to Weisman, their idea of a background check is if a person comes recommended by a friend and seems "very nice."

With all of the talk these days about financial bailouts, you might think that if your retirement finances should fall short, someone will come in and rescue you. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way--especially if you’re single or divorced.

At least couples going into retirement have a built-in support system; if one spouse should have a health care crisis, the other can step in and provide assistance. And that can be a big cost-saver if one of them needs Long Term Care. In fact, the journal Health Affairs projects that the cost of home health care will rise at an annual rate of 7.8%, much faster than the general increase in health costs.

Americans are living longer. That sounds good, and there’s no question that it’s better than the alternative. But the downside is that the longer you live, the greater the odds you’ll need some kind of assistance just to maintain your day-to-day existence. That can range from having a health aide come to your home to living in an assisted living residence or a nursing home. Collectively, those are called Long Term Care.

While a lot has been said about the high cost of health care, at least there is a mechanism for seniors to deal with that: Medicare.

When it comes to dealing with Long Term Care costs, you’re pretty much on your own. (A lot of people think that they can just let Medicaid--a state program for the indigent--pick up the tab if they end up in a nursing home. But as Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University points out, "Medicaid will wipe you and your spouse out financially" before it kicks in. So unless you’re prepared to die destitute, don’t count on it).

When it comes to financial products, annuities would seem to be the perfect vehicle for retirees. The concept behind them is simple enough: you trade in a lump-sum of cash that you’ve built up over the years for a stream of monthly checks for the rest of your life. But few things about annuities are simple.

The first problem: there are more types of annuities than flavors at Baskin-Robbins. Your choices range from plain-vanilla Immediate Fixed Annuities to the equivalent of Jamoca Almond Fudge: Advance Life Deferred Annuities (sometimes referred to as "longevity insurance"). Each one is intended to meet a different financial need, so it helps to be a financial planner to fully understand them.

As 2008 fades into 2009, there are few investors (except short-sellers) who are sad to see the year come to an end. As of this writing, 2008 is on track to be the worst year for the Stock Market since 1931. And there were plenty of gut-wrenching days along the way: Sam Stovall of Standard & Poor’s Equity Research tells us that volatility was ten times the usual level.

So let’s hope that 2009 is a better (or at least a calmer) year in the markets. But as we bid 2008 a less-than-fond farewell, what investment lessons can we learn from it? Here are some that I gleaned from some veteran market mavens in the course of putting together “2008/2009 Investment Review & Preview,” NBR’s New Year’s Day Special:

In a phrase, how do you sum up an unprecedented event that could cost the U.S. Government $7.76 trillion dollars (not counting billions more in investment losses and corporate failures)?

We came up with: “From Bubble To Trouble: The Financial Crisis of 2008.” And that’s what we’re calling NBR’s Thanksgiving Special, which looks into the causes of the current crisis.

The “bubble” refers, of course, to the housing bubble of 2004-mid 2007. It set the stage for the financial meltdown that we’re now experiencing (that’s the “trouble”).*

But how did some bad mortgage loans take the nation’s financial system to the brink of collapse -- and send the world into a deep recession? The verdict is still out, but our reporters came up with some possible explanations….in two separate reports.

Remember Ben Franklin’s aphorism: “A penny saved is a penny earned?” I doubt Ben realized it when he coined that phrase some 250 years ago, but he actually came up with some good financial advice for those retiring in 2008 and beyond.

The reason: after the precipitous drops in home values and stock prices that we’ve just experienced, who knows when they’ll rebound? So those of us who plan to retire in the next few years will probably have to retire on less than we expected. That means when it comes to managing our retirement finances, our focus will have to shift from boosting our retirement income to finding ways to cut costs. Here’s why….