Retirement Watch Weekly
The Key Tool for Investing Today
Quality has been the place to be during this great unwinding, and it still is the best place for your capital. The trick is to distinguish real quality from apparent quality. In addition, even some quality assets have faced significant price declines during the last year. A key to success in this environment is patience. […]
How Improved Websites Boost Your Benefits
Government benefits are complicated. It often is difficult to understand the rules well enough to maximize benefits from Social Security and Medicare. The government agencies know this and in response recently added features to their web sites to make it less painful to learn your benefit options. I have reviewed these features and believe they […]
Year End Tax Planning for Possibly Reduced Taxes
This could be an especially profitable year to do year-end tax planning. The elections might lead to major income tax changes in 2009, and the gyrations of the markets provide some investors with tax planning opportunities. Tax planning is best done two years at a time. Taxpayers usually have flexibility over when to recognize some […]
Pros and Cons of the New Annuities
Variable annuities long have been a controversial financial product. They became more controversial and confusing as insurers added features to make them attractive to more consumers. The controversy heated up recently in the pages of Financial Planning, a magazine for financial planners. It started with a white paper issued by Ibbotson Associates in October 2007 […]
April – September 2008
September 30, 2008 10:30 a.m. The Shadow Bank Run Well, so much for the notion that short sellers were driving stock prices down. You know how much stocks declined yesterday, and they fell that far without anyone being allowed to sell short 900 or so stocks. I don’t know if the rescue plan that was […]
How to Save Your Estate Plan
Too often what seems like a great estate plan fails to achieve its goals. Sometimes the execution is wrong. Other times the owner failed to take one or more key steps. One often-overlooked step is to ensure that the estate prevails in any audit by the IRS or state tax authorities. Estate tax returns are […]
How Heirs Can Secure the Stretch IRA
Estate plans often go awry simply because beneficiaries were not aware of the actions they needed to take or that the estate owner wanted taken to fully implement the plan. IRAs are the assets beneficiaries are mostly like to handle poorly. In a recent IRS ruling, an IRA beneficiary avoided a tax disaster, but she […]
Senior Protection Moves to the Forefront
Seasoned investors might find reduced opportunities to receive free lunches and other treats. But they will gain better and swifter legal protection. After decades of bearing the brunt of most financial scams, senior Americans are receiving help. Scams that involve possible fraud against senior investors will be on the investigative fast track. The Financial Industry […]
