Mutual Funds

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

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

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

Imagine your aging loved one is in the hospital. It’s scary. It’s sad. He’s fading fast and you know it. You ask for information from the doctors involved. You get evasive responses. You are told more testing is needed before anyone will give you an answer. More testing and more testing gives you the same

What would you do if the federal government gave you a chunk of $12 billion to spend on Medicaid home and community-based care for frail older adults and younger people with disabilities? That is a real question governors have been wrestling for months. And we now are getting a good sense of the answer: Mostly,

The other day, my teenage son announced we should all support the Build Back Better Bill because it was so much fun to say. So how about a Better Build Back Better Bill? And, yes, these principles are, admittedly, wishful thinking, centering on good governance rather than “ways to make voters happy and win elections.”

Where’s the best place for you to live once you retire? You can gain insights into that decision by reading the 2021-2022 Best Places to Retire report from U.S. News & World Report.  For most people, however, the rankings may not be the most important factor when it comes to choosing a place to live during retirement. Let’s

Asia Aviation—the operator of Thailand’s Thai AirAsia—will raise as much as 17.9 billion baht ($536 million) to boost the group’s finances and help revive the loss-making airline that’s been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Through a private placement, Asia Aviation will sell 7.8 billion baht of shares to Malaysian tycoon Tony Fernandes’ AirAsia Group,

Americans receiving Social Security benefits in 2022 will see the largest increase in their payments in four decades, according to the Social Security Administration. The 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), announced in mid-October, will translate to an additional $92 for retirees’ average monthly benefit next year, bringing that estimated amount to $1,657. While that’s a significant

When estate planners get together after work, inevitably they swap stories about the rancorous family battles they witnesses over dividing estates. Often, the worst estate battles are over items that seem of little or no value to outsiders. Old furnishings or household items, mementoes that seem to have little value, and similar items often stir

Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the greatest musical geniuses to ever grace the globe. Growing up as a musician, I learned about him through his music and his undeniably tragic life story. But it wasn’t until I read Greg McKeown’s new book, Effortless, that I learned of another one of Beethoven’s obsessions, and it’s

Today’s column addresses questions about cost of living increases for spousal benefits’ effects on later COLAs for retirement benefits, taking retirement benefits before survivor’s benefits and Social Security options with no saving and health concerns. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc.

Medicare open enrollment begins October 15 and runs through December 7 this year. Open enrollment can be an opportunity to revisit your health care plan preference: You can choose Traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan, although some restrictions can apply.  A recent survey by The Commonwealth Fund shows that both types of plans

Over the last several days, we’ve seen the Outrage Machine in action over a new Treasury proposal to require banks to report to the IRS new information on U.S. bank accounts, in addition to the existing reporting of interest payments. This proposal, as described at CBS News (among, of course, many other sites) would require

Some families are products of second, and sometimes third marriages, and with aging parents in the mix, it can get contentious. Mark and Mara, siblings by their Dad’s first marriage, have always been close. They were never particularly connected to his wife, Zena over the years, nor her daughter Roberta. Now, both the aging parents

By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue The numbers are worrisome. The typical 54- to 64-year-old with a 401(k) or IRA owns a median portfolio worth about $135,000 and more than a quarter of workers don’t have retirement savings accounts (mainly because their employer doesn’t offer one). Is it any surprise older Americans worry their quality of life

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor Some people think high health care costs aren’t a problem for Americans 65 and older because Medicare pays all their medical expenses. But a new eye-opening report from The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit health care think tank, shows just how wrong that presumption is. In reality, Americans 65 and older

By Debbie L. Miller, Next Avenue In May 2019, Joan and Steve Reid left their part-time day jobs – Joan at the public library and Steve at a florist — and relocated from the affluent New York City suburb of Pearl River to the oceanfront community of Vero Beach, Fla. The aim for the couple, both

For more than twenty years, I have advocated “Pay Taxes later, except for the Roth.” This applied in the accumulation stage when you are accumulating money for retirement, the distribution stage when you are deciding which assets to spend first, and even in the estate planning stage. I always said there were some exceptions to this bedrock

“I recently retired at 65 with $500,000 of financial assets – I was never very good at saving money and don’t own a home. My income from here on out will be social security plus whatever I can squeeze out of the $500,000 of assets before it is all gone. How do I do that

You’ve had a successful career and you’re almost ready to retire. While still in your peak earning years, is there a tax efficient way to give back? During this time, when you’re in a high tax bracket, charitable giving can both benefit others and help you set yourself up for retirement. With some planning, everyone

Crypto currencies are certainly in the spotlight. As of September 24, 2021, Bitcoin (BTC), the largest crypto currency, had a market cap of about $776 billion. The total market cap of all traded cryptos is about $2.1 trillion. As the cryptocurrencies become mainstream, planning issues abound in the tax area, particularly with loss harvesting and

There is nothing like a crisis to illuminate the benefits of basic financial skills. A staggering number of households entered the pandemic unprepared to withstand any economic shock, let alone one of the magnitude of COVID-19. The consequences are reminiscent of the 2007–2008 US financial crisis when individuals were enticed to buy homes that exceeded

Last week, I spoke with three individuals who discovered recently that they do not have the Medicare coverage they need. Each person’s set of circumstances is unique and their prior decisions, while understandable at the time, have turned out to be less than ideal. Consider Mick, Larry and Samantha. Mick turned 65 in December 2016.

Most state and local pension funds turned in stellar performances for the fiscal year ending in June, reflecting a roaring stock market. But as this episode of What’s Ahead makes clear, one great year doesn’t wash away decades of underfunding, poor plan performance and mismanagement. These pension funds still don’t have sufficient assets to meet

The month of October is known for a lot of things, shorter days, cooler temperatures, falling leaves and the arrival of pumpkin spice everything—from baked goods to coffee, yogurt, smoothies, beer—and yes, even pumpkin spice turkey. It also marks the start of Medicare’s annual open enrollment period, which begins on October 7 and ends on

If you’re within 5 years of retiring, you have a window of opportunity. Don’t miss it. A little intentionality now can set the stage for a successful retirement.  Years ago, I planned a backpacking trip through the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. I started by casting my vision for my adventure: the trails I’d hike, the

Financial planning has struggled to emerge as a true profession. This is in part because some of the most powerful voices in financial services would still rather relegate the practice as a means to the end of product sales rather than advice as an end unto itself. Indeed, with the financial services industry cited as

In recent articles, I have lamented poorly designed components of the Reconciliation Bill, from a poorly-designed “free childcare” program to a family leave plan that’s designed to be “free” rather than funded by the workers who benefit, to a Medicare drug benefit that’s planned to be implemented at the same time as Part A Medicare

Today’s column addresses questions about how divorced spousal benefits are calculated, how state pensions can affect spousal benefits and whether COLAs apply to widow’s benefits taken years after the record holder’s death. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask