Share to facebook Share to twitter Share to linkedin The S&P 500 rose 29%, the best yearly return since 2013. Wang Ying/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images Topline: The market boomed in 2019, with major indexes hitting numerous record highs as stocks posted their best annual return in six years, thanks to the U.S. economy’s moderate expansion
Retirement
Getty As a new decade and year are about to begin, professional forecasters are, of course, going through the exercise of guesstimating the future course of the markets and U.S. economy. From what I’ve seen, they’re generally expecting the record-breaking U.S. expansion to continue at a middling 2% pace in 2020. Among the factors routinely
Bond prices are sensitive to interest rate changes, and bond duration is a measure of just how sensitive. For instance, in Exhibit 1.1 (shown in my last article), an increase in interest rates for the simple bond from 3 percent to 4 percent caused the bond’s price to fall by 8.1 percent. This bond has
By Jamie Hopkins, Next Avenue Contributor Getty The new Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, just signed by President Trump, is the broadest piece of retirement legislation passed in 13 years. Ultimately, the law focuses on retirement planning in three key areas: 1) modifying required minimum distribution (RMD) rules for retirement plans;
Hands Of Father Giving Jar Of Coins To Child On Wooden Table Background – Inheritance / Parent … [+] Providing For Children Concept Getty The SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) was passed in late December and includes a variety of changes that primarily revolve around retirement plans. Let’s explore some of
“The End of Old Age: Living a Longer and More Purposeful Life, by Marc E. Agronin, M.D. Da Capo Press, 227 p. The title of this valuable book on aging seems over-reaching and marketing driven to to me. But I’ll concede the author’s premise: that our predisposition to view aging as a depressingly high hurdle
Getty Social Security is the primary retirement income source for many Americans – for over 60% of them it provides more than half of their retirement income. Security discussions often focus on retirement security, but a number of related benefits also deserve the spotlight, such as survivor benefits for a surviving spouse. Survivor benefits play a crucial role in
Follow these tips to crush your financial goals in 2020. Getty In a survey by Fidelity Investments, 67% of Americans said they’re planning to make financial resolutions for 2020, with saving more and paying down debt topping the resolution chart. Of course making such resolutions is easier than keeping them. A third of New Year’s
Praying woman in the city. Getty The lyrics to a Jim Reeves classic song capture the heartbreak Employee Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI) stakeholders, including taxpayers and pensioners, must be feeling this holiday season. Please release me let me go for I don’t love you anymore … To live a lie would bring us
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, called the “SECURE Act” makes significant changes to how IRAs and certain retirement benefits must be treated post-death. We reviewed many of the changes and planning implications of this new law on your IRA and retirement benefits in “SECURE Act New IRA Rules: Change
As 2019 draws to a close and the calendar turns toward the new year, it is an opportune time for investors to position their stock portfolios for 2020; with the S&P 500 near a record high and interest rates on the decline, high-yield dividend growth stocks are especially attractive for income investors, asserts Ben Reynolds,
A record high S&P 500 has done more than just confound prognosticators. It seems it has also made us feel quite confident in our finances. This assuredness has impacted how we plan for the year. According to a new survey by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, only 14% of those surveyed will set
Getty You’re probably spending more money on your grandchildren then you realize, and it could hurt your retirement. Grandparents are spending a lot of money on their grandchildren, according to an AARP study. On average grandparents spend $2,572 annually on the grandchildren, according to the study. But that’s only an average. Many spend much more.
Shutterstock We expect investment experts to have crystal balls that allow them to see how the stock market is going to perform in the future. Of course, they don’t have crystal balls, and their predictions often aren’t helpful. The problem with expert predictions of the stock market isn’t that they are wrong — which they
A Therapy Dog tag isolated on white. Clipping path available. Getty On a snowy afternoon a week before Christmas, a therapy dog named Koko brought the gift of her presence to a New Jersey nursing home. The beautiful Koko, four years old, fleetingly touched the lives of about 30 residents of a 70-bed nursing facility
Getty Many of the best retirement saving strategies use employer-sponsored retirement plans like a 401(k), or individual plans like an IRA or Roth IRA. These retirement savings vehicles provide credit protections, preferential tax treatment to the investments, and in some cases, sizable tax deductions for contributions. For instance, when you save in a 401(k), you
As a bond provides a contractual right to a series of future payments received at specified points of time, the price for a bond is simply the present discounted value of the future cash flows. The face value of a bond will be repaid at maturity. A zero-coupon bond provides only a bond’s face value,
Happy senior couple during the meeting with agent or financial consultant, signing some agreement in … [+] the comfortable office Getty The Secure Act may delay the impact of Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) primarily for Traditional IRA holders approaching retirement. RMDs function as you might expect. Essentially, they require you to take a withdrawal from
Getty The SECURE Act, which will become effective January 1, 2020, could more appropriately be called the Extreme Death-Tax for IRA and Retirement Plan Owners Act. IRA and retirement plan owners should take action to protect their financial legacy, preferably before year-end. Why The Death Of The Stretch IRA Is Important The ticking time
Introduction and Action Steps The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, called the “SECURE Act” makes significant changes to how IRAs and certain retirement benefits must be treated post-death. Rules Committee Print 116–44 Text of the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment To H.R. 1865, December 16, 2019, the “Further Consolidated Appropriations