Mutual Funds

Though it requires patience, as it takes time for the initial policy creation costs to be recovered and for cash value to accumulate, long-term investors may find that the long-term net returns on cash value accumulation within a whole life policy may be competitive with the fixed-income returns a household could otherwise obtain from traditional

Now that the latest COVID-19 relief package has been signed into law, the Biden administration is poised to tackle broader issues – from climate change to immigration reform. Already, there are strong disagreements on these and other policy areas as Congress and the nation remain deeply divided. But, there are a few issues that enjoy

As parents, it’s natural we want to help our children save for their futures and build financial literacy. Finding ways to help them save money now in ways that are not only tax-efficient but will grow throughout their lifetime is a generous, strategic and life changing gift to give a child. But how do we

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor Add this to the list of the many ways Covid-19 is changing our lives: it’s increasing job prospects in certain fields and lowering them for others. What’s more, the pandemic has dramatically heightened prospects for job losses due to automation. The upshot: if you’re over 50 and looking for

By Sarah McKinney Gibson, Next Avenue “I’m usually hesitant to ask for help,” says Mark Fiorito, a 32-year-old Lynbrook, N.Y. jobseeker on the autism spectrum. “But what I was doing wasn’t working, so I was up for trying something new.” That meant creating a profile on the autism-friendly jobs portal Hire Autism, run by the

Many workers began working from home or some location other than their employer’s facilities during the pandemic, making them remote workers. Some level of remote work is likely to be commonplace. Also, a previous trend continues of people moving from high-tax states to lower-taxed states, and the pandemic seems to have further accelerated the trend.

Everyone knows the poor die sooner than the rich. Some humans can live past 90, but many don’t have access to the health and wealth that lets humans live a normal human life span. In the last 20 years, all longevity gains for Americans have gone to those in the upper half of the income

Today’s column addresses questions about potential effects of not having income for several years before filing at 70, how extra money can affect Supplemental Security Income benefits and receiving benefits for a year before withdrawing and repaying them and refiling later. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and

Generation X has had it rough financially. This group was heading into college as tuition began to skyrocket. They were pummelled by the tech bubble and great recession right when they started earning real money and owning assets that should be appreciating over time. While many people in Gen X are on track for financial

If you can see through these misperceptions about assets, you can be a better investor. Fallacy #1: Price Equals Wealth Say you bought a $500,000 suburban house a while back and now it’s worth $1 million. You have no plans to move. Has your wealth gone up by $500,000? Not exactly. Wealth isn’t just a

Today’s column addresses questions about whether there’s a universal maximum retirement benefit rate based on high income, when to file to ensure full unreduced benefits and how divorced spousal benefits are calculated and whether they affect other benefit rates. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of

In the wake of the devastating effects of covid-19 on nursing home residents and their staffs, pressure is building on long-term care facilities from congressional Democrats who are exploring ways to accelerate the shift of Medicaid long-term services and supports from nursing facilities to home and community based services (HCBS).  Some states are demanding tougher

Most retirement plans dive deeply into details on the financial factors, but hardly any effort is devoted to the factor that contributes the most to a successful retirement. Since the pandemic began, however, people are spending more time than usual considering the really important retirement questions. As the pandemic forced lifestyle changes on people and

On March 11th, 2021, President Biden signed the latest COVID-19 stimulus package, known as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The Act comes just in time, because many COVID-19 relief measures were set to expire on March 14th. The American Rescue Plan Act authorized and allocated $28.6 billion to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund program.

During market pull-backs, investors in different generations tend to behave differently. Plan participants close to retirement are more inclined to prematurely exit the market and younger people tend to remain invested. Market, “sequence of returns”1 and longevity risks address those concerns; but longevity risk has likely been the most influential factor over the past several

By Kerry Hannon, Next Avenue It was the shockwave of rejection letters from hiring managers that goaded Guadalupe Hirt and Barbara Brooks to launch SecondActWomen, a Denver-based company designed to help working women in their 50s and older (and also some in their 40s) start companies, pivot careers and stay employed. “They didn’t even give

If you inherited an IRA (individual retirement account), the law says you must take distributions or pay a severe penalty to the U.S. Treasury. How severe? Fifty percent of the amount that should have been withdrawn, but wasn’t. These mandated withdrawals are called required minimum distributions or RMDs; in the case of inheritance, RMDs are

The Employee Retention Credit program was enacted as part of the CARES Act on March 27, 2020, to provide reimbursement of wages for businesses affected by the COVID-19 virus and incentivize employers to maintain a pre-pandemic level workforce. The 2020 Employee Retention Credit was not available for PPP borrowers and required a loss in revenue

The 401(k) has become the go-to retirement plan for many Americans and continues to gain traction. The flexibility, tax savings and scale of 401(k) plans have made it attractive to employers and employees alike. But A 401(k) plan doesn’t need to be just for large corporations. It can be used to help small business owners

When reviewing a client’s 401(k) plan, I get pretty jazzed if I see a decent Target Date Fund (TDF) option within their investment lineup. I firmly believe that a TDF is one of the best default investment vehicles within most corporate retirement plans. The way a TDF works is simple. You pick the fund that

Most people make the wrong decisions about when to claim their Social Security retirement benefits. Only about 4% make the optimum claiming decision, according to a study released a couple of years ago by financial services firm United Capital. The researchers had access to data from a long-term health study of Americans and were able

Included in the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill signed by President Biden on Thursday is an $86 billion aid package for participants of about 185 to over 300 employer-union pension plans. If aid had not been available more than a million retired retail clerks, candy makers, truck drivers, construction workers and others would have faced severe cuts in

Pre-retirees and retirees may be understandably concerned about their exposure to stock market risk, particularly in these uncertain times. Let’s take a look at how a hypothetical 65-year-old couple might think about this decision. Suppose Jack and Mary have $400,000 in retirement savings and they’re invested in a target date fund with the classic “60/40”

Today’s column addresses questions about how far in advance you can apply to begin Social Security retirement benefits, whether new income will increase benefits and the ability to delay retirement benefits while receiving survivor’s benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc,

By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue Years of grassroots activism led to the new law saving pensions for union members Teamsters for a Democratic Union Good news on the retirement-income front. Some 1.5 million workers and retirees faced the real risk that their pension incomes would be slashed over the next 20 years or significantly sooner.

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor getty A message to married and unmarried couples about managing your money: it’s a two-person job. Letting just one of the two of you handle all the household’s saving and investing, bill paying, insurance, wealth building and debt management is a recipe for financial trouble, especially if you’re over

Portraits of Henry Kravis and George Roberts of KKR shot at Shangri La Hotel Tokyo, in Japan on April 8, 2019 for Forbes. (Photo / Ko Sasaki for Forbes) Ko Sasaki/The Forbes Collection Get ready to add the biggest blue chip private equity firms to your 401k. The world’s largest buyout firms like Blackstone Group,

As we begin the post-Covid process of thinking beyond survival, retirement planning is once more an area of focus. And the retirement prospects for Americans are scary. Few are prepared. The SECURE Act, passed shortly before the pandemic, was Congress’s first attempt in years at encouraging retirement savings. Much of that encouragement comes through provisions

Ask Larry Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about potential effects of survivor’s benefits from public pensions, how the earnings test might be applied when someone reaches full retirement age in January and which month to apply to ensure full age 70 benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University

WASHINGTON, D.C. – APRIL 14: Attendees rally on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol building with … [+] Teamsters Union retirees who traveled from across the country to voice their opposition to deep cuts to their pension benefits on April 14, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Thousands are facing massive pension cuts because of a