Retirement. It’s a magic word and it’s supposed to be a magic time in your life. You’ve planned for it, worked for it, anticipated it, and expected a great life that comes after it. Today, people are retiring at a rate 27% higher than 10 years ago. Much of the...
First, it was 10%, then 20%, and today more than 50% of U.S. retirees pay taxes on their Social Security benefits, and the number is expected to go even higher. The cause seems to be that one government hand doesn’t know, or care, what the other government hand is...
Planning for retirement. There’s a lot of work that goes into it. You want to make sure you’ve saved enough, got things paid off if possible. You certainly want to know what your expenses will be so your retirement budget doesn’t blow up. One of the line items with the...
Every homeowner wants the lowest possible interest rate on their mortgage. And with interest rates at historic lows the thought of paying less interest and more on principal makes a lot of sense. But as appealing as the idea of refinancing is, homeowners nearing retirement should consider several factors...
It’s a tiny little gift from the IRS, but it’s still a gift. Beginning January 1, 2022, Required Minimum Distributions on IRAs, qualified retirement plans, and annuities will be less. It’s your reward for living longer. RMDs have to be taken by people turning age 72 after 2019. Older taxpayers...
2020 has been a year fraught with stress, anxiety and change—some for the better, some for the worse. We’ve all been forced to rethink goals, dreams, timelines and reality. Retirement plans have not escapedscrutiny either. At the height of the covid crisis, the Social Security advice site, SimplyWise, conducted its...
The definition of retirement is changing. Baby Boomers are figuring out that retiring doesn’t mean sitting down and doing nothing. Now and going forward, retirement is about changing gears and pursuing ideas and passions you’ve not had time for. Sometimes changing gears means continuing to work, to give back from...
It used to be that retirees who worked part-time did so because they had to—the widow who didn’t have enough money after her husband died or the couple whose only retirement income was Social Security. There’s a new category of retirees working part-time. They’re the ones who want to work,...