Mutual Funds

Today’s column addresses questions about what stopping work a number of years before filing means for later Social Security retirement benefit amounts, whether spousal benefits automatically convert to retirement benefits at 70 and how the earnings test can affect early survivor benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder
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The Covid-19 pandemic made many pre-existing economic inequalities worse, including the precarious situation of Black and non-white workers and the pressures on women to juggle work and care responsibilities.  The pandemic also magnified economic pressures on vulnerable older workers, and our post-pandemic economic and equity policies must include them. Why do older workers matter to the economy?  First, they make up
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Recently, President Biden unveiled his 2022 budget request. Shortly afterwards, and for the first time since the Obama Administration, the U.S. Treasury Department released its General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2022 Revenue Proposals, better known as the “Green Book.” As was widely anticipated, President Biden’s budget calls for some significant changes to the capital
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The Covid-19 pandemic has had far-reaching financial impacts. It is important to understand the pandemic’s effects to help mitigate additional financial consequences that may develop in the future. One big revelation is that the pandemic exacerbated the growing economic inequality our society experienced over many decades. The negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been
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Today’s column addresses questions about potential survivor’s benefits available to spouses and children based on a worker’s record, how disability benefits are calculated and the availability of benefits based on an ex’s record. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets
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Leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has partnered with small-time 401(k) plan provider ForUsAll to offer employees crypto exposure through their retirement plans. Employees of participating companies will be allowed to use a “crypto window” — similar to the brokerage window offered in many conventional 401(k)s — to invest up to 5% of their retirement funds in
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In this new, post-pandemic, economic environment, I believe tax-efficient investing will be more important than ever. We’ve seen common loss-harvesting tactics, perhaps even the advanced idea of tax alpha, but frequently overlooked is the concept of tax location: where to put the assets to maximize after-tax return. With the upheaval in quicker-term investing (think meme
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Today’s column addresses questions about when spousal benefits can become available based on a spouse’s Social Security record, whether a foreign pension will reduce divorced spousal benefits and when a non-covered pension may cause Social Security benefits to be reduced. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president
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Are you considering converting part or all of your traditional IRA or 401k accounts to a Roth account because you’re worried that future income tax rates will increase? If you are, you’ll want to conduct a careful analysis to determine whether it’s realistic to expect that you’d be paying taxes at a higher rate in
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By Deborah L. Jacobs, Next Avenue At an age when other people might be thinking of retirement, Robert Carmack and Morrison Polkinghorne, now 68 and 55, moved from Sydney, Australia to Cambodia in 2014 with a dream and a plan. The goal was to lower their expenses and operate three well-established businesses from overseas. Polkinghorne, an Australian
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Today’s column addresses questions about the earnings test, working and filing early, withdrawing a benefit after filing for it and proving marriage to and divorce from a deceased ex-spouse. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets Maximize My Social Security
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Inflation in the United States has been mostly modest since 1982. That means that for 40 years, Americans have not had to worry much about the price of goods and services changing from year to year or the devaluation of the U.S. Dollar. However, signs are pointing to the possibility of inflation soon, so it
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