Mutual Funds

Series I Savings Bonds (aka I bonds) have several features that can be particularly useful for middle-income pre-retirees and retirees building their retirement income portfolio. They offer high interest rates (currently yielding 7.12% per year), guarantees of principal and interest, and long-term liquidity (with a few caveats).   My last two posts described I bonds in

Forrest Gump, the lead character played by actor Tom Hanks in the 1994 film of the same name, left audiences with many memorable quotes. One that stands out is when Forrest says, “My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” I consider chocolate to be

By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue The grassroots movement toward working longer looks like it’s at a moment of reckoning. The ranks of retirees 55 + have grown by 3.5 million over the past two years, according to the Pew Research Center, much higher than the pre-pandemic rate. This shift is one reason some employers are struggling to have

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor In her thought-provoking new book, “The End of Bias: A Beginning,” science and culture journalist Jessica Nordell probes the science and practice of overcoming unconscious bias. That’s what happens quickly when we encounter a person or a situation and our reaction conflicts with our professed values. We see it a lot with

Dave thought his mom had done everything right: invested her savings, done great estate planning and appointed him her only son, to take over when needed. And the time came for Dave to step in. Dave’s elderly mom, Agnes began to lose her memory. She had been living with a companion for years before that

By Lazetta Rainey Braxton, Next Avenue Sixteen years ago, when I became a new mom, my boomer dad wisely shared with this Gen Xer that parenting doesn’t come with a handbook. If it did, financial education would surely have one of its very own chapters. Although we often focus on teaching our children values, life skills

If you are the beneficiary of someone’s IRA (individual retirement account), what do you do if the IRA owner dies? To find out how to handle the deceased owner’s IRA, the key contact is the IRA custodian, the firm that “custodies” the IRA. (You can find the name of the custodian on the IRA statement.)

Colorado and New Mexico recently announced an innovative approach to managing their new state-facilitated retirement saving programs. Under a Memorandum of Cooperation, the Colorado Secure Savings Program and New Mexico Work and $ave will collaborate on program administration and financial services, marketing, data collection, and participant privacy. Such partnerships can provide a cost-effective way for

Soon after Hollywood writer/director/actor Peter Antico read my book Who Stole My Pension? last year, he called me on behalf of a group of SAG/AFTRA members, including Ed Asner (of Lou Grant television fame), and Titanic film star, Frances Fisher.  The group of actors was outraged that, in the midst of a global pandemic, the

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about when spousal benefits may be available and how they can be paid, marriage and disability benefits and potential reductions due to filing early. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask Larry answers

Saving enough for early retirement often takes a few variables to succeed. You need enough income to stash money away to last over a 40- or 50-year retirement, a disciplined plan to methodically invest the funds and some luck. The luck can run out if, say, you lose your job for an extended period of

If you inherited an individual retirement account (IRA) in 2021 from someone who was taking RMDs (required minimum distributions), are you aware that you might need to take action before the year ends? You, the beneficiary, may face a steep penalty if the deceased owner did not withdraw his or her full RMD for 2021. 

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic reached the United States, baby boomers have been accelerating their retirement plans, and many Americans have been migrating to new states. For retirees, the non-financial considerations often revolve around weather, proximity to grandchildren, and access to quality healthcare and other services. However, if you are retired and no longer generating

The estate tax changes that were anticipated in the final months of 2021 are apparently not materializing, leaving some people scratching their heads as to what they should do next.   Two recent pieces of legislation – the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Build Back Better (BBB) bill – were expected to include

To deny state and local government retirement savers—investors who cannot afford to gamble—critical investment information which is routinely provide to wealthy investors globally in prospectuses is unfair. Are we now a nation of two classes of investors? Most investors are familiar with work of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency which regulates the

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about spousal benefit rate reductions when taken before full retirement age, requesting benefit recalculation to ensure accuracy and potential effects of early retirement benefits on later survivor’s benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See

The SECURE Act of 2019 passed with big changes to retirement income planning. It created a Fiduciary Safe Harbor Provision for employers which allows them to offer certain annuities inside 401(k) plans without worrying about their fiduciary liability if the insurance company defaulted on their annuity payments.  While having access to annuities inside a 401(k)

Series I Savings Bonds guaranteed by the U.S. government (aka I bonds) are currently earning 7.12% annual interest. This is great news for middle-income retirees who may have recently watched the interest income from their CDs and savings accounts dwindle to just a few pennies. For pre-retirees and retirees building their retirement income portfolio, the

As part of your estate plan, you need to consider whether it’s possible your IRA or 401(k) could end up in the hands of creditors of one of your heirs. A general rule is that qualified retirement plans are exempt from bankruptcy claims. But that general rule applies only to the original owner of the

No one likes sudden change. We like to ease into things – transition with time. Yet we talk about retirement as an event. One day you’re a working stiff; the next day, you’re a retiree. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could phase into retirement? With planning, you can. So-called “phased retirement” is a hot

Social Security has always been a uniquely American Rorschach Test. Should you take what’s offered to you right now or wait a few years for what’s behind the curtain? Fortunately, you don’t have to have visions of Monty Hall haunting your Social Security claiming decision. There’s actually a fairly reliable checklist you can go through

Carl Jung said, “One cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning; for what was great in the morning will be of little importance in the evening, and what in the morning was true will at evening have become a lie.” It was actually physician and psychoanalyst, Elliot Jaques, who

Long before the Clash sang “should I stay or should I go,” Social Security recipients have asked, “Should I claim or should I wait?” Back in 1982 when the punk rock tune was first released, the life expectancy in the United States was 75 years. It didn’t make sense to wait to receive Social Security.

Estate owners dodged some bullets in 2021. Significant estate and gift tax increases were proposed early in the year, but they’ve been put on the back burner. They’re likely to be revised in 2022. Even if they aren’t, the 2017 changes are slated to expire after 2025. That would reduce the lifetime estate and gift

On November 19th, the House passed the Build Back Better (BBB) tax and spending proposal by a narrow 220 to 213 vote, almost exclusively along party lines. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Bill increases the deficit by $367 billion over 10 years. The Budget Office’s analysis doesn’t take into consideration an estimated $127

Turkey, stuffing, and cranberry jelly out of the can. Only cranberry jelly ‘fresh’ out of the can has the lines to indicate true authenticity. Thanksgiving is recognized as one of the ‘happiest’ days of the year. And, why not? For many, the elements that are thought to contribute to our happiness — family, friends, food, and fun — come

By Kerry Hannon, Next Avenue If you want to know what prospects for the retirement security of women in America look like, you couldn’t do better than hearing what a bevy of brilliant experts said at the recent day-long virtual summit of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER). I was fortunate to be a participant, where

In the 2021 Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research, 50% of workers and 72% of retirees say the COVID-19 pandemic has not changed their confidence in achieving a secure retirement. Still, 33% of workers and 25% of retirees say it’s made them somewhat or significantly less confident

As 2021 comes to an end, now is a wonderful time to review some year-end planning strategies. Some of these ideas may apply to you, while others will not. However, it’s worth scanning the below checklist to see if there are any opportunities you’d like to discuss with your financial advisor, accountant, or attorney before

Just about everyone feels the stress about holidays and particularly family gatherings. Maybe it’s about some difficult relationships in your family. Perhaps it’s the host or hostess feeling the pressure to get everything ready for visitors. For many people, travel itself is stressful. For the family elder it may be much more than what gets