Retirement

Some headlines are sure to draw eyeballs. Case in point, each time the Social Security Administration issues its annual report, there will be a series of articles discussing the fact the that the Social Security trust fund will run out of money. The attention is especially likely in years like this one where the time

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor Don’t hate Michael Clinton for the ways he’s roaring into the second half of life — running marathons in every continent (even Antarctica), launching a foundation that makes random acts of kindness grants and enrolling in a master’s program in nonprofit management at Columbia University. Instead, try to emulate and learn from

By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue In the quest to rethink and reimagine the second half of life, growing numbers of professionals, white-collar workers and highly skilled trade people are making the transition to the nonprofit sector. And they’re often delighted about it. I talked to two of them recently about this — Donna Svendsen and

For some fortunate older adults, 2020 and 2021 have proved to be financial boon years. They spent less than in normal years because they weren’t traveling, weren’t eating out, weren’t paying for theater tickets and expensive excursions, and those who are invested in the stock market have seen their portfolios soar. However, the stay-at-home years

By Kimberly A. Eddleston and Jonas Ruzek, Next Avenue Editor’s note: This article is co-written by a member of the board of editors at EIX.org from The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, which is a funder of a Next Avenue. The new, buzzy Netflix NFLX documentary on the late, beloved, iconic public broadcasting TV host, painter Bob Ross — “Bob

Recent Proposal The House Democrats are proposing a $3.5 trillion spending plan. To support that package the Democrats have proposed tax increases to fund a large portion of that plan. The House Ways and Means Committee just issued statutory language for the tax increase proposal. While the tax legislative process will no doubt evolve with

Ordinary common sense and experts in psychology and neurobiology say most people at older ages want a long, healthy life; satisfaction (with a bit of joy and happiness thrown in); and agency (more specifically, most people want “locus of control”). Some people might express these aspirations in terms of what they don’t want: i.e. ‘I

Forbes compared more than 500 locations in America on everything from air quality to availability of doctors. But unlike other retirement lists, this one places greater emphasis on access to leisure pursuits —from the arts, learning and fine dining to hiking, skiing, sailing and golf.  Last year, Penny and Brad Bibey sold their Camarillo, Calif.,

ICUs are overflowing into hallways, filled with Covid patients. Hospitals are short of staffing to care for the critically ill. In some states, people are being turned away at emergency rooms and administrators desperately search for another hospital to take the patients they can’t accept. They are too full for even one more person in

Today’s column addresses questions about whether and where domestic partners can qualify as married for Social Security benefits, potential effects of selling a home while receiving Social Security disability benefits and ways to increase benefit rates for people who never married. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and

Here is a dilemma many Medicare beneficiaries face: My physician ordered a new medication to treat a longstanding medical problem. The pharmacist said my drug plan doesn’t cover this drug. I really need to take it. What can I do? This is not a rare event. Yet, many beneficiaries are surprised to discover that an

Not since the 1960s have so many critical policy issues that affect older adults come together in Congress at one time. Over the next few months, lawmakers will decide whether to both increase and fundamentally refocus federal support for older adults and younger people with disabilities. Those reforms would assist those who need long-term services

The Ways and Means Committee released the first draft of a major tax bill this week. While it is mostly aimed at increasing taxes to pay for other social policies and government infrastructure initiatives, there are a number of provisions that would change retirement planning.    You can see a summary by the Ways and Means Committee here. Most of

The latest report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says 41% of 401(k) participants don’t believe they’re paying fees. This shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with the retirement plan environment. “Employees are busy managing their day-to-day lives and don’t regularly review their 401(k) to be aware of 401(k) costs,” says Stuart Robertson, CEO of ShareBuilder

Today’s column addresses questions about how many years a couple must be married before one could be eligible for survivor’s benefits on the other’s record, how month of filing affects when delayed retirement credits are paid and what week of the month benefits are paid. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University

On September 13, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee announced some sweeping changes to the tax Code. The changes include some brand-new provisions and others that conflict with President Biden’s $3.5 trillion plan. Some of these were expected, others were a bit surprising. Here’s a synopsis of some of the relevant parts of the

Work has changed. Not just for workers on factory floors and warehouses finding their new colleague may be a robot, but also for those working in downtown glass high rises. Ethan, a senior partner in his firm, shakes his head in disbelief. He says, “When I graduated nearly 40 years ago and began interviewing for

If you lost track of a retirement savings account held in the early years of your career, your ease in finding it will depend a lot on the type of savings plan. If you’re looking for an old IRA, searching for it through the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) is likely to help

The recent Social Security trustees report projected that the combined Trust Funds for Social Security retirement and disability benefits (officially called the Old-Age and Survivors Disability Insurance benefits, or OASDI) would be exhausted in 2034. These projections use the Social Security actuaries’ best estimate for various assumptions to project the system’s operations over the next

Inflation tends to top the list of economic risks that investors obsess most about. After all, runaway inflation has devastated some economies over the centuries. Corralling inflation and keeping expectations well-anchored have been key mandates for most central banks for decades. However, inflation expectations are not uniform across age groups. Surveys from the New York