10 Tax-Unfriendly States for Retirees in 2011 |
April 9, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
When contemplating a move prior to retirement, factors such as the location of friends/family, local weather, and recreational activities seem to come to mind first. However, one must not exclude tax law when weighing pros vs. cons because they are one of the largest expenses people face in retirement. Fortunately for us all, a lot of the number crunching has already been performed and the results are highlighted in a recent article posted by Mary Beth Franklin. She describes the various factors that were analyzed...
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IRI Survey: Roughly 75% of Baby Boomers Attach High Importance to Tax-Deferral |
April 5, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
A recent study confirmed that a vast majority place a high importance to tax-deferral in retirement planning. Roughly three out of four (74%) noted it as being important and 44% considers tax-deferral to be very important according to a study from the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI). This report was based a sample of 503 Americans between the ages of 50 and 66. Its output highlights the widely felt consequences that any potential changes to tax laws would cause. Some key statics from this report were...
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What Are The Most Tax-Friendly States for Retirees |
April 4, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
When contemplating a move prior to retirement, factors such as the location of friends/family, local weather, and recreational activities seem to come to mind first. However, one must not exclude tax law when weighing pros vs. cons because they are one of the largest expenses people face in retirement. Fortunately for us all, a lot of the number crunching has already been performed and the results are highlighted in a recent article posted by Robert Powell. In it, he describes the various factors that were...
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On retirement, too many of us are fools |
April 3, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
“More than half of people under 50 did not make retirement contributions last year, according to a recent report. There’s only one excuse for not contributing — and most people can’t use it.” This was the introduction to a revealing article written by Joshua Brown which highlights a concerning issue with our eagerness to plan for retirement. In it, a survey by T. Rowe Price that looks at the investing habits of Generation X and Y found that only 45% of people between 21 and...
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How to Avoid ‘Money Death’ |
April 2, 2012 |
Income For Life, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
The fact that life expectancy for American’s is increasing has led many to have an elevated concern for being at risk to outlive their savings. A recent article by Sharon Epperson highlights this increased concern of running out of money in retirement which is referred to as “money death”. The article points out that in order to address this increasing retirement duration, conventional strategies such as putting more money into bonds and less into stocks as individuals grow older is not a complete fix. According...
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How to Time Social Security |
March 28, 2012 |
Income For Life, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
When is the best time to start taking Social Security benefits? The answer to this seemingly simple question often causes anxiety among retirees since knowing that a mistake can cost thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all answer. It is most often deducted from the weighting of pros and cons which are different for every individual. A recent article by Ellen Schultz provided insight into the many factors that need to be considered when making your decision. This article describes some...
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Who Inherits Your Debt? |
March 23, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
Imagine that a family member just listed you as the sole heir to his/her estate which included extensive credit card bills along with a house with negative equity. Where does that leave you? Well fortunately the personal debt of a deceased most often cannot be passed along to their loved ones. However, there are many dependencies which could allow for some debt to pass through to family or loved ones. These dependencies include how the specific assets are titled as well as the state in...
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8 Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid |
March 21, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
Estate planning is an arduous task which unfortunately can be prone to mistakes. Even using a professional planner to facilitate the process will not guarantee an error-free result. Fortunately, a CFP named Ed McCarthy recently posted an article (linked here) which highlights the 8 most common mistakes that were brought up from survey of experienced advisors. Here is the list of most common mistakes from his article: 1. Improper beneficiary designations – We frequently see advisors improperly completing beneficiary designations. Examples: not changing the beneficiary...
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US Workers Willing to Trade Pay for Better Retirement Benefits |
March 13, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
According to a survey of more than 9,200 workers by global professional services company Towers Watson, an increasing amount of U.S. workers say that they are willing to trade some of their pay for more secure and generous retirement and health care benefits. The findings of this survey are efficiently described in a recent post from Bill Coffin where it is evident that the worries about the economy, recent volatility in the market, and fears of unsustainable benefits have resulted in individuals having a much...
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The Truth About Buy And Hold |
March 3, 2012 |
Annuity Basics, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
To begin, none of this can be construed as investment advice as we never give any investment advice or stock recommendations. What we strive to do is bring education and solid content to our readers. This week we came across an incredible read from CNN Money called, “Why Buy and Hold Doesn’t Work Anymore“. The title jumped out at us right away because that is usually the opposite of what CNN and many of their peers publish. Not to mention, it is the mantra that...
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