Mutual Funds

Millennials are staying single longer and having children later – that has implications for … [+] caregiving and life in retirement. getty “One may be the loneliest number that you will ever do.” Despite the lyrical lament by the 1970’s rock band Three Dog Night, it appears that more people than ever are choosing singlehood.

IRS announced the retirement contribution limits for 2021. getty The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced some adjustments to the income limitations on retirement account contributions for 2021. These changes were in the works regardless of who won the 2020 presidential election. President-elect Joe Biden has laid out ambitious plans to improve retirement savings rates,

getty On October 26th the SBA sought formal approval from the Office of Management and Budget to make use of two new forms, SBA Form 3509 and 3510, to request that PPP borrowers who received a loan of $2,000,000 or more must answer a series of questions that will be used by the SBA to

Fixed index annuities can be complex financial products, and I will conclude this chapter* by discussing some of the other various features one may come across when investigating FIAs. We begin with surrender charges or, more formally, contingent deferred sales charges. FIAs are meant to serve as long-term tools and surrender charges help the insurance

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue getty We hear a lot — a lot! — about how much we should save for retirement. But people nearing retirement, and in retirement, are often perplexed about how much of their retirement savings they can afford to withdraw each year without running the risk of outliving their money. Recommended

By Penny Pennington, Next Avenue getty Editor’s Note: This article is the sixth in a weekly joint series on COVID-19 and the Future of Aging from the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging and Next Avenue. The articles are Q and As with thought leaders in fields ranging from health care to retirement

When preparing your retirement budget, don’t blindly rely on estimates in a retirement income … [+] statement. Do your homework! getty In the coming months, you might receive a statement from your 401(k) plan that estimates the amount of retirement income your account might generate. While the information provided in these statements can help you

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about when it would be best for a lower earning spouse to file for their own retirement benefits, what benefits can be available for a parent and a dependent disabled child and when survivor benefits might not be payable, at least not yet. Larry Kotlikoff is a

The Labor Market Recovery Slows While Millions Still Look For a Job getty The labor market recovery slowed in October. While 638,000 more people got a job last month, this marked a continuing slowdown in job gains. Millions of people are still out of a job. The Republican majority in the senate has failed to

getty Imagine that you’re a blue-collar worker who starts out with an apprenticeship directly out of high school and works until your full retirement age of 67 — for a working lifetime of 49 years. If you had a pension in the private sector, say, 1.5% of pay per year, you’d get a pension benefit

When it comes to Medicare, not all vaccines are the same. getty While we await the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine, it’s a good time to learn about Medicare’s coverage of vaccinations. For example: Sally lives in a small, rural community and sees the one doctor in town. She got her pneumonia vaccination during her first

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 09: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks to the media after … [+] receiving a briefing from the transition COVID-19 advisory board. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Getty Images In his campaign, President-elect Joe Biden promised a wide range of policy changes aimed at supporting older adults, including paid leave and tax

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about when a person can receive spousal benefits, whether it’s possible to receive widow’s benefits on the record of a spouse with substantial income who died 11 months after marriage and when divorced spousal benefits can be paid. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston

Two eight crews getty Stable value funds differ from total-return-driven fixed income products. They generally put capital preservation ahead of aggressive yield generation. In that respect, they tend to build portfolios of “laddered” fixed income securities, positioning them to manage the ebbs and flows of liquidity needs when used as a cash alternative in a

With so many people working at home during the pandemic, it seems natural that some new to investing might be drawn to the stock market. About one-half of Robinhood.com’s 13 million customers are “first time investors.” How do these new investors learn about stocks? Some learn by trial and error. Others do their research, which

By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Tim Russert’s 2000 election prediction MSNBC Florida is essentially tied with Maine for the highest percentage of residents age 65 and older — roughly 21%, vs. 16% for the U.S. population. And about one in 10 people in The Sunshine State are 75 or older, the highest percentage in the

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about whether spousal benefits can still be available, how survivor benefits are calculated when there are multiple spouses, eligibility for spousal benefits and how SSA views partnerships when determining spousal benefit eligibility. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: President-elect Joe Biden hugs grand child on stage after … [+] Biden’s address to the nation from the Chase Center November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 07: Chris Vela of Nevada carries a Biden-Harris flag as supporters of … [+] Joe Biden hold American and Mexican flags while preparing to hold a car parade to celebrate the outcome of Tuesday’s election on November 7, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Supporters around the country are taking to

This is shocking but it actually happened. I describe here a real case, with names changed. The man involved was what we call an “elder orphan”. These are the ones with no kids, never married, or widowed and they do not have anyone paying much attention to them as they age. They are vulnerable to

SEC whistleblowers say financial intermediaries serving as custodians, recordkeepers and trustees to … [+] 401ks and pensions systemically conceal and pocket billions in mutual fund “omnibus” payments which rightfully belong to retirement plans. getty Three SEC whistleblowers say financial intermediaries serving as custodians, recordkeepers and trustees to 401ks and pensions systemically conceal and pocket billions

getty Do you want to know what’s hot? ESG-based investing is hot. These factors include those dealing with environment, social and governance issues. “No one wants to be the person who cuts down the last Lorax tree,” says Paul Tyler, Chief Marketing Officer at Nassau Financial Group in Hartford. “As much as we want to

By Kerry Hannon, Next Avenue Entrepreneur Dennis Bozzi Dennis Bozzi Starting a business on a wing and a prayer is a fool’s game. That’s why older Americans eyeing entrepreneurship, perhaps in response to a layoff or an early retirement package, are seeking courses and programs to learn business skills and explore the possibility of being

When you’re saving for retirement, keep in mind that Medicare premiums include surcharges for … [+] high-income earners. getty The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced Medicare Part B premiums for 2021, and the base premium increases just 2.7% from $144.60 a month to $148.50 a month. That $3.90 monthly increase compares to a

getty Over the summer, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a draft pertaining to how ERISA fiduciaries could (or could not) incorporate social advocacy factors into investment decision making. The ensuing uproar could be heard from coast to coast. There was a good reason for that. “The latest popular incarnation of socially responsible investing is

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about taking spousal benefits before later qualifying for retirement benefits, available recourses in case Social Security mishandled a claim and deciding between taking retirement or survivor’s benefits first. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning,

The practical impact of the optional rider fee will be to reduce the contract value a bit more quickly leading to a lower death benefit than otherwise. But with the focus on income rather than accumulation, the rider fee is of secondary importance. The goal is not to find the lowest rider fee, as it

Is your Pharmacy in or out of network? getty Jim, one of my exercise buddies, sees doctors and visits hospitals affiliated with the largest healthcare system in his community. Checking the Annual Notice of Changes, he discovered that his drug plan is dropping the system’s pharmacy from its network. Jim didn’t think that was a big

A woman walks past a pro Fair Tax yard sign near a polling place on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, … [+] 2020, in Chicago. Voters have rejected the Fair Tax proposal to abolish Illinois’ flat-rate income tax for one that would take a greater share from wealthier taxpayers. The outcome of Tuesday’s Nov. 3,

Just the title of this article could be enough to push Dave Ramsey into anaphylactic shock. For most of his audience, having a paid-up house in retirement is a good thing—to be preserved. I am proposing an idea that will likely work with wealthier IRA owners. This idea routinely meets with massive resistance. Keeping an