Retirement

By Diane Eastabrook, Next Avenue Contributor getty In the first week of June, Karen Hirth did something the coronavirus had prevented her from doing for three months: move her 80-year-old Aunt Georgia into a nursing home. It wasn’t a hard decision. Georgia had been declining both physically and mentally for several months. A broken hip

By Richard Harris, Next Avenue Contributor Winnona Merritt, who has one of these advance directives David Gilmer Not since the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 has this country contemplated the unthinkable: rationing vital medical resources on a wide scale. Since the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the U.S. in January, the pandemic has raised fears

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 13: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing at the White House … [+] August 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump spoke on a range of topics including his announcement earlier in the day of a new peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty

getty At the end of 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was passed with dual purpose. The foremost focus of the act was to bolster retirement security throughout the country by providing broader access to retirement accounts. While that aspect of the SECURE Act is modest in magnitude, the second

September 28, 2012 Vice President Biden Campaigns In Florida. VP Biden speaks on the vision of how … [+] to create an economy built to last from the middle out. The Vice President lays out what’s at stake for middle class families in this election. (Photo by Michele Eve Sandberg/Corbis via Getty Images) Corbis via

We can’t lose sight of the need to reform Social Security and make it financially sustainable. getty With the political conventions of both major parties scheduled in the next few weeks, it’s a good time to look at the positions the presidential candidates and political parties hold on Social Security. It’s also a particularly opportune

Despite average January temperatures that drop below zero, Fargo is the only city that’s been on Forbes’ Best Places to Retire list 10 years in a row. The grisly Oscar-nominated comedy Fargo opens with a blinding white landscape, the fog of a blizzard obscuring flat plains blanketed with snow as far as the eye can

Most pre-retirees badly underestimate their health care costs in retirement. While no individual has any idea what his health care needs are at some distant point, a look at the averages is pretty frightening. Medicare has significant gaps in coverage. Let’s say a couple both age 65 retired today. They would need an additional $285,000

getty Two years ago, the Trump Administration quietly began a review of the nation’s long-term care (LTC) insurance system, focused primarily on ways to enhance private coverage. This week, just as quietly, an administration task force released its report. Unfortunately, for the most part, the group was unwilling to commit to any meaningful changes to

A small green tree grow from its parent getty I write a lot about the importance of retirement and estate planning. It’s not hard to get people to acknowledge that it’s critical for everyone, especially those of us who have reached the second half of life. We need to ask hard questions about how we

Doctor discusses health concerns with couple getty In our last post, we shared landmark new research showing that retirees have been less hard hit financially by the COVID-19 pandemic than younger people. Retirees’ sense of financial security has declined less for a combination of reasons – most no longer have to worry about their jobs,

Who will step up to save Social Security Benefits? President Trump has signed an executive order … [+] which appears to be death knell in the coffin of Social Security Trust funds solvency. Here are 4 ways to save social security now. Getty Images Before the Coronavirus decimated much of the U.S. economy, Social Security

Boy amongst watermelons in Ajijic, Mexico Chuck Bolotin This morning, from the viewpoint of our master bedroom, I woke up to a spectacular view of Lake Chapala, in the Mexican highlands. There had been a light rain the night before. Scanning past our expansive, freshly mowed lawn with the newly planted palm trees my wife had the

By Randy Rieland, Next Avenue Contributor getty Not everyone who cares for a family member or friend with dementia or a chronic medical condition joins a support group. In fact, most don’t. But people who do, often have made deep connections with those with whom they’ve shared the confusion, frustration and even the anger they

Concept of harmony and balance. Balance stones against the sea. Rock zen in the form of scales getty Constructing a portfolio today is different, but not difficult This is the point of the investment market cycle where fortunes are made and lost. And sometimes, both by the same person, one right after the other. That’s

By Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell, Next Avenue Contributor getty Susie Hediger, 56, who lives in Roeland Park, Kansas, worked as a cashier for a big-box lumber retailer when her governor issued a state of emergency in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Having been diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2019 and undergoing treatment, she wasn’t sure

getty Yes, yesterday I wrote an article with the intentionally eye-catching title, “Will Trump’s Payroll Tax Cut End Social Security As We Know It? Let’s Hope So.” — because, as regular readers will know, I never miss a chance to promote my preferred Social Security reforms. In the meantime, I have received more than the

getty First, the background: With Congressional negotiations on a “second stimulus” bill going nowhere, President Trump signed a set of executive orders yesterday, of dubious legality or effectiveness, regarding student loans, evictions, unemployment benefits, and, yes, Social Security. After having called for a payroll tax cut since the start of the crisis (as far back

President Trump signed four executive orders on Saturday. They direct the Treasury to extend the federal bonus for unemployment insurance, order the Treasury and HUD to provide temporary funds to renters and struggling homeowners, extend a payment moratorium on student loans, and defer the 6.2% Social Security tax, also known as the payroll tax. All

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about having no income in the years before filing, potentially filing early with minor children, potential effects of continuing to earn income and how spousal benefit amounts are determined. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security