By Margie Zable Fisher, Next Avenue Glen Muñoz, podcast producer Glen Muñoz Almost every day since the outbreak of the coronavirus, we’ve heard stories about businesses shutting down. Yet new businesses have also been launched during the pandemic at the fastest rate in over a decade, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some of these new
Retirement
LightRocket via Getty Images Over the last couple of weeks, the financial headlines have been dominated by market manipulation, GameStop, short squeezes, Reddit frenzies and other uncommon topics. A little perspective makes it easier to understand these events and how they should affect your investment strategy. The big news was the strong increase in the
10 tips for a Happier Retirement and the 25 happiest cities for retirement in the US getty Sadly no city in the USA came in the top 25 happiest cities for retirement. The top five cities for happiest retirement are Helsinki, Copenhagen, Geneva, Reykjavik, Oslo. As a Los Angeles financial planner who helps people plan for
Did you take a break from required minimum distributions (RMDs) in 2020? Thanks to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which suspended RMDs for 2020, you did not have to take RMDs from your traditional IRAs (individual retirement accounts) and other tax-deferred accounts last year. (Roth IRAs do not require RMDs during
getty It is not a surprise — not to me, anyway — that the “Covid relief” bill, or, strictly speaking the first half of such, released by the House yesterday, to be passed under the terms of reconciliation, includes substantial provisions related to multi-employer pensions. I did, after all, predict as much as soon as
Senior couple staying home and staying fit during COVID-19 lockdown. How to have a better retirement … [+] plan now. getty Are you dreaming of the day that work becomes an option, and you reach financial freedom? Those who avoided the negative effects of the Coronavirus recession have seen their salaries rise. While stuck at
getty It’s that time of year when, if you’re like most people, you begin to once again turn your attention to your IRA. The year-end statements are starting to trickle in, so you might feel the urge to re-evaluate things and perhaps make some changes. But, do you really know what you should be looking
Investment fees can invalidate the 4% Rule. Here’s what you need to know. getty The 4% Rule has helped generations of retirees estimate how much they can spend each year in retirement. What many don’t know, however, is the role investment fees played, or didn’t play, in the creation of the rule. For example, does
Questionable hearing device getty Almost 50 million Americans suffer from some level of hearing loss. The majority of them are adults older than 65. I know quite a number of people who have hearing aids; some wear them religiously, some do not. The non-wearers claim they don’t really work for them, they’re cumbersome, they are visible
LifePart2 From reading the amount of literature devoted to it, you would think post-work life will take care of itself if you take care of the money part. However, after digging deeper and talking to hundreds of happy retirees, I have seen that neglecting the non-financial part of retirement can lead to more misery than
By Nancy Collamer, Next Avenue Seth and Mark Samuelson are reaping profits from the gardening trend courtesy of Seth and Mark Samuelson It’s been nearly a year since the coronavirus pandemic upended our lives. A year when we embraced new habits (curbside pickup) and technologies (Zoom) and found solace in old pastimes (gardening and baking).
getty How does income affect fertility rates or, more generally, family size? Or, put more bluntly, do the poor have more kids than the middle class? Do they, are they’ve long been accused of, have “too many” kids? Turns out, it’s hard to find data to answer that question. We know that fertility rates vary
Chuck Bolotin with gas station attendants in Baja California Sur, Mexico Chuck Bolotin In his book on happiness, Dennis Prager points out that gratitude is a pre-condition for happiness (as well as goodness) and one of the most important emotions one can feel and cultivate. It’s one of the main reasons why, for thousands of years,
Five things that people get wrong about retirement arithmetic. Future getty There is something about retirement that leaves investors in an arithmetic fog. Maybe it’s the marginal tax rate or the compounding or the deferral that gets their numbers all jumbled up. Here are five things that people get wrong about IRAs and 401(k)s, usually
Financial firms providing services to pensions are required under ERISA to disclose compensation … [+] they earn related to plans. Can these firms demand pension sponsors keep statutorily mandated disclosure secret? getty Financial firms providing services to pensions are required under ERISA to disclose compensation they earn from plans. Can firms unilaterally demand pension sponsors
Even small fees can wreck your retirement portfolio getty Investment fees are easy to ignore. You don’t get billed for your advisor’s fee or the expense ratio of a mutual fund. They quietly take it out of your investment portfolio every quarter. Yet fees can have a huge impact on your wealth. In this article,
Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about what effect years of lower income might have on benefits taken later, when the higher income limit for the earnings test is applied and whether a divorce and subsequent remarriage can satisfy the 10 year marriage requirement. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston
By Kathleen Doheny, Next Avenue DANVERS, MA – FEBRUARY 1: A man is given his vaccination by pharmacist Joe Borge. Feb. 1, 2021 was … [+] the first day of Phase 2 of the COVID-19 rollout for seniors, 75 and over, seen here vaccinated inside the Walgreens Pharmacy, at 107 High Street, in Danvers, MA.
If you find yourself in need of funds to support a new addition to your family, your 401(k) plan … [+] might be able to help. getty Welcoming a new child to your family is an exciting time. However, if money is tight or your income has declined due to the pandemic, what should be
Click here to read the previous part of this article. The most natural use for permanent life insurance is to fund a legacy goal. Exhibit 7.4 compares the effectiveness of two strategies for meeting a legacy goal during retirement: “buy term and invest the difference” in Scenario 1 and using whole life insurance in Scenario