Retirement Watch Weekly
Seeing a Key Time for Balance
“Asymmetric” best describes our current economic and market environments. In the current economy, we have decent, sustainable economic growth and an incoming government that has plans to increase that growth. But we also continue to have the large debt overhang from the boom period. Plus, the incoming Donald Trump administration has some plans that are […]
Social Security to Mail Fewer Benefits Estimates
The stop-start nature of benefits estimates from Social Security continues. For a brief period, Social Security mailed paper statements of estimated benefits to every U.S. workers who had enough earnings to qualify for retirement benefits. Since then, Social Security’s periodically saved money by limiting the number of statements it mailed. Recently, Social Security posted a […]
Offering Social Security Strategies for Widows and Widowers
Social Security survivor’s benefits are one of the most important parts of retirement planning. Often, a married couple is living comfortably when both are alive and receiving Social Security retirement benefits. When one spouse passes away, however, one of the retirement benefit checks stops. Social Security pays survivor’s benefits. But the surviving spouse can receive […]
Planning for Probable Tax Changes
Since the election last Nov. 8, Republican leaders in Congress and new President Donald Trump made clear that changing the tax code is a priority. There are many unknowns about what any final law will be and when it will be effective. I caution you against following the advice of anyone who’s already telling you […]
Is Investing Your Business?
Retirees often earn most of their income from their investments. Interest, dividends and capital gains pay the bulk of their expenses. Some retirees devote enough time and attention to their portfolios that they believe investing has become their job or business. They ask, for tax purposes, can a retiree be in the business of investing? […]
10 Key IRA Mistakes to Avoid in 2017
It doesn’t take much to squander a large piece of an IRA or 401(k) account. For many people, these are among their most valuable and important assets. Yet, the accounts often are taken for granted, and people don’t realize all the nuances of the rules and regulations. Every day both owners and beneficiaries who inherit […]
Preparing for the Likely Risks and Opportunities to Come
Investors were surprised in 2016, and they’re likely to be surprised again in 2017. There’s remarkable consensus among analysts about what 2017 will be like, and periods of high consensus tend to be followed by surprises and high market volatility. Several commentators recently reminded us of the quote from Bob Farrell, once a widely followed […]
Ensuring the Medical Care You Want and Need
Your estate plan should be about a lot more than finances. Now that the federal estate tax doesn’t affect many estates, more people shift their primary focus away from taxes and even away from finances in their planning. But most people still aren’t paying enough attention to the other issues. An estate plan isn’t complete […]
