Retirement

Is 10 million enough to retire? The crux of retirement planning is figuring out what level of income your assets can safely support over your retirement lifetime and how that compares to your current living expenses. In another words, your ability to retire on [insert any amount of money] mostly depends on how much income

As I perused the ubiquitous “Best Books of the Year” lists from thought leaders whose reading prowess I respect, one book I hadn’t read kept popping up, so I decided to explore it over the holiday stretch. Aided by its curious title, The Courage To Be Disliked is a parabolic conversation between a youth and

How much should you withdraw from your retirement savings in 2025 to help pay for your living expenses throughout the year? There are many reasonable answers to this question, some that are fairly straightforward and others that are quite complicated to understand and implement. The right solution for you depends on several factors, including your

Last year, Southwest Airlines pilots approved a new contract under which pilots earned a substantial pay increase: a 50% salary increase over the life of the five-year contract. The airline’s 11,000 pilots reportedly were negotiating not just for better pay, but also for improved retirement benefits and disability insurance along with a revised scheduling process.

The annual Open Enrollment Period ended December 7 and on January 1, another one began. First, the Basics The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs from January 1-March 31 and is just for those who elected Medicare Advantage. During this period, they can: Switch to another Medicare Advantage plan with or without prescription drug coverage,

In early November I was invited to tour the Sacramento, California PACE operation. PACE is an acronym that stands for Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly. I had heard of PACE and had even toured a PACE operation in San Diego during an aging services conference back in 2017. Its comprehensiveness had impressed me

The Congressional Research Service found that by the end of 2023, more than 2 million Social Security beneficiaries had their retirement incomes reduced because of two programs: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). The Social Security Fairness Act, which was signed into law on Sunday, eliminates this benefit reduction. Who is

Later this year, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) will reintroduce his public catastrophic long-term care insurance bill, called the WISH Act. Suozzi is doing all the right things: Looking for Republican support and trying to engage the private insurance industry, long-term care providers, and employers, as well as advocates for older adults and people with disabilities.

It’s uncomfortable. The idea that you have to tell your elders what to do or take over things for them seems strange. The people who once guided and protected you may now need you to do the same for them. For many adult children, this shift in roles can be challenging. You don’t want to

After working with terminally ill patients for years, Bonnie Ware often heard her patients express regrets as they reflected on their lives. So she wrote the popular book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Ware believes the book resonates with people as a reminder that we “only have a limited time to live the

What We All Agree About Social Security: Insolvency Looms Large Federal policymakers and the general public—to the extent that they pay attention—agree on the core financial dynamics of Social Security. According to the 2024 Trustees Report, Social Security’s total income in 2023 was $1,351 billion, while its expenditures reached $1,392 billion. This resulted in a

Social Security is more confusing than ever. Myths abound. Below, you’ll find a complete set of 25 facts to help you understand Social Security and its benefits more than ever. These are facts that I hope you can save and use now or in the future. You are always paid your own benefit first no

After Kisses on New Year’s Eve, 229 Americans Have Already Paid Their Social Security Tax Fifteen minutes past midnight on New Year’s eve Elon Musk will have paid all of his Social Security tax on earnings from Tesla. If all of Musk’s income was taxed he would pay all his Social Security tax in about

Don’t Let Your 529 Go To Waste If you set up a 529 education plan for your children or grandchildren that is no longer needed for education expenses, there is a new game in town. (Enacted as part of the SECURE 2.0 Act). You can now transfer money to a Roth IRA for the beneficiary

Year-end is a time for holiday cheer, introspection, and Wall Street strategist predictions for the market. As I try to emphasize to my clients, these analyst projections are nothing more than guesses, wishful thinking, and marketing. They should not be viewed as investment advice. A more practical outlook for 2025 is to focus on events

As the end of the year approaches, you should be asking yourself what tax strategies you might be missing out on. Depending on your situation, there are many different ways to reduce taxes. The best person to ask about this is your tax advisor. It helps, however, if you go into that meeting with specific

It’s always a good idea to revisit your retirement plans to see how you can make changes that can help you be more financially secure, healthy, and satisfied with life. And what better time than the start of a new year? With these goals in mind, here are five New Years’ resolutions to reflect upon

Overview The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) filing requirements have been reinstated and most filings will now be due January 13, 2025 instead of the December 31, 2024 prior deadline. The bottom line is that any entity classified as a “reporting company” under the CTA has to file with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the

There’s a Stealth Tax retirees and near-retirees often don’t know about until they inadvertently trigger it, costing them a lot of taxes that often could have been avoided or reduced. Many taxpayers who pay this Stealth Tax aren’t subject to it every year. Instead, a change in their finances activates the tax. Many people don’t

The Older Americans Act, the umbrella federal law that includes programs such as Meals on Wheels, senior transportation, information services, adult day, and caregiver support was hours from being expanded and winning congressional approval for another five years. Now, its fate has become far more uncertain. Its all because the OAA, despite broad bipartisan congressional