Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) , the world's second-largest cruise line, has been a fantastic investment over the years. In 2025, it beat the S&P 500 index, returning about 21% for the year, and over the past five years it has an annualized return of 30%. Taking an even longer view, it has an average annualized return of about 12.6% over the past 10 years, slightly below the 13.8% return of t...
Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) , the world's second-largest cruise line, has been a fantastic investment over the years. In 2025, it beat the S&P 500 index, returning about 21% for the year, and over the past five years it has an annualized return of 30%. Taking an even longer view, it has an average annualized return of about 12.6% over the past 10 years, slightly below the 13.8% return of the large-cap benchmark, but still pretty solid numbers. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
We all know that to have a reasonably comfortable retirement, we'll need to save and invest for it. And if you ask folks what they think it will take, many may reply with a simple round number: $1 million. But just how much money anyone will need to have set aside by the time their career is complete will be personal to their individual circumstances. Financial experts generally say that to mainta...
We all know that to have a reasonably comfortable retirement, we'll need to save and invest for it. And if you ask folks what they think it will take, many may reply with a simple round number: $1 million. But just how much money anyone will need to have set aside by the time their career is complete will be personal to their individual circumstances. Financial experts generally say that to maintain your lifestyle after you stop working full time, you should aim to have enough income to replace about 80% of your pre-retirement income. For example, if you earn $100,000 a year, you should target a retirement income of $80,000. Here's where that gets tricky: If you plan to annually withdraw 5% of your nest egg's initial level (adjusting upward a bit each year to compensate for inflation), you'll need $1.6 million in your account to get $80,000. Even if you factor in a monthly Social Security check of $2,000 -- which is about average benefit for retirees today -- you'd need a nest egg of $1.1 million to sustainably provide the remaining $56,000 at that withdrawal rate. Continue reading