Retirement

Former president Donald Trump’s plan to repeal the tax on Social Security benefits would lower taxes for US households by an average of $550, according to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center. But that tax cut would come with a big price: By reducing Social Security and Medicare hospital insurance (HI) revenues by

Just about any Medicare beneficiary who takes prescription medications has heard about the donut hole. It has had quite an interesting history. When Part D prescription drug coverage began in 2006, those who landed in the donut hole had to pay 100% of the cost for every drug. That’s likely the reason that the official

Conventional wisdom regarding Traditional IRA’s is to not take distributions from your Traditional IRA because you will have to pay tax on it. Let the assets in your Traditional IRA continue to grow tax deferred and take distributions based on the IRS Required Minimum Distribution rules (RMD’S). Another strategy is to convert your Traditional IRA

The dreaded brain disease, Alzheimer’s, is considered difficult to diagnose. For one thing, it comes on gradually in most cases and initially has no physical symptoms like pain or trouble moving around. Doctors usually first hear that a person has some problems with short term memory. Not much happens until that gets worse. Then, they

One of the most commonly quoted pieces of investment advice (or cliché) is you want to buy low and sell high. It’s as simplistic, as it’s unhelpful. Despite the obviousness of the advice, there’s only one proven way to do this consistently: through a tactic called rebalancing. It’s an important wrinkle to remember as the

Retirement accounts are protected from creditors and lawsuits most of the time, but not all the time. You should know the circumstances when an IRA or other retirement account might be vulnerable. In general, qualified retirement accounts are protected from creditors, whether or not bankruptcy is declared, by the federal Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection

Ah, summer vacation – that blissful stretch of freedom we all crave. But what if that vacation never ended? Many people imagine that retirement might be their endless vacation. Picture this: You’re lounging on a beach, sipping a piña colada, thinking, “This must be what retirement feels like.” Hold that thought because we’re about to

If you serve as trustee for a friend or family member, you understand how much work can go into the role. There are meetings with lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors; communications with beneficiaries; and possibly even hard assets like real estate to oversee. That does not include the ongoing headache of the responsibility associated with

Sometimes aging loved ones start out in one state and then move to a different state to retire. They carefully do their estate planning where they live. That may leave trusts or other investments subject to different laws than they ever expected. This is an illustration of a real matter involving such a move and

When considering retirement, many pre-retirees and recent retirees focus on the vacation part, making plans to travel and pursue interests and hobbies. You might also be looking forward to the initial honeymoon phase of retirement, when you don’t have to wake to an alarm clock, quickly wolf down breakfast, and rush out the door to

The pain of loss has an impact on us that is at least twice as powerful as the joy of gain. This potent observation from Daniel Kahneman has implications in nearly every area of our lives, but especially in our finances, where losses and gains are so clearly illuminated numerically. We’ve discussed how financial planning

An increasingly popular way to avoid probate and other estate planning issues is the transfer on death or payable on death account. There can be more to these accounts, which I’ll refer to as TODs, than many people realize. Most financial institutions now have a specific form that is completed to designate an account as

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin N ext month, Matt Palmer, 60, and Lisa Barr, 63, a retired couple from Quincy, Mass., and Penni, their six-year-old retired racing greyhound, are moving to one-half of a two-family house they are renting with a contract to buy in Lucca, Italy, a lively Tuscany town

Fed up with high living expenses and toxic politics, more Americans are looking to move abroad. Here are the top 24 countries, and 96 recommended spots, based on costs, amenities, health care, climate risk, language, crime, and whether they welcome U.S. retirees. By William P. Barrett, Senior Contributor Colleen Kennedy is a child of Southern

Before converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, residents of states with income taxes should review how their states will treat the transactions. Under federal tax law, the owner of a traditional IRA can roll over some or all of the account to a Roth IRA. The amount rolled over will be included in

Politicians love to say they “won’t touch” Social Security, as if leaving the program alone will protect older adults. In reality, a new study by two of my Urban Institute colleagues finds that failing to fix the program’s looming financial shortfall would throw 3.8 million seniors into poverty by 2045. Median promised benefits would decline

I’ve been the host of The Retirement Answer Man podcast for over ten years now. I try not to overshare my life on the show because the podcast isn’t about me. It’s about you and rocking retirement! Nonetheless, I have dropped snippets about our Colorado relocation journey over the past few years, as the process

The Social Security Administration recently issued two alerts about the program. Many people who access information about their Social Security benefits through a “my Social Security” account on the Social Security website (which I recommend doing) will have to access their accounts in a different way. The SSA says that anyone who created an account

The dentist is always telling you, and your aging loved ones to brush and floss. Get those regular dental checkups. Pay attention to your oral health. And as our loved ones age, this area of health seems to get neglected. After all, there are bigger things to worry about, right? Cardiac disease, diabetes, arthritis, and

It’s often the case that one spouse or partner handles most financial matters for the household. If that spouse or partner dies first, the survivor can be left with a hot mess. They’ll need to navigate their finances at a time when they’re vulnerable, grieving, and coping with living alone. To add to their stress,