Reference no: EM131567801

Old Alfred Road, who is well-known to drivers on the MaineTurnpike, has reached his seventieth birthday and is ready toretire. Mr. Road has no formal training in finance but has saved his money and invested carefully. Mr Road owns his home-the mortgage is paid off-and dose not want to move. He is a widower,and he wants to be queath the house and any remaining assets to his daughter. He has accumulated savings of $180,000, conservatively invested.The investments are yielding 9 percent interest. Mr. Road also has $12,000 in a savings account at 5 percent interest. He wants tokeep the savings account intact for unexpected expenses or emergencies. Mr. Road's basic living expenses now average about $1,500 permonth, and he plans to spend $500 per month on travel and hobbies.To maintain this planned standard of living, he will have to rely on his investment portfolio. The interest from the portfolio is $16,200 per year (9 percent of $180,000), or $1,350 per month. Mr. Road will also receive $750 per month in social security payments for the rest of his life. These payments are indexed forinflation. That is, they will be automatically increased inproportion to changes in the consumer price index. Mr. Road's main concern is with inflation. The inflation rate hasbeen below 3 percent recently, but a 3 percent rate is unusually low by historical standards. His social security payments will increase with inflation, but the interest on his investment portfolio will not. What advice do you have for Mr. Road? Can he safely spend all theinterest from his investment portfolio? How much could he withdraw at year-end from that portfolio if he wants to keep its real value intact? Suppose Mr. Road will live for 20 more years and is willing to use up all of his investment portfolio over that period. He also wants his monthly spending to increase along with inflation over that period. In other words, he wants his monthly spending to stay the same in real terms. How much can he afford to spend per month? Assume that the investment portfolio continues to yield a 9 percent rate of return and that the inflation rate will be 4 percent.

Please answer the following questions from case:

1) Can Mr. Road safely spend all the interest for his investment portfolio?

2) How much could he withdraw at year-end from that portfolio if he wants to keep its real value intact?

3) Suppose Mr. Road will live for 20 more years and is willing to use up all of his investment portfolio over that period. He also want his monthly spending to increase along with inflation over that period. In other words, he wants his monthly spending to stay the same in real terms. How much can he afford to spend per month?

4) What advice do you have for Mr. Road.