Retirement Watch Weekly
The Retirement Advantages of Health Savings Accounts
There’s an advantage in the medical insurance changes of the last few years, and few people are maximizing it. The Afford-able Care Act of 2010 of course changed insurance for pre-retirees, whether they buy individual policies or have employer-provided coverage, and you need to know how to use the changes to your advantage. The major […]
Increasing IRA Conversion Benefits
A stream of tax-free income interests many people, and they know that a Roth IRA is a good way to establish tax-free cash flow. But they don’t want to pay taxes before they have to and balk at the tax cost of a conversion. To convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA you include […]
A Little-Known Medicare Advantage Plan
When you turn 65 or otherwise enroll in Medicare, see if a Medicare Savings Account (MSA) is available in your area. These are similar to HSAs, but a little different. They are linked to high-deductible Medicare Advantage plans. You would sign up for a high deductible Medicare-Advantage plan and also open the MSA affiliated with […]
Another Estate Plan Gone Bad
The Benihana restaurant chain is not what it once was. One reason is that its founder had a poorly-thought-out estate plan that was rife with conflicts and sowed dissension and unhappiness. Here’s the story, another cautionary tale about the importance of taking the time to do an estate plan properly, especially when a business is […]
Choosing Executors Carefully, a Lesson from Disney
I regularly point out that naming the wrong people as executors or trustees can ruin even the best estate plan. Most people put little thought into these decisions, often casually naming their oldest adult child or sibling. They don’t realize the burden of being an executor or trustee, even for relatively simple estates. This article […]
Buy and Hold Forever Investing
For years I’ve been following a mutual fund called the Corporate Leaders fund. Originally it was part of the Lexington group of mutual funds. It now is part of Voya, which used to be part of ING. The fund has a very simple investment strategy. When formed 80 years ago it bought equal amounts of […]
