Retirement Watch Weekly
Knowing When Community Property Laws Matter
Each state controls how estates within it are transferred and settled. That means there are 50 different estate laws in the U.S. (More when the territories are counted.) There are both major and minor differences between these laws. There really are two very different major systems. One group of states uses community property laws, and […]
Getting Ready for Medicare Decision Time
Many people make the wrong choices for Medicare. They choose the plans that aren’t best for them and consistently pay more out of pocket than they should. That’s been clear from a number of studies over the years. Some advisers conclude that 90% or more of Medicare beneficiaries spend more of their own money than […]
Securing Income and Reducing RMDs
You should be familiar with QLACs. They are a growing force in retirement in-come planning. In 2014 the IRS approved them as a way to secure a stream of lifetime income and to reduce required mini-mum distributions (RMDs) and the income taxes they generate. Even if you never buy one, you should understand them and […]
Evaluating Pension Buyout Offers
There’s been a surge in Retirement Watch members telling me that they’ve been offered lump sums to buy out their pension rights. That’s no surprise. The number of employers making such offers greatly increased in recent years, according to research reported in The Wall Street Journal. About 22% of larger employers are expected to make […]
Investing When Rates are Low, Poised to Rise
What do you do when interest rates are low but the Federal Reserve makes clear it is going to start raising rates? Now, you earn very little money from cash and safe investments. Bonds and similar investments have higher yields, but they’re going to lose value when interest rates rise. In many cases, principal losses […]
September 2015
September 25, 2015 04:50 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review This was another volatile and mostly negative week in stock markets. It also was a little confusing. There wasn’t much news to move stock prices, but they moved anyway. But the big news was Fed Chairman Janet Yellin’s Thursday night speech accompanied by a […]
Why and How to Prove Your Legal Residence and Minimize Estate Taxes
Many states don’t like when people leave theri residence to live in other states. It’s nothing personal. The state governments need your tax dollars, and some states will do anything they can do retain as much of your taxes as they can. A state won’t stop you from physically leaving, but it will argue that […]
Important Estate Planning Changes for Estates and Executors
A couple of changes quietly crept into the law recently. They are major estate planning events for some estates and executors. Congress passed and the President signed a temporary extension of the highway trust fund in late July. The law contains a few tax provisions designed to raise some revenue, and one of those changes […]
