Retirement Watch Weekly
New Estate Planning Rules on IRAs and Trusts
The IRS recently made it easier to use a trust with your IRA to protect assets for future generations. You still should use an Estate Planning attorney to ensure things are done properly, but the new ruling adds more certainty than we had in the past. The type of trust people most often want to […]
What is Better Than Medicare
Alternatives to traditional Medicare are more popular – and with good reason. For the same and sometimes lower cost, more care is received by Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare Advantage is an umbrella name for alternatives to traditional Medicare. The alternatives include HMOs, PPOs, and special needs plans. But the fastest-growing alternative is PFFS – private fee […]
Long Term Care Insurance: New Regulations
New regulations covering long-term care insurance might be on their way to your state. The regulations will broaden care and help reduce premiums. The regulations were drafted by the National Association of Insurance Commis-sioners. Insurance is regulated by each state. This group drafts model statutes and regulations that each state is encouraged to adopt. In […]
What is the Best Age to Begin Taking Your Social Security
What is the best age to begin taking your Social Security benefits? The answer might be changing. We discussed this conundrum that faces those approaching retirement in both our past visits and in my book, The New Rules of Retirement. The general conclusion is that the vast majority of retirees who begin taking their benefits […]
How to Shield Large Capital Gains
Successful investors and business owners always face a tax planning dilemma. If they sell their highly appreciated assets, they owe capital gains taxes. Even at today’s low top federal rate of 15%, the tax can amount to a sizeable chunk of money. People do not like their net worth to decline by that amount with […]
How to Help Grandkids Stay Solvent
In last month’s visit we discussed how to educate children and grandchildren to start them on the road toward financial independence. This month, let’s discuss how to help youngsters who already are in the working world and perhaps have started to dig themselves into that financial hole of high debt in which so many people […]
Medicare Premium Hikes Coming
Medicare beneficiaries with higher incomes face higher premiums in 2007 and thereafter. We have better estimates of those premiums now, and beneficiaries can factor these higher costs into their financial plans. The higher premiums, called surtaxes, are imposed on a sliding scale. They begin rising for single beneficiaries whose incomes exceed $80,000 and for married […]
How to Plan for New IRA Benefits in 2010
Retirement account owners, especially up-per income owners, will receive significant new tax benefits in 2010. These benefits can be maximized if a plan is established now and actions are taken over the next few years. Two tax benefits begin in 2010, if Congress does not change the law. The first benefit is the repeal of […]
