Retirement

The landscape of the financial planning industry is changing rapidly with the growth of technology, and everything these days seems to be moving towards automation. So can a computer algorithm or a mobile app replace the need for financial advisors, or is there still value in a traditional financial advisory relationship? An influx of robo-advisors.

The past few years have been quite busy in the financial and wealth planning world. With the federal transfer tax exemptions currently at $11.7 million1, many clients have considered making gifts for future generations utilizing a variety of structures. The primary focus is on trusts and the options available in that arena. Trusts can be

With climate change, extremes in weather and increasing disasters, most of us are aware that we need to be disaster-ready in some way. But are our aging parents ready for a disaster or even an extended power outage? We recently had a taste of what is needed with rapid and extensive flooding in our area.

This delta variant would kill covered calls and risk reduction moves. Do you ever write calls against your stocks in order to generate premium income? Do you buy puts to protect your gains? Enjoy options while you can. These time-honored strategies may be doomed. Trouble comes via U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, a liberal Democrat from

It’s surprisingly easy to get some international equity exposure via ADRs. You want income? Look abroad. A rich array of high-yielding blue chips are on offer overseas, especially in Europe: Companies like Credit Suisse Group, Sanofi SNY and HSBC Holdings are making handsome payouts to their shareholders. Most of these big-company stocks are very accessible

More money than ever is moving from 401(k)s to IRAs, and regulators don’t like some of the choices people make with their money. More than $600 billion was rolled over from 401(k)s to IRAS in 2020, according to the Secure Retirement Institute, and the SRI estimates that within five years the annual rollover amount will

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about how benefits for multiple children are calculated, when divorced spousal benefits can be available and how years with covered earnings can reduce the effect of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security

Many people spend substantial time and effort putting together an estate plan with their attorney and then throw a wrench in it with last minute changes. Often, they do not even realize that what they are doing will impact their will or trust. Other times, they are taking advice from someone else and not checking

As you approach retirement – as if you don’t already have enough to worry about – a concern should be diminished capacity. Common sense, and a lot of statistics, tell us that as you age, the chance of losing some of your mental faculties is a risk. This risk becomes very real in retirement because you’re

Rezo Kanovich likes companies that have zero analyst coverage. He explains why. Small-stock aficionados: Are you limiting your attention to the U.S. market? Then you are missing out, says Rezo Kanovich, manager of an immensely successful portfolio of smaller foreign companies. “The universe of small stocks [abroad] is vast, bigger than the U.S. market by

Many retirees spend more of their money than they should for medical care. One Medicare insurance advisor concluded that about 90% of Medicare beneficiaries pay more out of pocket than they need to. It’s not surprising. Medicare is a complicated program. Since Medicare Open Enrollment is here (October 15-December 7), here’s my review of the

For a variety of reasons, we often run across clients who decide to retire “early”. In the eyes of the IRS, early retirement is defined as any time before the age of 59 ½. Taking a withdrawal from an IRA account prior to reaching 59 ½ will typically trigger a 10% penalty on top of

Should pensions and retirement savings plans divest from fossil fuel companies? That practice is becoming increasingly prevalent globally. Over the past several years, pension funds in Scandinavia have announced divestment from oil and gas companies, and the NEST retirement savings fund in the UK, that is, the government-managed IRA-like fund into which workers are defaulted

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about taking early retirement benefits before survivor’s benefits, switching from disability benefits to retirement benefits at 62 and ideas for writing a letter appealing a benefit reduction. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more

You may not know it but you are a lab rat. Don’t be shocked or offended, you have lots of company. Nearly two-thirds of us who joined the workforce in the 1980s, and everyone since then (this means you X’ers, Millennials, and Gen Z), are part of a grand experiment in retirement. The experiment began

As we march through the decades, the question of where to live is generally determined by where our family resides, where we go to school, who hires us, and where we want to raise our kids. When that’s all behind us, what then? Do we stay put in our big suburban homes or our three-story

A forensic investigation commissioned by 19,000 retirees participating in the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio spurs a special audit by State Auditor. “The information obtained to date supports a reasonable basis for conducting a special audit,” says Auditor. As absurd as it seems, participants in pensions historically have had virtually no say in how

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor It’s probably the biggest retirement question you have (after Do I have enough money to retire?): Where should I live in retirement? The question really needs to be split in half: Which community and neighborhood should I live in? And what kind of home should I live in? Right Place,

By Michael MacDonald, Next Avenue How can you feel younger in your retirement years? This is a big question and one I am just starting to get a handle on, I think. I am almost 67, quite healthy and am fortunate enough to not have serious financial worries. Both my wife and I are psychologists and

Restarting a significant literary career that’s 13 books long is hard at any age. Doing so after an eight-year gap, at 91, is especially inspiring. Then add your husband dying from Covid-19 while you survived, plus a famous, witty novelist daughter (author of nine books including “The Wife” and “The Female Persuasion”). And there you