Retirement

For many retirees, the ideal arrangement would be to spend their last dollar on the day they die. This is not feasible, of course, because they seldom know when they will die, or exactly how long their money will last. The retiree who is determined to remain solvent to the end will very likely die

Trusts are a vital part of the wealth planning process. A trust can facilitate the efficient transfer of wealth from one generation to the next, as well as enable a family to reduce estate taxes, avoid the probate process and meet philanthropic goals. The most effective trust relationships start with a clear understanding of the

We’ve all heard the problems with relying on numbers: garbage in, garbage out; liars figure, and figures lie; 87.2% of statistics are made up; and so forth. Yet some individuals do their retirement income planning by answering some questions in an online calculator, reviewing the results, and checking the box that their retirement planning is

When Congress returns for a short post-election session, one item on its to-do list is major retirement savings legislation that has broad bipartisan support. One feature of both House and Senate bills: Expanding a deferred annuity called a Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC). Both bills would increase the allowable size of QLACs. That might make

Planning can help optimize annual RMDs depending on your goals and cash flow needs. Mandatory withdrawals from retirement accounts begin for most taxpayers at age 72. But retirees who don’t need the money often have questions. For example, what’s the best time of year to take required minimum distributions, how to reinvest it, or if

The concept of “quiet quitting” started on social media, namely TikTok, leading to misleading and deceptive conclusions that American workers are shirking their duties and slowing down work. Employers fearing the hard truth that workers have some control over their labor effort has been a staple in Marxist economics, see Harvard professor Stephen Marglin’s essay

Let’s face it, some elders are not just stubborn, they’re flat out dangerous to themselves. They insist on independence. They refuse when you offer to step in and help. They think they are fine when everyone around them can see they’re not. And the aging parents who live alone, have poor balance, falls, and still

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has given its recipients a 8.7% raise after four decades, and record high inflation. Retirees will see their monthly payments increase by $146, to an estimated average of $1,827 for 2023. When you consider the average annual SSA income received by African American men 65 years and older was $14,409

It’s the question everyone wants answered: is this market correction the same as the ones we’ve seen in the past, or is it worse this time? There’s a tendency to believe that anytime the market corrects or there’s a bear market, that it’s going to be different this time. Here’s what I think: the reasons

Maximizing your Social Security income should be a key part of your retirement plan. As Americans often enjoy longer retirements, the guaranteed lifetime income for Social Security is an even more important part of maintaining your financial security as you age. With a near record Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2023, the maximum Social

Many aspiring entrepreneurs feel the creative urge represents the most important trait for success. Many great ideas, though, never become viable businesses. Take a look at some of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time. Did Henry Ford invent the automobile? No. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot first produced a steam-powered automobile in 1769. Did Steve Jobs and Steve

Poverty rates rose for older Americans in 2021 and it was the only demographic group to experience rising poverty, according to the U.S. Census. Eroding pensions, increases in Social Security’s normal retirement age, and big gaps in access to retirement savings plans at work are causing elderly income security in the United States to fall.

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Undeterred by the market selloff this year, Ark Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood doubled down on disruptive innovation stocks and predicted deflationary trends will continue into next year. “Innovation trends like electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, gene sequencing and blockchain technology are all highly deflationary,” Wood

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Legendary value investor Bill Miller sees fresh opportunities in the stock market amid the brutal selloff this year, urging investors to take advantage of shares that are trading at discounted prices while also remaining bullish about Bitcoin BTC , calling cryptocurrencies “misunderstood.” Speaking at the Forbes/SHOOK

A recent article of mine posed the question: If you want the largest possible HECM credit line in the years ahead do you take it now or wait until you are older? I suggested that it was advantageous for borrowers to wait because the line grows over time, and it will grow more rapidly if

For you, a vaccination is a vaccination; it protects you against something. But, under Medicare, all vaccines are not equal and that means you probably paid more for some than for others. The coverage for a vaccine depends on the part of Medicare under which it falls. Part B, medical insurance, covers most vaccines that

This is a true story, and it may reflect what many older vets face when they start to lose their independence. We’ll call our vet “Uncle Zach”. At AgingParents.com, we worked with the daughter of a 99 year old gentleman, Tony, with dementia and various health conditions. I would sometimes visit him at home to

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The Social Security Administration announced today that benefits will jump 8.7% for 2023, the largest increase since 1981, when double digit inflation pushed payments up more than 11%. The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) affects 70 million Americans, including 48 million retired workers and their spouses and dependents;

Your mom has been hospitalized for two weeks following a stroke. One morning, she’s told she’ll be discharged by the end of the day. Mom calls you in a panic. You rush to the hospital and ask for advice. Instead, you get a much-copied list of local skilled nursing facilities and a wave good-by. This

The labor market recovered remarkably quickly from the recession in early 2020. This rapid recovery has had greater importance for Black, Latino and many Asian workers than for white workers as they rely more on income from work—wages, salaries and self-employment income—as opposed to income from capitol like dividends and interest. Jobs returned at a