Mutual Funds

For many people reading this, Social Security is your largest retirement asset. For decades you have likely seen payroll taxes debited from each paycheck. Here are a few things everyone should know about Social Security benefits. Marital Status Could Impact Your Benefits   Those who are married should coordinate with your spouse as to when you

In the United States, medical care costs, especially for surgical procedures requiring one or more overnight hospital stays, have skyrocketed over the past 20 years.  As a result, more and more Americans are traveling across the border or across an ocean to receive their medical care.  Obviously, if you are in crisis in a hospital and

Having money for those rainy-day events is crucial for Americans and their financial situations. But most Americans have a hard time funding an emergency expense. A recent GOBankingRates survey found that 57.4% of Americans have less than $1,000 saved for emergencies. A separate Bankrate.com survey found that 39% of adults in the U.S. wouldn’t be

Should you be worrying right now? Are we about to go back to the future where economic malaise brings a sorrowful stew of high inflation and rising interest rates? Or is this just a temporary temporal anomaly caused by a fixable mix of bad luck and bad decision making? You might have noticed inflation hitting

The HECM reverse mortgage is by far the most complex financial instrument that homeowners are likely to encounter in their lifetimes, and they must deal with it after many have passed their intellectual prime. Shopping for HECMs on lender web sites is an exercise in futility because lenders do not provide information that allows users

Your aging parent may have demanded something from you long ago: “Promise you’ll never put me in a home!” And you may have promised that. Perhaps you never thought through the implications. For elders who saw what healthcare was like before Medicare in 1965, their fears are founded in what things looked like then: unregulated

The fields of behavioral finance and economics have been around for decades. They represent bodies of knowledge that have been applied, for better and for worse, by many. But they’re only now entering the mainstream. The oversimplified lesson could be summarized as the following: You’re all a bunch of irrational dummies. But at least one

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Managing Editor America’s retirement savings system is a mess (that’s a technical economic term). “System” is actually too grand a word for the ad hoc retirement savings plan edifice that has been built up over years. To be sure, the system works reasonably well for those on the payroll of

The ultimate goal for a Roth IRA is for it to qualify for tax-free distributions. Spouse beneficiaries must take care to choose the option that leads to tax-free distributions. A dilemma faced by spouse beneficiaries of IRAs is whether they should move the amounts to Beneficiary IRAs or their own IRAs. For inherited Roth IRAs,

By Lisa Nerenberg, Next Avenue For years, those of us in the field of elder abuse prevention have pushed for law enforcement to take financial elder abuse more seriously, pointing out the economic and emotional devastation it often wreaks. Victims have lost homes and savings, gone into debt or even been implicated in crimes committed against

By Sheila Weller, Next Avenue At 76, Sandi Bachom is one of the most tireless documentary filmmakers of the past 10 years of political turmoil, from Occupy Wall Street to the January 6 insurrection. “Like Zelig with a camera,” as the liberal cinematographer/director/producer/editor is often called (and a straw bowler and often a natty vest over

In the news: “Disgraced Gov. Cuomo files for $50K pension ahead of delayed resignation.” According to the New York Post, “Disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo filed retirement papers with the state to receive a $50,000 annual lifetime pension — just days before his resignation takes effect over his sexual harassment scandal. “’The governor just filed his application for service retirement.

How is this possible—a retirement pension that you can undo? Most lifetime annuities are irrevocable. But three months ago a Canadian company, Purpose Investments, began offering the Purpose Longevity Pension Fund, a lifetime annuity with an exit door. You can put your money in now, start collecting a monthly income, and then change your mind

The cost of a college education continues to soar with no end in sight. College tuition rises at more than twice the rate of inflation, growing by about 8% per year, on average. At this rate, the cost of a college education will double every nine years. This has many parents understandably concerned about paying

Today’s column addresses questions about whether cost of living allowances are applied to retirement benefits at 70 after receiving spousal benefits, taking divorced spousal benefits after disability benefits and the availability of survivor’s benefits after taking spousal benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic

Chances are at some point in your retirement saving (or spending) life you’ve been asked a question or two about your appetite for risk. For a while, back in the era of Modern Portfolio Theory, the whole concept of “risk” and the investor was the cat’s pajamas. In the old days they even had entire

Today’s column addresses questions about whether previous cost of living allowances (COLAs) apply to spousal benefits taken later, whether earlier COLAs apply to widow’s benefits and taking disability benefits before widow’s benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask

A lot has changed about IRAs in the last couple of years, and more changes are coming if the President and majority in Congress have their way. It’s important to re-assess your strategies. Here are the key changes of the last few years. Required minimum distributions (RMDs) don’t have to begin until age 72 for

In the news last week, headlined “Social Security could get its biggest raise since the 1980s”: “Social Security recipients could be in for some good news, as financial experts say a Cost-of-Living-Adjustment, or a COLA, could increase their monthly checks next year. “Social Security entitlements haven’t gotten a decent boost in decades and the program

It’s only been a few weeks since billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos earned their astronaut wings in separate, back-to-back flights to the edge of space. However, in many ways, the debate over whether or not the billionaire space race benefits this planet and its inhabitants is just getting started. At the center of the

A Reference Guide for Social Security Benefits Many people are not aware of the Social Security benefits they are entitled to. I understand why they don’t – it’s very confusing. Here’s a straightforward, easy-to-reference guide to the various benefits available to you that will enable you to make an informed and correct claiming strategy. Let’s

My mother used to say, “If I put $1 away every time (blank) happened, I could have retired by now.” Today, we could fill in the blank with, “the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) touches the Plan Finder and there are new problems.”  Since its introduction in August 2019, I have written a

Today’s column addresses questions about whether Social Security employees are really correct when they deny the ability to suspend a retirement benefits, turning 62 when receiving disability benefits and the ability to collect survivor’s benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc,

A recent report from the United Nations warns that we’re running out of time to avoid catastrophic worldwide disruptions from global warming. The U.N. report describes the science confirming the evidence that many of us have been experiencing first-hand—extreme temperatures, droughts, wildfires, and flooding.   While it’s understandable to feel helpless in the face of such

The FBI’s investigation into alleged false investment performance at the $67 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System may suggest law enforcement is finally focused upon public pension shenanigans. That’s not likely. If you want to understand how pension looters and high-level investment scammers frequently escape prosecution, begin with studying the legal and regulatory structure

“I am more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money,” said Mark Twain. The famed author of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn “ranked among the highest-paid authors in 19th century America,” and married into wealth as well, yet he proved even more adept at losing money, through venture capital and

Inflation has been in the news more than usual, as we have seen spikes in the inflation rates during the COVID pandemic. Recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) data has led to an estimated 6.2% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2022, which could be the most significant cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security benefits in decades.

Regular readers know that one of my pet peeves are legislation names with too-clever acronyms, and the WISH Act is pure cringe, on this metric: it’s the Well-Being Insurance for Seniors to be at Home Act, introduced by Rep Tom Suozzi (D-NY) at the beginning of July. Its objective is to create a new federal

By Constance Brossa, Next Avenue When it comes to helping people work out, Shannan Schaffer is in perpetual beast mode. The former flight attendant taught her first indoor cycle class at a YMCA in Charlotte, N.C. 31 years ago. She’s still at it. “Pedaling to nowhere is my calling,” says Schaffer, who’s in her late 50s,

By Craig Miller, Next Avenue A few years ago, Lee Hilliard and his wife Linda, of Manchester, Conn., were torn over what to do with their investment portfolio. The 72-year-old retired media consultant and his wife, who’s 64, had come into some Chevron CVX shares from Linda’s inheritance in 2016 and then again after her mother