Retirement Watch Weekly
Paying for the Health Care Changes
The first major effects of last spring’s health care reform, we’ve said for some months, will be seen in Medicare Advantage plans. Other parts of Medicare also will feel early effects from the new law. The first changes are here, and it’s time to review them and consider the likely future changes. The Medicare Advantage […]
Reviewing the IRA Conversion Decision
We’re in the last months of the year of the IRA conversion opportunity. Many tax-payers are converting their traditional IRAs and 401(k) accounts into Roth IRAs. Others still are considering the move. In our visits over the last couple of years we covered all the key issues and details. In this visit we review the […]
Planning Year-End 2010 Tax Moves
This will be the most difficult year-end tax planning session most of us ever will face. Since 1994 tax rates declined and tax breaks increased for the most part. Now, a raft full of tax increases is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2011. But Congress could act to at least delay some of the […]
Requiring Annuities for IRAs, 401(k)s?
A rumor I regularly am asked about is that the government is going to require all IRAs and 401(k)s to be invested annuities. Some versions of the rumor go further and say the proposal is to confiscate all these accounts and invest them in annuities or even Social Security. Here’s the real proposal. The Labor […]
November 2010
November 26, 2010 04:00 p.m. China and the Fed I apologize for some data errors in the December 2010 issue of Retirement Watch. The allocations in the recommended portfolios are incorrect. Also the buy above and sell below prices of Harbor High Yield are inverted. A corrected PDF of the data is posted to the […]
Adding Life Insurance Trusts to Your Estate Planning Strategy
Life insurance used to be a standard part of almost every Estate Planning Strategy. In recent years, insurance moved to the back burner or completely off the menu of many estate planning strategies. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the very wealthy make up the bulk of current permanent life […]
Evaluating a Codicil vs. a New Will for your Estate Planning Strategy
When an Estate Planning Strategy needs updating, there’s always one key question. Should an entire will be written and executed, or is a simple amendment sufficient? An amendment to a will in lawyer talk is a codicil. It’s an important question, and not one to be taken lightly. The advantage of a codicil is you […]
How to Build Your Own Equity-Index Annuity
Last month’s visit discussed equity-indexed annuities (EIAs). We reviewed their different elements, ad-vantages and disadvantages. This month we explain how you can generate very similar results by creating your own EIA. Remember the attraction of an EIA is you are assured in the worst case of a return of your principal after about 10 years […]
