Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about how benefits for multiple children are calculated, when divorced spousal benefits can be available and how years with covered earnings can reduce the effect of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security
Retirement
Many people spend substantial time and effort putting together an estate plan with their attorney and then throw a wrench in it with last minute changes. Often, they do not even realize that what they are doing will impact their will or trust. Other times, they are taking advice from someone else and not checking
As you approach retirement – as if you don’t already have enough to worry about – a concern should be diminished capacity. Common sense, and a lot of statistics, tell us that as you age, the chance of losing some of your mental faculties is a risk. This risk becomes very real in retirement because you’re
Rezo Kanovich likes companies that have zero analyst coverage. He explains why. Small-stock aficionados: Are you limiting your attention to the U.S. market? Then you are missing out, says Rezo Kanovich, manager of an immensely successful portfolio of smaller foreign companies. “The universe of small stocks [abroad] is vast, bigger than the U.S. market by
Many retirees spend more of their money than they should for medical care. One Medicare insurance advisor concluded that about 90% of Medicare beneficiaries pay more out of pocket than they need to. It’s not surprising. Medicare is a complicated program. Since Medicare Open Enrollment is here (October 15-December 7), here’s my review of the
For a variety of reasons, we often run across clients who decide to retire “early”. In the eyes of the IRS, early retirement is defined as any time before the age of 59 ½. Taking a withdrawal from an IRA account prior to reaching 59 ½ will typically trigger a 10% penalty on top of
Should pensions and retirement savings plans divest from fossil fuel companies? That practice is becoming increasingly prevalent globally. Over the past several years, pension funds in Scandinavia have announced divestment from oil and gas companies, and the NEST retirement savings fund in the UK, that is, the government-managed IRA-like fund into which workers are defaulted
Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about taking early retirement benefits before survivor’s benefits, switching from disability benefits to retirement benefits at 62 and ideas for writing a letter appealing a benefit reduction. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more
You may not know it but you are a lab rat. Don’t be shocked or offended, you have lots of company. Nearly two-thirds of us who joined the workforce in the 1980s, and everyone since then (this means you X’ers, Millennials, and Gen Z), are part of a grand experiment in retirement. The experiment began
As we march through the decades, the question of where to live is generally determined by where our family resides, where we go to school, who hires us, and where we want to raise our kids. When that’s all behind us, what then? Do we stay put in our big suburban homes or our three-story
A forensic investigation commissioned by 19,000 retirees participating in the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio spurs a special audit by State Auditor. “The information obtained to date supports a reasonable basis for conducting a special audit,” says Auditor. As absurd as it seems, participants in pensions historically have had virtually no say in how
By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor It’s probably the biggest retirement question you have (after Do I have enough money to retire?): Where should I live in retirement? The question really needs to be split in half: Which community and neighborhood should I live in? And what kind of home should I live in? Right Place,
By Michael MacDonald, Next Avenue How can you feel younger in your retirement years? This is a big question and one I am just starting to get a handle on, I think. I am almost 67, quite healthy and am fortunate enough to not have serious financial worries. Both my wife and I are psychologists and
Restarting a significant literary career that’s 13 books long is hard at any age. Doing so after an eight-year gap, at 91, is especially inspiring. Then add your husband dying from Covid-19 while you survived, plus a famous, witty novelist daughter (author of nine books including “The Wife” and “The Female Persuasion”). And there you
The death of a spouse is devastating. There is the obvious sadness experienced due to the loss of a loved one. However, there is also the challenge of losing a life partner who helped you make various important decisions. For years, or perhaps decades, a couple likely worked together to tackle important decisions about their
What would you do if the federal government gave you a chunk of $12 billion to spend on Medicaid home and community-based care for frail older adults and younger people with disabilities? That is a real question governors have been wrestling for months. And we now are getting a good sense of the answer: Mostly,
Imagine your aging loved one is in the hospital. It’s scary. It’s sad. He’s fading fast and you know it. You ask for information from the doctors involved. You get evasive responses. You are told more testing is needed before anyone will give you an answer. More testing and more testing gives you the same
As the world continues to push through our pandemic era, working from home has become a fact of life. What if working from home meant hanging out on a white-sand beach or in an Old World old town? Folks open to the idea of working from home overseas have become a sought-after commodity among countries
The other day, my teenage son announced we should all support the Build Back Better Bill because it was so much fun to say. So how about a Better Build Back Better Bill? And, yes, these principles are, admittedly, wishful thinking, centering on good governance rather than “ways to make voters happy and win elections.”
Where’s the best place for you to live once you retire? You can gain insights into that decision by reading the 2021-2022 Best Places to Retire report from U.S. News & World Report. For most people, however, the rankings may not be the most important factor when it comes to choosing a place to live during retirement. Let’s