Retirement

As changes are inevitable within the Social Security system – many benefits remain constant One constant in Social Security benefit planning is everyone’s situation is different. Most couples’ lifetime income stream from Social Security retirement benefits is approximately $1,500,000. This is why when planning your claiming strategy, you need to consider your joint life expectancies.

Age 72? Age 73? Required minimum distributions from IRAs and other tax-deferred retirement accounts are mandated for people of a certain age. What age? Lawmakers keep moving the goal posts. Two sets of laws come into play. The law that went into effect at the end 0f 2022 is SECURE Act 2.0. The act was

A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Older Workers: Retirement Account Disparities Have Increased by Income and Persisted by Race Over Time, is quite unsettling. The analysis finds that many Americans are losing ground when it comes to building retirement savings, despite policy efforts to improve workers’ savings. For households aged 51 to 64, GAO

Lots of people live together outside of marriage. And as marriage rates have declined, cohabitation rates have risen. While you might have love in your eyes, cohabitation can bring tax and legal risks. Perhaps a somewhat unusual, yet simple and inexpensive, application of an irrevocable trust might help address several of the issues you might

A friend of mine recently faced an impossible decision. Bo and his immediate family had moved from Germany to Charleston, South Carolina, for a job opportunity for his wife. He suspended his career as a German police officer to allow his wife’s pursuit and assume the stay-at-home dad role during the transition. Only now, he’d

“Why on earth would you want to live to age 100?” My wife and I often hear this puzzled response when we tell our friends and family that we’re planning our retirement to last until age 100. They often cite examples of older relatives and friends who were quite frail and ill in their later

The citizenship-by-investment industry is in crisis. CBI has become a core part of the revenue model of several Caribbean island nations—and some other countries—over the last 40 years. The model is fairly simple. In exchange for their investment funds—typically $100,000 and up—the investor is granted citizenship in the country, with the right to live there

In the U.S., due to continued limitations on research into the potential benefits of cannabis, we have little data on whether it can help with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. But in Israel, such limitations do not exist. In January, 2022, the Ministry of Health approved the use of cannabis to treat dementia and Alzheimer’s

There’s a good chance that you—or your spouse or partner—could live to age 100 if you take care of your health and have above-average income and educational attainment. Don’t believe it? You can see for yourself by estimating your life expectancy via a few online life expectancy calculators. But will you be able to pay

The FDA has approved various medications in hopes of providing anything that can truly change the course of Alzheimer’s disease. But medications have failed to do so. No medication so far stops the disease nor cures it. One consistent finding in all the research studies that precede FDA approval of any drug to treat Alzheimer’s

Who doesn’t love the sound of an early retirement? For many busy executives and business owners, slowing down and enjoying your financial success early in life becomes a primary goal. But before focusing solely on whether you can retire early financially, also consider what you plan to do after retiring early. Spoiler alert: the knee-jerk

Introduction Who you name as beneficiary is obviously fundamental to carrying out your dispositive wishes. How your legal documents (will, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, beneficiary designations) use words like “child,” “descendant,” and “issue,” is critical to assure that the people you want included are included, and those you may not wish included are not. How

“Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.” Those words of early personal development sage, Dale Carnegie, spun around in my brain, and then it hit me: This is the reason financial planning stresses people out. So much of financial planning is unknown, even unknowable. It has such a future orientation that it’s hard

Today is — jobs day — the first Friday — and the Labor Department reports unemployment is unchanged at 3.5 percent. As the labor market remains tight, companies may hasten to settle contracts and new graduates might not take the first job they’re offered. Last month, more workers said “take this job and shove it”

With the introduction of the SECURE Act 2.0, various shifts are in motion, and one particular change will significantly affect individuals seeking to enhance their 401(k) contributions, particularly as retirement nears. Starting in January 2024, high-income taxpayers (those with earnings in excess of $145,000) wanting to make catch-up contributions to traditional retirement accounts will have

Wills and trusts, instead of designating a specific person to inherit, often name a group or class of people such as your “children,” “issue,” or your “descendants.” So, how the term used is defined could determine who might inherit from your estate when you die, or a trust that you create. There are situations where

Every demographic has its own unique set of planning nuances. For Orthodox Jewish families this includes their strict observance of Jewish law such as observing the Sabbath and eating kosher food. Taking the time to understand certain nuances related to living an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle is an essential first step for developing a sensible strategy

Barbie, the megahit movie, has something for everyone (well, not quite, right wing men are fuming), but it needed to pursue the death and aging theme a little more. Buzz kill, sorry, but as the movie progressed the theme of death developed into one of the most poignant moments of the movie. Margot Robbie looks

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie continued its record-breaking run this weekend, racking up an additional $131.5 million in global box office sales, raising its total take to over $774.5 million in just 12 days since the release. The level of success has surprised Hollywood. And while the economics of the movie industry is often impossible to

Back on July 18, the Equable Institute released the 2023 version of its annual State of Pensions report, which means that, yes, it’s time for another check-in on these infamously-poorly-funded pension plans. Among the wealth of tables is a list of the best and worst-funded of the 58 local pension plans studied, and, yes, you