null Getty It’s been a terrific year for one specific group of funds—and that means, if you’re one of many people who own them, you need to be very careful. I’m talking about senior-loan (also known as floating-rate) funds, which have made big gains in 2019. That’s lulled many folks into a false sense of
Retirement
Put more into your piggy bank with tax-planning strategies for capital gains. Getty Let’s say you own stock that may generate a big capital gain when you sell it. It could be shares in Apple or Amazon that you purchased a long time ago, founder’s stock in a startup that turned into a hot IPO
Will the maximum social security benefit be increasing in 2020? Getty There is some good news and some bad news for workers near the top of the Social Security payroll tax levels. For 2019, the top-level is $132,900 or more. The bad news is that more of your income will get hit with Social Security
Team of doctors Getty Elizabeth Warren just released her proposal for funding the single-payer healthcare system she calls “Medicare for All” but which is far more generous than the existing Medicare system, promising all medically necessary/appropriate services/treatments not just with respect to traditional healthcare but also dental, hearing, vision, and long-term care, both in-home and
Presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have proposed expensive across-the-board increases in Social Security benefits, premised on the idea, as Warren says, that “It’s too hard to save enough for a decent retirement — and it’s only getting harder.” Congressional Democrats are ready to back the candidates’ promises, with near-unanimous House Democrat support for
(photo credit: Getty) Getty For Baby Boomers who remember the double-digit inflation that helped put Ronald Reagan in the White House, today’s comparatively subdued annual increases in the Consumer Price Index probably rank low among their retirement-related concerns. Rather than trying to restrain inflation, the Federal Reserve is now striving to boost it to 2%
stack of money Getty Did you get a notification from a former employer offering you the opportunity to cash out your future pension, or even a pension you’re collecting now or about to start, in exchange for a lump sum amount of money? Are you trying to make sense of the numbers? Are you unable
A new study has shown that high intensity exercise improves memory in seniors. Getty High-intensity treadmill workouts may not immediately spring to mind when considering a suitable exercise regimen for seniors. But, according to a new study, these workouts can significantly boost memory function by up to 30%. Researchers from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada
By Alexandra Kathryn Mosca, Next Avenue Contributor Getty From the time I could first hold a pen, it was my dream to make a living from the written word. As a child, I was awed by the power of books and the worlds they opened. My career path, however, took a very different turn — until
Mature couple doing family finances at home. Senior couple discussing home economics sitting at … [+] table. Happy couple sitting at home planning household financials. Getty I recently illustrated the dangers of trusting the Dividend Aristocrats to take care of your retirement needs. Their average yield of 2.4% is a fraction of what you’ll need
A forensic review of the endangered mine workers pension should be undertaken immediately. Workers and retirees deserve answers and once the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation takes over the plan, it will be too late. The bankruptcy of Murray Energy, America’s largest private coal mining company has coal workers “nervous and scared” for their pensions,
Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses when a person can receive an excess spousal benefit, whether both spouses can be eligible for spousal benefits, spousal benefits after retirement benefits, more on excess spousal benefits and becoming eligible for retirement benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and
Imagine your aging parent or other loved one living on his or her own and losing power from a natural disaster or an intentional blackout. What would they do? It’s fire season in California and with it has come massive preventive power cutoffs from the largest utility company. There are lessons for all of us
health insurance concept – stethoscope over the money on the table Getty Many people know that Health Savings Accounts (HSA) are a great way to pay for qualified medical expenses with their triple-tax advantage features. However, what many people might not know is that there is an IRS loophole that will allow you flexibility in
Lump-Sum Options present questions that deserve careful consideration. Getty Recent changes by the IRS have perked up interest in companies offering lump-sums to recipients of monthly defined benefit pensions. Most recently, General Electric (GE) announced was freezing its defined benefit plan and would be offering lump-sum options to 100,000 retirees. Lumps-sums are not new: AT&T,
Getty What happens to an Individual Retirement Account when the IRA owner dies? It can be a quick online process: The custodian bank or wirehouse transfers the IRA assets into an inherited IRA that the beneficiary can hold onto for life—or cash out. So why in Donna Aliberti’s case did it take two and a
PHILADELPHIA – FEBRUARY 23: Newspapers await purchase as pedestrians pass by honor boxes at the … [+] Philadelphia Inquirer Building February 23, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday in an attempt to restructure the company’s debt, estimated at $390
Forget today’s pathetic Treasury rates. And forget the lousy payout on your typical S&P 500 name, too. Put your nest egg in either and you’re locking in an income stream that’s actually less than zero for years to come! I know that sounds crazy—I’ll get into precisely what I mean, and how it could jeopardize
It’s not always easy to find ways to cut when developing your budget. But there are definitely line items we turn to first. Splurges get axed before any other expense, whether it’s travel or eating out, according to a new survey by credit repair service Lexington Law. What’s often ignored: the low-cost monthly subscriptions. The
A regenerative medicine company in Vancouver, British Columbia that focuses on treatments for nerve damage and neurodegenerative diseases announced it will begin Phase 1 studies in early 2020 on a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. NervGen Pharma wants to advance its proprietary therapeutic technology platform, currently in development for spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis