Retirement

The SECURE Act 2.0, enacted in late 2022, changed more than 90 rules about IRAs and other qualified retirement plans. The changes are phased in over several years. Here are some key changes that take effect in 2024 or took effect in 2023. For the first time, excess funds in a 529 education savings plan

Has the premium for your Medicare Part D prescription drug policy increased for 2024? Mine has. I recently received notice that my monthly premium would increase by more than 21%, from $28.40 in 2023 to $34.50 in 2024. This increase came on top of a large increase from 2022 to 2023. With increases occurring in

There are few things I love more than sitting down with a bunch of other smart, intentional people and swapping thoughts on how we can do even better at this crazy thing called life. I recently had the pleasure of trading ideas (and a few gibes) with Stacking Benjamins Joe Saul-Sehy, Afford Anything’s Paula Pant,

It’s time to assess your IRA plans and be sure to take before the end of the year the actions that can increase your financial independence. Many actions must be completed before December 31 or the opportunity to reap their benefits for this year is lost. In many cases you want to initiate the actions

The estate of the late actor, James Caan, who appeared in The Godfather and many other films and television shows, lost a recent Tax Court case that has lessons for other taxpayers. The case involved two of Caan’s IRAs. The IRAs owned interests in a hedge fund. The tax code allows IRAs to own non-publicly

Deciding when to retire is one of the most important decisions facing workers in their 50s and 60s. Your decision will significantly influence your financial security, health, and life satisfaction for the rest of your life. It’s a serious decision that only you can make—nobody else can tell you the best age at which you

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The hardest part of investing for retirement is budgeting ample contributions. Solve that issue and you jump into the next hardest part: Deciding how to invest. Your retirement investment decisions should flow from a target asset allocation that aligns with your time horizon and risk tolerance.

The U.S. is desperately short of nurses, personal care aides, and other direct care workers who help frail older adults and younger people with disabilities manage their days. Instead of dealing with the problem, policymakers have, predictably, devolved into their usual partisan blame-mongering. Watch, if you can, this recent hearing of the House Energy and

Many people don’t think too hard about the reasons they want to retire, so they often don’t put enough thought into when it would be best for them to retire. And that’s not a good idea, since deciding when to retire is a critical decision that will impact your financial security and quality of life

If you think retirement planning moves stop at retirement, think again. For high earners, converting an IRA to a Roth IRA while you’re still working could be the worst time of all. Although it won’t make sense in every situation, retirement can be a unique opportunity for Roth conversions for some investors. Particularly for individuals

Immediate Action Advisable The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) is a new federal law that may affect you in significant and unexpected ways. Since the law only becomes effective January 1, 2024 and entities created before 2024 only have to file January 1, 2025 it seems that most folks are just not taking any action now.

A new report from Apartment List by Chris Salviati reveals a surging supply of extra bedrooms amid rising demand for cash by seniors facing a retirement income crisis. This intriguing finding raises the question: Can seniors rent out their spare bedrooms to stave off low income in old age? It’s an age-old question, actually. For

No one loves paying taxes. Building a retirement income you can’t outlive is a challenge for many Americans. Increasing the amount of tax-free retirement income you receive will help minimize these two challenges. Keep reading as we share five ways to get the most tax-free income in retirement. As a Certified Financial Planner, I love

From what we are told, sales of previously owned homes in the United States are at their lowest rate in 13 years, while the average sale price for a home in the US has risen in just the last three years from around $374,500 to around $513,400 today. While I’m not an expert in this

Living a single’s life is on the rise. Beyond the numbers, there are microtrends that suggest that the singlehood lifestyle is not only on the rise but is cause for celebration worldwide. What might living solo mean for life in retirement? According to Pew Research, nearly four-in-ten adults between the ages of 25 to 54

Most who follow the news hear about the need for housing for homeless vets. What we don’t always hear are the many reasons why so many vets end up on our streets. Clearly, there is not enough housing for vets, a responsibility not only of the Department of Veterans Affairs, but also of the local

The DB dinosaurs are back, and they are good dinosaurs. International Business Machines IBM announced it is halting all their 401(k) matches to fund a defined benefit plan for its employees. International Business Machines, IBM, will, starting January 1, 2024 reports 401(k) Specialist and Justin Mitchell at Fund Fire, provide a defined benefit plan that

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin When is the best time to start investing for retirement? Right now. As a rule of thumb, you need to amass about 10 times your annual salary by the time you retire. Fall short of that mark and you face a lifestyle downgrade in your senior

Now is that time of year, between October 15 and December 7 when the bombardment of Medicare Advantage plan ads happens. They seem to be relentless in all media outlets. “Buy this! It’s better!” is a constant refrain. But there is deception in some advertising and the Federal government wants you to know what the

Are you looking for a “way out”? With everything that’s going on in the world… war in the Middle East… war in Ukraine… seemingly endless political dysfunction in the United States… we could all be forgiven for wanting an escape. I’m not talking about a vacation… I’m talking about a “bolt hole” where you feel