Semi-retirement has significant advantages for your financial security, health, and enjoyment of life. It’s a powerful strategy to consider as you approach your retirement years, or even if you’ve recently retired. Let’s take a look. What Is Semi-Retirement? Semi-retirement is when you transition from full-time paid work to part-time paid work instead of retiring completely
Retirement
In an ideal world, I believe it takes about five years to prepare for retirement – what’s next in life. One of my top ten tips for preparing for retirement is to use your time while you are still working wisely. Seek out role models, make connections, and explore options while you have a pay
Scott was eager. He even had numbers written on his truck’s visor that no one, not even his wife, knew what they meant. It was his retirement date. He saved, planned, and dutifully attended all his company’s retirement readiness seminars. Scott was in the zone; he could finally retire financially secure. A Friday, 30 years
Blended Families May Be At Greater Risk For Family Disputes Sometimes money and the need to care for aging parents can bring out the worst in people. This can happen in blended families with aging parents. When the adult children are faced with issues over their aging parent in common, some siblings feel entitled to
The author and his wife have enlisted the help of a free consultant to guide them until Medicare’s December 7th deadline. My wife and I have been covered by traditional Medicare since we each turned 65. In addition, we have had a secondary insurance plan that was heavily subsidized by my wife’s former employer. Similar
The IRS has announced that the amount of tax-favored funds that you can sock away for retirement is increasing. In 2025, the amount individuals can contribute to their 401(k) plans will tick up to $23,500—it was $23,000 for 2024. The announcement is tied to cost‑of‑living adjustments for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is notifying almost 950,000 Medicare beneficiaries that their personally identifiable information was compromised in late May 2023. In a press release, CMS reported details of the situation. Here’s a Readers Digest summary. In May 2023, Wisconsin Physicians Service identified a vulnerability in its system for transferring files. WPS
In the famous 2022 Supreme Court Case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned the national law that an abortion was a private matter between a woman and doctor, the petitioners insisted that there is “no causal link between the availability of abortion and the capacity of women to act in society.” In
2025 Medicare Changes Every year there are changes to Medicare Advantage Plans and Social Security. Most years the changes are not dramatic. But this year the change in your Medicare Advantage plan may be dramatic. If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, do not assume that your plan will remain the same for 2025. Because
The whole point of retirement is to improve your life—at least, that’s the case for most people. However, many people assume that if they stop working, their life will somehow magically be better. While not working does give you time and energy to pursue your goals and interests, you’ll need to do more work to
There are significant tax-reduction opportunities available when employer stock is held in a 401(k) plan. The opportunities are more significant now, as are the potential consequences of a suboptimal decision, because prices of many stocks increased significantly in recent years. Yet, many people diminish their benefits by rushing their decisions. The key tax break is
If you asked 100 people what the purpose of financial planning is, the reflexive answer of the majority would likely be to have more money. And this underlying belief, spoken or not, is likely why financial planning so often results in under-implemented plans and satisfaction levels that score just marginally above “meh” on a scale
When’s the last time you made a friend? Not just someone you see at work, or someone who is an acquaintance – a real friend. Someone you can call on and confide in, and who has your best interest at heart, and who can lean on you as well. In a previous article, I described
Daughter of elderly mother (EM) called in a bit of a panic. She had just found out that her 80 year old mother, living alone in another state, had been giving thousands and thousands of dollars to a campaign. This was done with recurring donations she had unwittingly signed up for on her cell phone.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is focused on continuing to improve the quality of Part D and Medicare Advantage plans. The Star Ratings system helps beneficiaries and their caregivers compare Medicare health and drug plans and make the best decisions. Every year CMS publishes the Star Ratings to give beneficiaries and their caregivers
Social Security benefits will be a major source of retirement income for most Americans. Yet, shockingly, only some people have a good idea of how much they will receive in benefits from Social Security. In fact, new research from the National Institute on Retirement Security says just 11% of Americans who haven’t yet retired know
For decades, the desperate need for government to help support middle-income frail older adults, younger people with disabilities, and their family members has been clear. Until now, lawmakers largely have done nothing about it. But that finally may be changing. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for President, has proposed an ambitious expansion of
Most economists who had to describe healthy, stable growth would end up largely describing today’s GDP numbers. The economy expanded at an annual inflation-adjusted rate of 2.8% in the third quarter of 2024, after expanding at 3.0% in the previous quarter. Outside of volatile inventory build ups, economic growth actually accelerated. Income growth from continued
The IRS is filling gaps, fixing glitches and answering questions about the SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0, and about required minimum distributions (RMDs) in general. Most of the discussions about the laws focus on the end of the Stretch IRA, the 10-year rule, and related issues. But a lot more ground is covered in
Most people at or near retirement age will say they want to remain at home as long as possible. That means not going to a care home of any kind “with all those old people”. It sounds fine when one is 65 or so and in reasonably good health. But of course, aging takes its