Retirement

The new year brings the start of many things, the most likely being a hangover. No, not that kind of hangover. The one referenced here is the work hangover. The end of the year fills your social calendar. That requires you to prioritize your work. The most important items get done. The rest you leave

The U.S. has just about 39 million workers 55 and older. What’s it like being one of those 39 million older workers? You can’t generalize. They range from billionaire Warren Buffett to Butch Marion, a 82 year old clerk at Walmart WMT who was able to retire after someone sponsored a GoFundMe campaign for him.

There’s been a problem with 529 plans from their very beginning. They’ve always been a gamble. You gambled your child would actually go to college. You gambled your child would not earn a scholarship. You gambled you would put too much money into the 529 plan. Why is the 529 plan a gamble? When you

People used to fear a diagnosis of cancer above all. That has been replaced by fear of a diagnosis of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. Most people know someone who has it or did in the past. There is good reason to be afraid. It’s a difficult, expensive and sometimes very long journey with this disease.

To help protect themselves from being taken advantage of by financial sales professionals, retirees should ask the following questions about the financial professional seeking to provide them with investment advice or sell them an investment product: “Are you a fiduciary, and how are you registered?” “This question is critical as advisors can be dually registered

On December 29, 2022, the SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022 was signed into law to enhance America’s retirement savings outlook. Since the original SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act) passed in December 2019, legislators have continued exploring ways to address the general inadequacy of Americans’ retirement savings, and the lack of

It doesn’t take much to send a solid retirement plan off the rails. Fortunately, the likely causes of retirement failures are well-known and often avoidable. When you know the most frequent causes, you’re more likely to avoid losing your financial independence and security. Helping too much. People often dip too far into their retirement funds

A friend of mine recently started his Social Security benefits at age 66, justifying his decision because interest rates have risen recently from virtually zero to the four percent range. That made me question if the conventional wisdom still applies: This wisdom says that for most people, delaying the start of Social Security benefits as

The economy grew at a substantial 2.9% in inflation-adjusted terms in the last quarter of 2022. This faster-than-expected performance occurred amid substantial headwinds, mainly higher interest rates. But, continued monetary policy tightening and, more importantly, massive fiscal policy uncertainty over Republicans’ stance on allowing the federal government to pay its bills could derail the economy

Planning for a long retirement requires pre-retirees and retirees to thoughtfully consider many decisions that can significantly impact their financial security. One effective way to engage with these decisions is to answer thought-provoking questions, a technique shared in a recent report from the Stanford Center on Longevity that explored how pre-retirees and retirees can improve

Senator Katie Muth, a Board Member for the $40 billion Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) will never forget the first meeting of the pension board she attended and the ESG presentation she heard which included cryptocurrency as a solution for the un-banked in African countries. “I was really looking forward to the ESG presentation

Has SECURE 2.0 been over-hyped? Or will it prove to be a game-changer? Financial professionals are split on the issue. But there’s one thing for sure: in some cases, the blunt force of reality may dampen the enthusiasm of the headlines. You can’t escape it. Everywhere you look, you find prognosticators predicting the best of

The Secure Act 2.0 just upended retirement planning…again. The age when retirees must begin drawing from non-Roth retirement accounts increases to 73 in 2023, then 75 in 2033. Individuals who have already started RMDs can’t stop. Raising the age when withdrawals must begin is great as it gives investors more planning opportunities. However, it doesn’t

SECURE 2.0 improves Roth retirement options, including allowing employer matching contributions direct to a Roth retirement plan and delays Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for many. On December 29, 2022, as part of the omnibus spending bill, President Biden signed into law the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0). The law contains significant changes to

Has SECURE 2.0 been over-hyped? Or will it prove to be a game-changer? Financial professionals are split on the issue. But there’s one thing for sure: there are a few things you can expect to take advantage of sooner than you think. Much has been made of the ability to create a “Backdoor” Child IRA

Mike Tyson famously said “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Unfortunately, this can be as true when it comes to retirement planning as it is in boxing. Here are some ways LIFE can get in the way of even the best laid plans and what you can do about it:

While there is no chance the federal government will enact long-term care financing reform any time soon, several states are busy developing public insurance programs of their own. These initiatives could be a critical step as the nation wrestles with how to pay for personal care for older adults and others with disabilities or chronic

SECURE 2.0 was part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. It introduces a significant number of changes to contributions, simplicity of participation, and the date for beginning Required Minimum Distributions (RMD). However, one interesting twist is a provision that allows a 529 education plan to be rolled into a Roth. Aside from a great opportunity

Data security has been increased for tax returns, credit cards, and other traditional targets of cyber thieves. Now, the online thieves are making sophisticated attacks on employer retirement plans and the accounts in the plans. Data security at retirement plans varies, and the security can be breached several different ways. The cyber thieves probe to

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Inflation plus rising interest rates on your variable debt may be putting the squeeze on your budget. There are two ways out of that problem: Lower your spending or raise your income. If you have cash available to invest, high-yield dividend stocks can be a nice