Retirement

It is election season. This is a time when the question of whether people are materially better off than they were four years ago comes up. Comparing March 2024 to March 2020, when a once-in-a-century pandemic broke out, the answer is obviously a resounding yes. But, even considering the winter of 2024 relative to the

Yesterday, the conservative House Republican Study Committee released its latest budget plan. To the RSC’s credit – and, honestly, to my own surprise – the RSC took on the dangerous issue of reforming Social Security, standing up not only to Democrats looking to demagogue the issue but to former President Trump’s efforts to duck the

Here are two very important questions I ask clients who are over 65, still employed, and considering Medicare enrollment. One: “Is your prescription drug coverage considered to be creditable?” The response is frequently a blank stare or a shoulder shrug. Two: “Have you gotten any notices from your employer about the status of your prescription

The strong economic recovery since the pandemic started has been good for almost everyone. Nonfinancial corporations are no exception. They have been raking in high profits and using those mainly to pay dividends to their shareholders and building up their stockpiles of cash. Investments in new buildings, computers, car parks and other equipment are at

Remember the fall of 2022? No matter when you turned on the TV, you saw a former NFL player or celebrity pitching Medicare Advantage. Just call the number on your screen to get all the benefits you deserve. It seemed as though those commercials were everywhere. Maybe that’s because they were. According to KFF, there

Do nursing home owners understate the profits they report to federal regulators by shifting income to related businesses? Two academic experts in nursing home finance found that in one state 63 percent of margins are hidden this way. To put it another way, only 37 percent of true nursing home profits are reported to federal

In today’s shifting landscape, finances are front and center in many American households. With spiking inflation over the last few years, a pending election cycle, market volatility, and a massive transition in wealth in the US over the next decade, financial planning can seem as complex as ever. Additionally, the roles that family members play

President Biden issued his budget proposal on March 11, 2024. The document’s full title is “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue Proposals.” Transformative Tax Changes Will Redistribute Wealth If even some of these proposals are enacted into law it could dramatically change taxation of the wealthiest Americans and substantially reduce the wealth

Medicare is a lifesaver for most retirees who need affordable health coverage after age 65. However, it’s very different from the health insurance plan you may have participated in as an employee benefit. For example, Medicare doesn’t provide coverage for some essential items that are often delivered through employer-sponsored health plans. If you’re nearing age

You might be able to save yourself tens of thousands of dollars by reshuffling positions between taxable and tax-sheltered accounts. By William Baldwin, Forbes Staff First decision for investors: allocation. What percentages of your net worth do you want in stocks, bonds, cash, exotic things? Second decision, following right behind: location. Where do you put

For most people, there is a belief that aging well is a matter of luck. In their minds, how they age depends on how long their parents or grandparents lived and that’s about it. However, research tells us, that simply isn’t all there is to know. Movement of our bodies In our history, parents and

Early in the new year, a severe winter storm warning for our area resulted in the closure of my grandsons’ schools, cancellation of business meetings, and a grocery store run on milk and essentials. What happened? Instead of blizzard-like conditions and a foot of snow, we got three inches of rain and mid-30s temperatures. I

While the inflation rate has been easing downward, retirees’ budgets are still being stretched pretty thin. Over the past few years, above-average inflation has meant significant Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. Will this trend continue? How big of a Social Security COLA will retirees get in 2025? What Was The Social Security COLA For 2024? The

Whether you’re trying to get rich quickly or slowly, there are a plethora of playbooks out there about saving, investing, real estate, business building, and side hustles for you to follow. While there is certainly plenty of advice that is garbage—especially on the get-rich-quick front—there are many, many paths to financial success. That is, if

You might have read that Social Security might raise its retirement age as a means to help fix the program’s financial challenges. If this happens, how could it affect you? The answer is…we don’t know for sure, and it will most likely depend on your age. However, we can gain insights by looking at how

A call to scrap tax breaks for retirement plans and use the savings to shore up Social Security has some people in the financial services industry up in arms. But the question is not whether the U.S. retirement savings system is costly, complex, and ineffective at boosting savings. It’s all of those things. The only

Most people, when asked, say they want to “age in place” at home for as long as possible. When an elder is in failing health, staying at home means getting help. For those with the means to do so, it takes a comprehensive effort to care for an aging loved one with the best quality

Sometimes, it’s necessary to correct the record. The other day, a click-baity, highly misleading headline blared: “Teresa Ghilarducci Confirms Proposal to Create Federal 401(k) Would Remove Employers from Retirement Saving System.” Sounds scary, but it’s totally untrue. Let’s get something clear: I don’t hate or want to abolish 401(k) plans — I am fortunate to

Even for the healthiest Americans, the cost of health care in retirement can be astronomical. Don’t even get me started on the untenable cost of treating diseases like cancer or Alzheimer’s. A proper retirement income plan will include how you expect to pay for healthcare costs once you retire. What Will A Couple Spend On

The clock is ticking on the expiration, or sunset, of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which nearly doubled the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption from its previous levels. For 2024, the exemption stands at $13.61 million per person and $27.22 million for a married couple. However, this is scheduled to revert back