Retirement

You’ve saved and saved your money to build a hefty retirement savings account. You’ve trusted your retirement investment manager to build those assets. Whether you’re an employee saving in the company’s 401(k) or a business owner saving in your own retirement savings vehicle, if you’ve got a competent provider and the discipline to save, you

If you have never inherited an IRA, you might be surprised at how complex life can be for you unless you have a handle on the rules of the road. While an IRA is an easy asset to inherit because it bypasses the probate process, trouble lurks beneath the surface is you are not savvy

In June 2021, when the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio was facing intense criticism from retired teachers for lack of transparency regarding its riskiest investments, State Auditor Keith Faber came to the pension staff’s rescue—somehow granting STRS Ohio the auditor’s Highest Achievement in Open and Transparent Government Award. In a stunning turn of events,

With the holidays soon gone, the annual January spending hangover awaits. It’s around this time when families have to pay credit card bills and face the splurge of spending that they undertook in December. With the holiday damage on top of mind, it also provides a fantastic moment to help teach, guide or inform your

2022 has been a challenging year. We’ve experienced the highest inflation in four decades, double-digit losses in both stocks and bonds, the Federal Reserve aggressively raising interest rates, a never-ending war in Ukraine, continued lockdowns in the world’s second-biggest economy, gas prices shooting through the roof, a slowdown in the housing market, and more. Tough

A backup residency and alternate citizenship are critical pieces of an offshore diversification plan and more important today than they’ve ever been in history. Your options for residency overseas are many. Some countries offer a dozen different programs, including “self-sufficiency” options that you qualify for by showing a guaranteed minimum monthly income. Aside from proving

Key Takeaways Big tech has been hammered this year, with the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite down 34% in 2022. Some analysts believe that the current environment is going to make it difficult for growth focused tech stocks to bounce back. Value investing could be for a renaissance, after a decade of low interest rates sent

In early October of this year—a month before Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire FTX began to unravel—I warned Forbes readers “If you are a participant in a state or local government-sponsored pension fund, then a portion of your hard-earned retirement savings is likely invested in cryptocurrency or a cryptocurrency-adjacent enterprise.” I cited a 2022 study published

So, you thought New Year’s resolutions were for losing weight and giving up eating corn dogs. Naw, the most exciting New Year’s resolutions are estate planning commitments. So, when you head off to Times Square to watch the ball drop, take along pen and paper so you can jot down all your estate planning commitments.

Today’s high estate and gift tax exemptions could be slashed in a few years. Maximize those and other benefits now. The proposals to substantially increase estate and gift taxes that were widely-discussed in 2021 are off the table for now. But the current lifetime estate and gift tax exemption is scheduled to be cut in

Introduction New Year’s is a great time to commit to reviewing and cleaning up your estate planning. One of the most important and common estate planning documents is a power of attorney. As part of your New Year’s resolutions, commit to making sure you and your loved ones (including any children or others you are

You may have noticed a series of articles appearing throughout the year lamenting the demise of the classic 60/40 asset allocation strategy. This investment philosophy calls for portfolios to be composed of 60% stocks and 40% bonds. In theory, this asset class diversification should shield investors from the downside. As rates have risen and the

I would have hoped that, before I lived in Mexico, if someone would have asked me what it would be like to live in Mexico, I would have had the humility, good sense and / or wisdom to say “I don’t know.” But I doubt it. Actually living in a new place sure can change

The Federal Reserve finished the year with yet another interest rate hike. If inflation slows as expected, analysts still expect further increases of at least 75 basis points. You know how rising rates hurt your retirement savings, but there are ways you can take advantage of them. Benefiting from an environment of high interest rates

Here are the critical questions about retirement plans you need to review as the close of this year approaches. Are beneficiary designations correct? There can be dreadful consequences to not designating beneficiaries or having outdated beneficiary designations. The account is likely to go to the wrong person or people, or it might go to the

Back when the SECURE Act passed in 2019, I wrote an article for Forbes called the “Why The SECURE Act Makes 2020 The Year of Missed RMDs.” The reality then was that the two biggest and most impactful provisions of the SECURE Act 1.0 were around required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts. With the

In the dark of the night, snuggled within the 4,000+ page Omnibus Bill meant to keep the machine of government well-oiled, lies a passage that may change the future of retirement saving. And the average American worker is ready for it. Dubbed the “SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022,” it represents an extension of the original

So many Americans run into unexpected health care situations, natural disasters, or other unforeseeable tragedies that also become financial tragedies. We’ve seen research showing that nearly half of Americans would struggle to cover an unexpected $400 expense and that 56 percent of Americans could not cover an $1,000 expense with savings. These numbers and surveys

Key Takeways The $1.7 trillion government spending bill has passed, which means they’ll be able to keep the lights on until at least September next year. With over 4,000 pages worth of legislation, it’s not the type of thing that can be summarized easily. With that said, we’ve pulled out some of the key areas

As a special Christmas present to all of us, the Secure Act 2.0 is expected to become law right before the holiday. The SECURE Act 2.0 caught a ride on the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that was unveiled on December 19. While the bill presents numerous changes to existing retirement savings and withdrawal rules,