Month: August 2020

We have outlined many factors that impact deferred variable annuity performance: rollup rates and the frequency of their vesting, as well as how long they are applied, step-ups and their frequency, whether rollups stack on step-ups, guaranteed withdrawal rates, death benefits, investment choices, allowed asset allocation and the range of investment offerings, use of volatility-managed
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In a recently released memorandum, the IRS discussed the taxation of convertible virtual currency received in a crowdsourcing market.  The issue presented in the chief counsel advice memorandum was “Is convertible virtual currency received by an individual for performing a microtask through a crowdsourcing or similar platform taxable income?” The memorandum concluded that, yes, convertible
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Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about whether survivor benefits include delayed retirement credits (DRCs), potential effects of a public pension on spousal benefits, filing retroactively for Social Security retirement benefits and whether caring for parents might affect disability benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder
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DraftKings CEO and Co-Founder Jason Robins speaks during the unveiling of DraftKings headquarters March 26, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. Darren McCollester | Getty Images Stocks are once again at record high levels — with the S&P 500 now up over 21% on a one-year basis. That’s following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s more-relaxed inflation targeting strategy,
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DusanManic | iStock | Getty Images Many people’s retirement dreams received a reality check following the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. New research shows that’s especially true for older workers. A recent report from Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee of Congress found that workers ages 65 and up were hit harder by
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Amid one of the worst public-health crises in history, a record number of Americans are without health insurance. John Fedele Amid historic levels of unemployment, as many as 12 million Americans may have lost their health insurance since February, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute.  “Because most U.S. workers rely on their
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Piggy bank on floor concept for saving, accounting, banking and business account getty This article was previously published in the August 2020 edition of the Forbes Real Estate Investor We believe that most REITs will survive the pandemic, continue to operate, continue to pay their cumulative preferred dividends, and have minimal impairment. This month we
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By Kerry Hannon, Next Avenue Contributor Getty Lots of retirees have regrets about their retirement choices. The primary problem: they were too optimistic about their anticipated retirement benefits, which led to them not saving enough during their working years. If they could go back in time, they’d have postponed retiring, paid off debts before leaving
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