Retirement

SECURE 2.0 was enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. It introduces a significant number of changes to retirement preparation including, contributions, simplicity of participation, and the date for beginning Required Minimum Distributions (RMD). There is a significant new provision for the surviving spouse of a deceased participant in an employer retirement plan.

Five Key Considerations With two exceptions, my wife and I have owned at least one dog throughout our 44 years of marriage. The first exception was some thirty years ago when we still had two cats. The second exception is now. Our beloved border collie, Skye, crossed over the rainbow bridge this past summer and

We’re fast approaching the three year mark of COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020 that reverberated through the United States and global economies. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), median global GDP dropped by 3.9% from 2019 to 2020, making it the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. All too well we remember that in

You may think that your aging loved ones are safe from being ripped off because they’ve been careful about their estate planning, particularly if they have a lot to steal. But there is more to keeping them safe financially than a will and trust. The elders tell you “we’ve taken care of all that. Don’t

Households of color often find themselves in a tighter financial bind than is the case for white households. Black, Latino, many Asian households as well as households of other and multiple races and ethnicities tend to have fewer savings, while they face greater financial risks from unemployment, health emergencies, and widespread discrimination, among others. Squeezed

The new year brings the start of many things, the most likely being a hangover. No, not that kind of hangover. The one referenced here is the work hangover. The end of the year fills your social calendar. That requires you to prioritize your work. The most important items get done. The rest you leave

People used to fear a diagnosis of cancer above all. That has been replaced by fear of a diagnosis of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. Most people know someone who has it or did in the past. There is good reason to be afraid. It’s a difficult, expensive and sometimes very long journey with this disease.

There’s been a problem with 529 plans from their very beginning. They’ve always been a gamble. You gambled your child would actually go to college. You gambled your child would not earn a scholarship. You gambled you would put too much money into the 529 plan. Why is the 529 plan a gamble? When you

The U.S. has just about 39 million workers 55 and older. What’s it like being one of those 39 million older workers? You can’t generalize. They range from billionaire Warren Buffett to Butch Marion, a 82 year old clerk at Walmart WMT who was able to retire after someone sponsored a GoFundMe campaign for him.

To help protect themselves from being taken advantage of by financial sales professionals, retirees should ask the following questions about the financial professional seeking to provide them with investment advice or sell them an investment product: “Are you a fiduciary, and how are you registered?” “This question is critical as advisors can be dually registered

It doesn’t take much to send a solid retirement plan off the rails. Fortunately, you’re more likely to avoid retirement failures when you know the mistakes that endanger your financial independence and security. Helping Too Much People often dip too far into their retirement funds to help loved ones. Many parents don’t like to turn

On December 29, 2022, the SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022 was signed into law to enhance America’s retirement savings outlook. Since the original SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act) passed in December 2019, legislators have continued exploring ways to address the general inadequacy of Americans’ retirement savings, and the lack of

A friend of mine recently started his Social Security benefits at age 66, justifying his decision because interest rates have risen recently from virtually zero to the four percent range. That made me question if the conventional wisdom still applies: This wisdom says that for most people, delaying the start of Social Security benefits as

The economy grew at a substantial 2.9% in inflation-adjusted terms in the last quarter of 2022. This faster-than-expected performance occurred amid substantial headwinds, mainly higher interest rates. But, continued monetary policy tightening and, more importantly, massive fiscal policy uncertainty over Republicans’ stance on allowing the federal government to pay its bills could derail the economy

Planning for a long retirement requires pre-retirees and retirees to thoughtfully consider many decisions that can significantly impact their financial security. One effective way to engage with these decisions is to answer thought-provoking questions, a technique shared in a recent report from the Stanford Center on Longevity that explored how pre-retirees and retirees can improve

Senator Katie Muth, a Board Member for the $40 billion Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) will never forget the first meeting of the pension board she attended and the ESG presentation she heard which included cryptocurrency as a solution for the un-banked in African countries. “I was really looking forward to the ESG presentation

Has SECURE 2.0 been over-hyped? Or will it prove to be a game-changer? Financial professionals are split on the issue. But there’s one thing for sure: in some cases, the blunt force of reality may dampen the enthusiasm of the headlines. You can’t escape it. Everywhere you look, you find prognosticators predicting the best of

The Secure Act 2.0 just upended retirement planning…again. The age when retirees must begin drawing from non-Roth retirement accounts increases to 73 in 2023, then 75 in 2033. Individuals who have already started RMDs can’t stop. Raising the age when withdrawals must begin is great as it gives investors more planning opportunities. However, it doesn’t

SECURE 2.0 improves Roth retirement options, including allowing employer matching contributions direct to a Roth retirement plan and delays Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for many. On December 29, 2022, as part of the omnibus spending bill, President Biden signed into law the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0). The law contains significant changes to

Has SECURE 2.0 been over-hyped? Or will it prove to be a game-changer? Financial professionals are split on the issue. But there’s one thing for sure: there are a few things you can expect to take advantage of sooner than you think. Much has been made of the ability to create a “Backdoor” Child IRA