Retirement

When it comes to retirement income planning, taxes are an important but often overlooked factor. Pre-retirees tend to assume their tax bracket will decrease after they leave the workforce and don’t realize they could lose 25%–30% or more of their retirement income to taxes. Having a lower marginal tax bracket in retirement used to be

Ask Larry Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about whether divorced spousal benefits could reduce other benefits including childhood disability benefits (CDBs), how long a reconsideration request might be expected to take and whether survivor benefits might be affected by the WEP or GPO. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston

NEW YORK, USA – JANUARY 18: Thomas DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller speaks during Martin Luther … [+] King Day celebration at National Action Network headquarters, in New York, United States on January 18, 2021. (Photo by Lev Radin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Anadolu Agency via Getty Images In late January, the Washington Post reported:

LIRP Life insurance retirement plan and glasses. getty If you are contemplating purchasing a new life insurance policy, be sure to discuss the use of an irrevocable life insurance trust (known as an ILIT) with your advisors before you purchase the policy. An ILIT is an irrevocable trust that you create to hold a life

Female writing to-do list dragonstock – stock.adobe.com None of us wants to think about boring, grownup stuff like wills, but being an adult is not as hard (or even boring!) as it looks! Trust me. And there are companies and resources out there that actually make the process easier. You don’t have to become an

getty You’ve seen and heard it all before. You’ve probably even joined in. How many times have you made fun of organizations that give participation trophies to everyone just to avoid damaging the fragile egos of those who didn’t win? If you’re like many people, this cavalier dismissal of merit and achievement makes you shake

Grass growing from wallet getty So, you are over 50 and you’ve done okay, maybe even better than okay. You’ve saved some money for a rainy day and invested the rest wisely. You may have followed the recommendations of a trusted broker or decided to manage your own portfolio. Most of your money is probably

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 17: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with labor union leaders in the Oval … [+] Office of the White House on February 17, 2021 in Washington, DC. Biden met with labor union leaders to discuss and promote his $1.9 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus plan. (Photo by Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images

Getty getty Required minimum distributions (RMDs) from IRAs and other qualified retirement plans are more complicated than they need to be. There are a number of little-known rules that can be helpful to taxpayers or trap them into paying higher taxes or penalties. Most people believe IRA stands for “individual retirement account.” But the tax

Roger, 90 and Mark, 85 have been off and on friends for 50 years. Mark has no family of his own. Roger’s adult kids call him “Uncle Mark”, as he’s shown up for family events for decades. He once had plenty of money, or so it seemed. There was the apartment in Paris, the home

Getty images getty For a lot of young people, especially those who are beginning to get a handle on their finances, tax filing can be a dreaded task, and strategic tax planning may seem like a major undertaking. Year-end is typically when many people start thinking about taxes. But waiting until the year is over

Loosing the city’s private equity rules may be good for Stringer’s immediate political ambitions but … [+] will cost the city’s underfunded pensions for decades to come, given that these deals have lock-ups as long as 50 years. getty What a remarkable coincidence that New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer is looking to loosen strict

Getty getty Inevitably retirement planning discussions with my clients include listening to stories about their parents and grandparents. Frequently, clients like to reminisce about how their family members from previous generations handled their money. For some investors, these personal experiences serve as the benchmark for how they will plan their own financial future. Unfortunately, the

My mother and aide flickr Editorial/Getty Images The massive pandemic relief bill that the House is likely to approve by the end of this week includes billions of dollars in new funding for government long-term services and supports (LTSS) for frail older adults and young people with disabilities. But the most far-reaching change may be

Getty getty Over the last few years there have been a lot of changes in required minimum distributions (RMDs) for IRAs and other retirement plans. It’s important to know the current rules, so you don’t pay more income taxes than you need to or incur the highest penalty in the tax code. The penalty for

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor getty In the 1980s, while in her late 30s, Wall Street Journal reporter Joann Lublin became one of two women running the paper’s London bureau and stepped into management. Her four-year-old daughter Abra, Lublin writes in her new book “Power Moms: How Executive Mothers Navigate Work and Life,” was

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 16: California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a a news conference … [+] (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Getty Images When California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom took office in January 2019, he announced the state would embark on creating a “Master Plan for Aging.” Now

Why COVID-19 Is Driving Up The Cost Of Healthcare In Retirement And What You Can Do Now To Prepare getty While the long-term effects of COVID-19 on U.S. healthcare costs has only begun to emerge, experts estimate that healthcare costs linked to the pandemic could climb well into the hundreds of billions in the coming

Getty AFP via Getty Images Changes will be made in Social Security. The questions are: What will they be? When will they be made? If nothing is changed, the Social Security retirement trust fund will run out of money. The 2020 report from the trustees of Social Security estimated that would occur in 2034. But

getty There’s a new sheriff in town when it comes to the 401(k) arena. It’s called a 401(k) Pooled Employer Plan (or “PEP” for short). The industry has been waiting for Congress to approve this next generation 401(k) for years. They finally did in 2019 and President Trump quickly signed it into law. So-called “open”