Can you afford to retire if you have $1 million in savings? As with many questions, the answer is “It depends.” Your values, circumstances, and smart planning can make or break a financially successful retirement. Let’s look at the details.

Is $1 Million A Lot Of Money In Retirement?

If you compare yourself to all Americans, having $1 million or more in retirement savings is a lot of money. According to one report, just 3.2% of Americans have more than $1 million in savings.

Digging into the results by age, here are the median retirement savings account balances by age group in 2022:

• Age 45-54: $115,000
• Age 55-64: $185,000
• Age 65-74: $200,000
• Age 75+: $130,000

Source: Survey of Consumer Finances conducted by the Federal Reserve.

If you’re trying to determine if you have enough money to retire, here’s a better question: Is $1 million enough to fund your retirement, given how much retirement income that amount could generate? If you look at it this way, it’s possible you might think $1 million isn’t enough money. Let’s see why.

What Is A Good Retirement Savings Goal Number?

Up until your early 50s, using a simplistic retirement savings goal like $1 million could work OK. However, once you’ve reached your mid-50s, focusing on a specific retirement savings goal isn’t the best way to plan for a financially secure retirement. Instead, you’ll want to spend time analyzing the common-sense formula for retirement security:

• I > E, or income greater than living expenses.

To find out whether your retirement income will be greater than your expenses, you’ll first want to estimate how much retirement income you’ll receive from Social Security, any pensions you might have, and the lifetime retirement income that your savings could generate.

For this last amount, you can get a ballpark idea by applying the 4% rule to your savings amount. In the case of $1 million, 4% is $40,000, which is a rough estimate of the lifetime annual income that $1 million could generate that you could afford to withdraw each year.

However, instead of just looking at one method of generating income from your retirement savings, it would be best to learn about other various methods you can use to generate retirement income from your savings and estimate how much income you could receive from each method. Doing this can help you build your portfolio of retirement income, one that best reflects your goals.

The other key task is to estimate your living expenses in retirement, including housing, food, utilities, health care, and taxes. The goal is to make sure that your estimated retirement income from all sources will cover your living expenses with a margin for surprises and emergencies.

How Much Of Your Retirement Savings Will Go Toward Housing, Food, Healthcare, Etc.?

You’ll spend most of your money in retirement on housing, transportation, healthcare, and food, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here are the annual averages for these categories:

• Housing: $18,872
• Transportation: $7,160
• Healthcare: $7,030
• Food: $6,491

As you can imagine, the amounts you spend on these items could vary substantially from these averages. Obviously, $1 million will last longer for low spenders vs. high spenders.

State income taxes, property taxes, and housing costs can also vary substantially by state. As a result, $1 million will last longer in a low-cost state vs. a high-cost state.

What Strategies Can You Use To Make $1 Million Last Longer In Retirement?

The common-sense formula for retirement security described above offers guidance for adopting strategies that can make your savings last longer. It also helps you determine if $1 million is enough to fund your retirement. For example, if you’ve earned a substantial pension that contributes to your total retirement income, you’re in a better position to make that $1 million in savings last longer.

Here are other strategies to help make your savings last longer:

• Delay retirement to give your Social Security income time to grow as large as possible and allow your retirement savings to earn more investment income.
• Consider semi-retirement—going down to part-time work—as a way to delay drawing from your financial resources and to help pay for your living expenses.
• Analyze different viable methods of generating lifetime retirement income, including establishing a realistic systematic withdrawal plan with invested assets and purchasing a lifetime income annuity.
• Investigate strategies to reduce your living expenses or at least protect them from costing more due to inflation.

If indeed you’ve saved $1 million or more, congratulations. You’ve done a great job saving money. However, don’t assume you’ll live on easy street in retirement. It will take some homework to make sure your savings will be enough for you.

On the other hand, if you haven’t saved $1 million, don’t despair. You can still plan for a financially secure retirement by using the methods described in this post and exploring all your options for managing your money well.

The post Here’s How To Make $1 Million Last Longer In Retirement appeared first on Financial Level.

Economic policy uncertainty has surged since Donald Trump’s election. This can be bad, not just for the stock market, but also for business investments and for consumer spending, if the past is any indication. At this point, it is unclear whether tariffs will happen, whether the federal government will stay open after March 14, whether the federal government can deliver basic services such as processing Social Security applications, after the Trump administration has laid off large shares of workers and whether slowing immigration and increasing deportations will translate into higher inflation. This level of uncertainty associated with economic policies alone will likely result in bad economic outcomes for good economic reasons.

Researchers from Stanford, Chicago and Northwestern University have compiled Economic Policy Uncertainty indexes for a number of countries, including the United States, going back decades. This index for the U.S. combines information from newspaper articles that relate to economic policy uncertainty, details on tax provisions that expire within the next decade and differences in forecasts about prices and government spending.

Economic Policy Uncertainty Jumped After the Presidential Election

The index then reflects economic policy uncertainty emanating from a wide range of sources, whereby higher values mean more uncertainty. The index for the U.S. has jumped from 97.3 in October 2024 to 161.70 in January 2025 – largely because of increased uncertainty associated in news report – presumably reflecting the uncertainty over what Donald Trump will do as president. Importantly, this jump in the index happened before he took office and his administration took a sledgehammer to government functions and policies.

Uncertainty Rises and Falls with Presidential Terms

A quick summary of the policy uncertainty index shows a few key things. Uncertainty increased especially under President George W. Bush (up by 54.3%) and President Trump’s first time (up 54.2%), while it fell under President Obama (down 21.6%) and President Biden (down 22.2%). It was more or less flat during President George H.W. Bush (up 1.7%) and President Clinton (up 4.3%). Presidential terms and possibly party affiliations correlate with economic policy uncertainty, while overall economic policy uncertainty has become a lot more volatile and widespread over time, especially since the early 2000s. The onset of the new Trump administration will possibly exacerbate historical patterns with even more volatility in economic policy.

The composite index data for the U.S. go back to 1985 on a monthly basis. Those are enough observations to correlate information about policy uncertainty with data that are relevant to businesses and consumers. In particular, the industrial production index from the Federal Reserve shows key movements in business activity. The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index, especially the Index of Consumer Expectations, reflects forward looking evaluations of prices and economic conditions. When consumers have more positive outlooks for the future, they are more likely to buy big ticket items like cars and houses. Those purchases will translate into stronger and more stable economic growth. Industrial production and consumer sentiment are then good monthly indicators of where the economy may be heading during a period of heightened policy uncertainty.

Industrial Production and Consumer Sentiment Worsen With Increasing Uncertainty

A simple question is whether periods of above long-term average growth in policy uncertainty correlate with lower growth in industrial production and consumer sentiment about the future than is the case during periods of below the long-term average growth of uncertainty. Since the pandemic was a period of extreme policy uncertainty, it makes sense to calculate the long-term average growth of the economic policy uncertainty index from 1985 to February 2020 as a threshold for above-average or below-average growth. The average annual growth of the Economic Policy Uncertainty index was 0.4% over this period.

So, what happens to changes in industrial production and consumer sentiment about the future when economic policy uncertainty grows faster or slower than this historical average? Industrial production on average grew by 0.9% year-over-year when economic policy uncertainty had above average increases and by 2.5% when economic policy uncertainty grew below average during the same time. The median growth rate was 2.0% for periods with above average uncertainty growth and 2.8% for periods with below-average growth. Consumer sentiment about the future fell by 4.4% during periods of above average increases in policy uncertainty and grew at an average rate of 4.5% during periods of below average gains in economic policy uncertainty. At the median, the consumer sentiment index fell by 3.3% during periods of above average increases of uncertainty and increased by 3.3% when uncertainty grew below its long-term average.

The data show a clear divide in industrial production and consumer sentiment associated with economic policy uncertainty. More uncertainty correlates with less industrial production and more pessimistic consumer outlooks on the future. Economic policy uncertainty has risen since the presidential election, in large part because President Trump has wreaked chaos in Washington, DC, even before taking the oath of office. A less predictable economic environment makes it harder for businesses and consumers to plan, potentially contributing to slowing economic activity in 2025.

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It’s Never Too Late To Build Your Retirement Nest Egg

Starting retirement savings later in life can feel daunting, but it’s far from impossible. The best advice is to start early, but in reality, life may not allow for this, or one may have simply let time slip away. Unfortunately, a staggering number of people do not start saving for retirement until midway through their careers. Not all is lost, as there is still a decent amount of time and various strategies to secure a comfortable, well-planned retirement.

Here are five steps to consider for those starting later in life.

1. Evaluate Your Monthly Budget For Savings

Subscription services, streaming platforms, and other memberships can quietly drain your finances. Many people also overlook opportunities to cut costs on essential bills, potentially saving thousands per year. Taking the time to review monthly expenditures is key to finding additional funding for retirement, paying down unnecessary debt, and increasing retirement savings.

2. Good Debt Vs. Bad Debt

Once the monthly budget has been addressed and savings found, knowing where to put the additional funds is the next step. Being debt-free is advantageous in retirement; however, the parameters of the debt should be taken into account.

High, unsecured debt, such as credit cards outside of introductory offers, is considered bad debt and should be paid off aggressively. There are two schools of thought in debt repayment: the snowball method and the avalanche method. In both, excess money is paid toward one loan, and once paid off, the entire payment goes to the next loan in line.

• Snowball Method: Focuses on paying off the lowest balances first. This approach frees up cash flow faster than the avalanche method.
• Avalanche Method: Prioritizes paying off high-interest debt first, which saves more money in the long run.

Secured, low-interest-rate loans, such as a mortgage, are typically considered good debt. Depending on the structure of the loan, paying down good debt is typically secondary to retirement savings.

3. Understand Various Retirement Savings Strategies

Retirement savings come in many shapes and sizes. Typically, an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan is the best vehicle to utilize. Offering higher contribution limits and catch-up provisions, along with traditional, Roth, and after-tax components, allows individuals to save aggressively while still having a decent amount of time to take advantage of compounding interest. These benefits are specific to each employer-sponsored plan, and reaching out to a benefits coordinator will increase knowledge of the plan.

Non-employer-sponsored retirement savings do not offer as high of a contribution limit; however, they do provide a more diverse investment platform. Similar to employer-sponsored plans, traditional and Roth components are available to not only establish retirement savings but also assist in tax savings strategies.

Regardless of the accessibility of an employer-sponsored plan, it is paramount to contribute as much as possible when starting the journey later in life.

4. Sideline Emotion When Investing

Investing can feel overwhelming, especially when starting late and feeling behind. However, focusing on short-term market fluctuations will quickly derail long-term financial goals. Establishing a comfortable risk tolerance allows an individual to stay invested during an inevitable market correction. Making sound financial decisions based on facts instead of emotional responses increases the potential success of a financial plan.

5. Stay On Track by Keeping Goals Front of Mind

A common, often overlooked downfall of retirement is not finding constructive ways to spend the increased free time. Taking a moment to realize what is important during retirement helps establish clear financial goals. Furthermore, determining how retirement will be spent increases the discipline needed to stay on track for retirement planning.

Will time with family be the top priority? Travel? A new hobby? Starting a new business? With limitless options available during retirement, having tangible goals increases motivation, which increases the likelihood that those goals are met.

Final Thoughts

With pensions becoming a thing of the past, saving is the single most important step toward a financially secure future. While starting early is ideal, simply starting is key. Having a realistic plan to pay down bad debt and increase retirement contributions while maintaining a disciplined and motivated approach assists those starting later in life.

The post Starting Retirement Savings Later In Life: How To Catch Up appeared first on Financial Level.

For many adult children, watching their aging parents struggle with daily living in an unsafe home is a distressing reality. The situation becomes even more challenging when those parents adamantly refuse to leave despite clear evidence that their environment is no longer safe.

Consider the real case of an elderly couple, both in their late 80s. The father has already suffered a severe fall on the stairs resulting in a head injury, a broken hip, hospitalization and rehab. He now relies on a walker but still struggles with poor mobility. The mother, while not as severely impaired, is unsteady on her feet and depends on a cane. The home they have lived in for decades is filled with hazards, from the treacherous stairs inside and out, to a bathroom that poses a significant fall risk. Despite their adult children’s repeated pleas to move to a safer environment, such as an assisted living facility, they refuse.

The Emotional And Practical Challenges

This scenario is not uncommon. Many elderly parents cling to their independence and their long-time home, viewing any suggestion of moving as an attack on their autonomy. They associate their house with memories, comfort, and a sense of control over their lives. Even after suffering serious injuries, they may minimize the risks or believe that a simple adjustment—like a stair lift—will solve the problem. However, in cases where frailty and falls are frequent, no single home modification can ensure their safety.

Home Modifications May Not Be Enough

For example, a stair lift can help if the elders are safely able to get on and off it. Even with that, the rest of the house poses an ongoing danger with anyone unsteady on one’s feet. In the example here, the dad would have trouble getting himself and his walker onto a stair lift. The mom is easily confused and would likely forget how to hold onto her cane when using a stair lift.

For the adult children, this creates an ongoing dilemma. On one hand, they feel a profound responsibility to protect their parents from harm. On the other, they cannot legally force their parents to move unless they are deemed mentally incapacitated. As a result, they live with constant worry, fearing the next inevitable fall or medical emergency.

The Risks Of Staying

The risks of remaining in an unsafe home are clear. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are one of the leading causes of injury and death in older adults, and a single bad fall can result in a rapid decline in health. A fractured hip, like the one suffered by the father in this case, often leads to a significant loss of mobility and independence. Studies show that more than half of elderly individuals who break a hip never regain their previous level of function.

Why Aging Parents Refuse To Move

There are several psychological and emotional reasons elderly parents resist moving:

• Fear of Change: Moving is overwhelming, especially when it means giving up the familiar surroundings of their longtime home. To an aging adult, the home where they’ve lived for years symbolizes security, even if this is not actually true.
• Loss Of Independence: They may see assisted living as losing control over their lives.
• Denial: They may not recognize the extent of their physical decline or believe they can manage with minor adjustments.
• Financial Concerns: They may worry about the cost of assisted living or believe it’s not a necessary expense.
• Mistrust Of Institutions: Some fear they will be neglected or mistreated in a facility “with all those old people,” despite many high-quality options available.

What Can Adult Children Do?

Adult children cannot force their parents to move until or unless they have control over both healthcare and financial decisions for their parents. Getting that control can be very difficult, as aging parents resist, sometimes with anger and aggressive responses. We see this occurring often at AgingParents.com where we advise families, including the children of the elders in this piece. The parents typically are made the legal appointees as successor trustees and on the Durable Power of Attorney for each other. No clear alternative exists in most legal documents when the frail or impaired aging parent refuses to resign and allow the competent adult child to take over, either financial decisions, healthcare decisions or both. Instead, two frail aging parents in failing health are supposed to continue to be legally in charge of one another.

Added Danger: Two Impaired Elders In Charge

This reciprocal appointment idea is deeply and traditionally embedded in estate planning documents lawyers create. It makes sense as long as the adults in the matter are both fine and capable of good decisions. When one or the other declines physically and mentally, the estate documents, including the trust and DPOA, cannot be changed unless an aging person resigns or is removed.

Then the real error in the estate planning comes to light. Most lawyers are not being creative nor flexible in drafting these documents. Most of the time, the documents say that no one can remove the elder from the position of authority for all decisions until they are declared incapacitated (also called “incompetent” by lawyers) by two medical doctors. That would be good if the stubborn elder were willing to see two doctors to have their capacity evaluated and tested. If they are too stubborn to consider moving to a safer environment, you can imagine their total refusal to be evaluated for their capacity by two doctors. This flaw in estate planning can lead to disastrous results. Even when the aging parent has appointed a capable adult child to succeed them in decision-making at the time they become incapacitated, the elder will not allow the appointee to take over anything. The elder won’t admit to being incapacitated.

As an observer of many of these dilemmas from a medical/legal perspective, I can only offer educational programs to the Bar and beg my lawyer colleagues to change the way they draft these trusts and other documents. Some readily agree and allow more flexibility for determining incapacity. They write into the trust that in the event of incapacity, a psychologist, or one treating physician, or a unanimous vote by all the beneficiaries of the trust can determine incapacity of the person in charge. Other creative methods also exist and are used in trusts by the smartest lawyers doing estate planning. That can literally save the life of a frail elder like the dad in this story.

Other Possibilities To Persuade Aging Parents:

Involve A Third Party – Sometimes, hearing concerns from a doctor, clergy person, geriatric care manager, or trusted family friend carries more weight than hearing it from their children.

Consider In-Home Care – If they refuse to move, hiring an in-home caregiver can provide some safety and assistance, though it may not eliminate all risks. This is an immediate expense. Not only is it a new responsibility for the adult children to keep the caregiver accountable, it may be difficult for the aging parent to accept that they need this help.

Monitor For Changes – If their condition worsens, revisit the conversation. A crisis, such as another fall, may change their perspective. If that happens, which is likely, seize the opportunity to persuade aging parents to resign from the trust or other documents at that time.

The Hard Reality

Despite their best efforts, adult children may ultimately have to accept that their parents have the right to make unsafe choices. This leaves adult children in the painful position of waiting for a new crisis before action can be taken.

The Takeaways

1. When you, the adult child first notice new frailty and difficulty with an aging parent’s balance, initiate the conversation about how to remain safe. Do not wait until there is a fall and hospitalization. Perhaps repeated cautions, offered respectfully, emphasizing how it causes a worry burden on you can help.
2. If your aging loved ones are just fine right now and competent for decisions of all kinds, ask to review their trust and DPOA with them. If they allow this, the documents can be modified to remove the unfortunate “two medical doctors” rule that can become so problematic as parents age and the risk of impairment increases. You may be able to get an opinion from a new estate planning attorney to amend the parents’ trust and change the DPOA to allow for the possible resistance of the aging parent.
3. Don’t give up trying to persuade changes for safety. Starting with initiating home care may be a good beginning.

The post The Dilemma Adult Children Face: Unsafe Aging Parents Who Refuse To Move appeared first on Financial Level.

Despite President Trump’s repeated promises that “we’re not touching Social Security, other than to make it more efficient,” it appears his Administration is planning deep cuts in the program’s administration. And that inevitably will mean trouble for those receiving or applying for benefits.

By slashing staff and tinkering with its internal computer systems, the Trump Administration is likely to make Social Security less efficient, not more. And these steps may make it much harder for applicants to receive the benefits they deserve in a timely way. Thus, Trump effectively will be cutting benefits, at least for some.

Remaking the SSA

Trump has taken several steps to remake the Social Security Administration.

He named Leland Dudek to replace a previous acting commissioner who resigned in a dispute over how much access Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could have to the agency’s computer systems, which contain highly sensitive information about nearly every American.

Dudek, a former mid-level SSA staffer who reportedly was being investigated for leaking information to DOGE before his appointment, says he has begun restructuring the agency to focus on preventing fraud. Among his changes: Eliminating much of the agency’s research program and closing offices where people go for help.

At least 10 field offices will be shuttered. At least five of eight regional commissioners have said they are leaving.

And, according to some published reports, Dudek has ordered his staff to develop a plan to fire half of SSA’s 57,000 employees. Other reports suggest the cuts would be less severe, perhaps about 7,000 workers. No matter how many are cut, at least some of these staffers assist applicants or beneficiaries navigate the often-complex system or process applications. At the very least, cutting them will mean slower service.

A widespread purge also could affect those who maintain the computer systems that make sure Social Security benefits payments arrive on time and in the right amount. Even if they are not fired, many may leave for more secure positions since it is easy for computer engineers to find work elsewhere.

Claims Of Fraud

Trump and Musk have justified staffing cuts by claiming massive Social Security fraud. They have presented no evidence of widespread fraud, but even if they did, it is hard to see how slashing SSA staff could help reduce it.

Musk alleged that more than 1 million people aged 150 and older were collecting benefits. Although this claim is entirely untrue, Trump since has magnified it by saying that millions of ineligible people are fraudulently receiving benefits.

In reality, the SSA Inspector General estimates that all Social Security improper payments represent less than 1 percent of total benefits. And many of those may be errors, not fraud.

To understand the consequences of deep cuts to SSA operations, keep in mind what Social Security does. Most know it supports people in old age and their survivors. But it also provides financial assistance to people with disabilities, who may receive disability insurance (SSDI) and, in some cases, Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In 2023, the agency received about 7 million old age and survivor claims, about 2 million disability claims, and about 1.6 million SSI claims.

Who Will Suffer The Most?

Those with disabilities may suffer the most from deep agency staff cuts.

Processing old age and survivor claims is relatively straight-forward and most people can apply online. But some older adults are unable to manage an online application. Others may need to visit an office to get answers to difficult questions.

Applying for SSI and SSDI is much more complicated and takes significant work by Social Security staff.

Disability insurance starts with an in-person application process, followed by a review by a doctor, a complex benefits calculation, and, if a claim is denied, a review. Some applicants may be eligible for programs that help them return to work, which require additional SSA staff time.

People can apply online for SSI but they still must go through a complex multi-step approval process that also requires substantial staff work.

Already Short-Staffed

My Urban Institute colleagues Jack Smalligan and Adriana Vance report that Social Security already has a backlog of 2 million disability claims. They report it takes an average of 240 days to get a claim processed, twice the time it took in 2019. In states such as Georgia and South Carolina, it takes more than a year.

One reason for the extra time: The IRS has about 57,000 full time employees, down from 63,000 a decade ago. Only about 10 percent are at headquarters (which is in Baltimore, by the way, not in Washington). The vast majority work in the agency’s 10 regional offices, 51 area offices, and more than 1,200 field offices.

Social Security is not the only federal agency slashing staff who provide direct services to Americans. The Washington Post reported the Trump administration plans to close more than 110 IRS taxpayer assistance centers. Earlier, the White House ordered the agency to fire 7,000 staffers, many of whom were helping taxpayers with their returns.

It is not clear how many SSA’s staff will be cut. And reductions to Social Security operations surely will get pushback from many members of Congress, even some Republicans. But the real victims to cuts to an already short-staffed Social Security Administration inevitably will be those who rely on its benefits.

The post The Price Of Slashing Social Security’s Staff appeared first on Financial Level.

Is there anything artificial intelligence can’t do? Well, the answer is “plenty.” The more precise response is, “It all depends on what you’re asking AI.” This is especially true for retirement questions.

There’s no doubt that, like any computer, it’s a whiz at number crunching. In fact, it’s much more than that. It’s that chatty coworker who has a response to everything. But are those responses worth the pixels the text illuminates?

Every week, indeed, every day, you’re seeing improvement in popular generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok, along with their cousins Copilot and Midjourney, not to mention Gemini and Perplexity. There’s more to the list, and a different one seems to be “the best” whenever a new release emerges from the internet ether.

It seems only natural that you might want to use AI to help you with your retirement. Of course, age might temper your enthusiasm. A recent survey concludes “Nearly two-thirds of Gen Z and Millennials would follow AI’s retirement advice; 58% of Baby Boomers and 75% of the Silent Generation would not follow AI’s retirement timeline, citing lack of trust.”

Which side of the generational divide do you fall on? Which side is right? Will the following analysis change your opinion?

What does AI mean for your retirement?

Well, retirement does involve a lot of numbers, and it’s clear AI can handle that. But retirement also involves asking a lot of questions and coming up with the right answers. Correct that. Retirement requires you to ask yourself the right questions. That’s the only way to get the best answers. This is where AI can become deceptively dangerous. Or it can help you avoid those rocky shoals.

“There is something known as paralysis by analysis,” says Anthony Alexander DeLuca, senior financial advisor at Delta Advisory Group in Orlando, Florida. “That is, being flooded with too much information that the right choice becomes muddled. AI sifts through the data using algorithms and expedites diagnosis on risks, goals, and returns to find the best and most appropriate strategies.”

The best AI tools for your retirement

Here’s the beauty of some of those generative AI platforms mentioned above: they can act like Uber drivers on your road to retirement. You don’t need them all the time, but when you do, they’re just a few quick finger taps away. It’s only a matter of punching in the correct questions and framing your goals in a way that is most meaningful to you. AI can act like your GPS. Set your destination, and it will tell you the best route to dodge those troublesome traffic snarls.

“Tools for financial analysis that are powered by artificial intelligence can be used to offer an individual retirement investment strategies that are optimized to their spending, risk tolerance, and market conditions,” says Neal K. Shah, CEO of CareYaya Health Technologies in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. “For individuals facing the overwhelming amount of choice in the retirement planning process, this can help to considerably streamline decision-making and make the process more manageable.”

Don’t be fooled, though. You can’t ask AI for winning stock picks. Well, you could, but you better be prepared to undertake a deep dive of due diligence on your own to verify what AI spits out. Instead, ask the big picture questions. Look at economic history and how potential policies and events have affected people like you in the past. You can then use that analysis to make your own investment decisions.

“Selecting appropriate investments is difficult but financial software makes this easier by evaluating market trends and assessing personal risk preferences,” says Arvind Rongala, CEO at Edstellar in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. “Retirees can develop a stable portfolio through data-driven insights which helps to ensure their long-term financial well-being.”

Designing a good saving and investing strategy represents only half of the retirement puzzle. What happens on the other side of retirement? What happens when it’s time to spend down your retirement savings?

How to manage retirement finances with AI

Keep in mind that newly minted retirees have to deal with two competing priorities. Sure, they must continue to grow their retirement portfolios.

“AI is going to use its infinitely growing database of financial knowledge to pinpoint the exact decisions one needs to take for the most successful financial future,” says DeLuca. “That includes understanding risk capacity vs. tolerance, cash flow analysis and appropriate budgeting, and the ‘most correct’ investments to help reach such goals.”

In retirement, though, there’s more to life than investing. You must also juggle budgets in a way that considers living without a salary. AI’s role here can be a little dicey. It’s probably not a good idea to rely solely on the words of a pre-programmed machine.

“AI can simplify retirement finances by automating budgeting, forecasting cash flow, and managing investments with adaptive algorithms,” says Shah. “It’s essential, however, for retirees to ensure that AI-driven recommendations align with their personal goals and to seek human oversight for major financial decisions.”

Don’t settle for the ease of a quick AI-induced fix. Not that you should stop using AI. Use it, but use it in the manner you’d use a committee to brainstorm solutions. No idea is a bad idea. In fact, the more the merrier. The secret to success, however, lies in kicking the tires and taking a peek under the hood.

“After retirement, many individuals find monitoring expenses and handling cash flow management to be an overwhelming task,” says Rongala. “Retirees should verify that automated budgeting tools’ predictions about future expenses and savings possibilities fit their extended financial plans instead of just short-term financial benefits.”

With AI, just like any other algorithm-based search engine, it’s trust but verify.

“For individuals, tools that utilize AI can analyze massive amounts of data and, based on individual situations, simulate future scenarios faster and provide more tailored investment strategies,” says Liang Zhao, CEO at Vansary in New York City. “One platform that caught my eye recently is a company called High Peak. The platform leverages Prudential data and has built advanced AI solutions that can make smart recommendations that align with personal goals and risk tolerance. Its advanced modeling platform can provide individuals with real-time insights and forecasts—all beneficial for plan sponsors also who are looking for better modeling capabilities. A possible pitfall to watch out for includes biases in AI algorithms, which can be derived from skewed training data. For example, if the dataset doesn’t include diverse data points, the output will not be able to capture the particular nuance of the situation.”

Artificial intelligence and retirement: trusty or tricky?

Obviously, generative AI is more than simply a glorified spreadsheet. It possesses an iterative sense that builds on your conversation with it. But when it’s all said and done, AI isn’t magic. It’s just a tool. And like any tool, it can help you if you use it right. If you use it wrong, it can harm you.

The secret to using AI successfully is not to ask it to pick winners. Work with it so it teaches you to think smarter. Maybe a comfortable retirement doesn’t come from the AI store. Maybe a comfortable retirement, perhaps, means a little bit more.

And that means what it’s always meant. When it comes to giving you the best shot at a comfortable retirement, you’re the only one ultimately responsible for minding that store.

The post Can AI Help You Retire More Comfortably? appeared first on Financial Level.

Passing money from one generation to the next in trust can have its pitfalls. Often when a trust is created, the ultimate beneficiaries are not even born. How is the person creating the trust to know how their grandchildren will turn out if they are still running around in diapers or if they have never been born?

Unfortunately, many trusts that were created years ago are more basic than the sophisticated trusts we have today. They often do not contain all the bells and whistles that can add flexibility for unforeseen circumstances. For instance, older trusts often require distribution to a grandchild at age 18 or 21.

Modern trusts, by comparison, often keep the monies in trust longer or allow a beneficiary’s parent to decide to keep the monies in trust longer. Sometimes, the age of distribution is extended until the child is older, say age 30, and sometimes, the monies are held in trust throughout the beneficiary’s lifetime. There are several reasons why people want to extend the age of handing over an inheritance to a child, including prolonged adolescence, substance abuse, gambling addictions, and the possibility of undue influence, among others.

If you have a family trust that requires distribution to a child who is not ready to handle a large distribution of cash, you have options. Here are five actions you should consider taking:

1. Exercise Your Power Of Appointment

This may be the simplest option if it is available to you. A power of appointment is the ability to change the terms of how your child will receive the monies. Exercising the power sends the monies to a new trust that you create. For instance, you can require that instead of giving the child the monies at age 21, the monies continue to be held in trust for the child’s life. Typically, you exercise the power of appointment by modifying your will to direct the trust funds to a new trust. You will need to consult with your attorney to determine whether the underlying trust instrument allows you to take this action.

2. Decant

If exercising a power of appointment is not an option, you can check to see if the underlying trust or state law will allow you to decant the trust assets to a new trust with different trust terms. Decanting a trust is similar to decanting a bottle of wine. You pour the old trust assets out of the old trust and into a new trust. The new trust will contain terms protecting the assets from outright distributions to the beneficiary.

3. Non-Judicial Settlement Agreement

Another option may be to sign a non-judicial settlement agreement. An NJSA allows for the trustee and certain interested parties to modify the trust terms without court intervention, even if the trust is irrevocable. You will need to verify that state law will allow you to enter into an NJSA, and you may have to give notice to the child or ask the child to sign the agreement. This may be problematic if the child refuses.

4. Self-Settled Trust

If you feel the child would be amenable to a change in trust terms, you can have the child create a self-settled trust. This is simply a trust that the child creates themself. The child would then transfer the trust assets they receive to this new trust. Often, the new trust will be irrevocable, meaning the child cannot change it, or it can only be amended with the consent of a third party, such as the child’s parent.

5. Court Order

If all else fails, you may have to go to court and ask the court to modify the trust terms. Depending on the severity of the situation, such as a drug addiction where a large amount of cash could have potentially fatal effects, this may be your only recourse.

The post Protecting Your Child’s Wealth: 5 Ways To Extend A Trust appeared first on Financial Level.

One of the most misunderstood Social Security issues is how working past age 62 affects retirement benefits.

Misunderstandings often cause people to make the wrong decisions about claiming benefits or mislead them about the likely level of benefits.

You can begin claiming Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62, whether you are working or not. The starting level of the benefits increases each month you wait to claim benefits through age 70. There are no increases for delaying claims after age 70.

Though they’re called retirement benefits, a beneficiary doesn’t have to retire to claim them. You can continue to work for salary or other compensation.

Continuing to earn income might increase your benefits, whether you’re already claiming benefits or not. It’s important to know how working could increase or not increase benefits, because that might change your decisions.

Social Security retirement benefits are calculated using your 35 highest-earning years. The earnings are indexed for inflation to put them in today’s dollars. Those who don’t have 35 years of earnings are assigned an income of $0 for each of the missing years.

Only earnings up to the Social Security maximum wage base for the year are used to compute benefits. Any compensation exceeding that amount doesn’t affect benefits.

I won’t go further into the mechanics of how benefits are calculated from lifetime earnings.

Early in our careers, most of had lower earnings and earned less than the maximum wage base, even after indexing for wage inflation. Many people had years with little or no earnings because they weren’t in the work force full time, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

That means if you work another year and earn more than you did in an earlier year (after indexing for inflation), the earnings in the latest year will replace earnings from an earlier year among your highest 35 years. If you don’t already have 35 years of earnings, working another year will replace an earlier year with no income.

After knowing this, some people find that working another year or few years will replace very low-earning years with higher-earning years and meaningfully increase their Social Security benefits. Others realize they already have 35 high-earning years; working more years would have little or no effect on their retirement benefits.

The monthly increase in benefits will depend on the number of low-earning years that are replaced and the dollar differences between the earnings in the latest year and the earlier year that’s being replaced, after adjusting the lower-earning year for wage inflation.

Another factor is your income level. Middle- and lower-income workers receive benefits that replace a higher percentage of their working years’ income than upper-income earners. Benefits are calculated so that a median earner will receive Social Security retirement benefits that replace about 40% of final income.

After you turn 62, Social Security recalculates your benefits every year you don’t claim benefits. It will take your earnings for the latest year, add that to your record of lifetime earnings and select the 35 years with the highest inflation-adjusted earnings.

For some, the effects of working longer are so powerful that working for only another three to six months would have the same impact on a retirement standard of living as saving an additional percentage point of earnings each year for 30 years, according to the study “The Power of Working Longer” by Gila Bronshtein, Jason Scott, John B. Shoven and Sita N. Slavov, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

After the monthly benefit increase from working longer is calculated, you’ll receive those higher benefits every month for the rest of your life no matter how long you live. In addition, Social Security retirement benefits are indexed for inflation.

A seemingly small increase in monthly benefits can compound to a meaningful lifetime sum when you’re retired for a couple of decades or longer and the benefits increase with inflation.

It’s important to know the rules for those who work while receiving Social Security retirement benefits.

In that case, the calculation of your retirement benefits is a rolling, annual process.

Each year Social Security reviews the records of all Social Security recipients who work. If earnings in the latest year turn out to be among your 35 highest years, replacing an earlier lower-earning year, Social Security will refigure your benefit and pay you any increase due. This is an automatic process.

The additional benefits will be paid in December of the following year.

For example, if you worked and also received Social Security retirement benefits in 2024, in December 2025 you should receive an additional payment reflecting an increase in your 2024 benefits, if the earnings in 2024 raised your benefit. Your monthly benefits going forward also will be adjusted for the increase. This will occur each year you have earned income.

Another factor to review is the earnings limit imposed on those who receive Social Security benefits after age 62 and before full retirement age.

At certain ages, if you earn “too much” money while claiming retirement benefits, your retirement benefits will be reduced. But the decrease is only temporary. You’ll get it back later.

There’s no longer an earnings limit after you reach full retirement age. After that age, you’ll receive full benefits no much how much money you continue to earn while working.

When you’re younger than FRA during the entire calendar year, Social Security will deduct $1 from your benefits for each $2 you earn above the earnings limit. The limit is indexed for inflation each year and is $23,400 in 2025.

The rule is different in the year you reach FRA. In the year you reach FRA you lose $1 of benefits for each $3 you earn above the limit until the month you reach FRA. In addition, the earnings limit is much higher in the year you reach FRA, $62,160 in 2025.

But losing some or all of your benefits because of the earnings limit isn’t a disaster. The loss of benefits is temporary.

The additional earnings are added to your lifetime earnings record and could replace lower earnings from earlier years.

Also, after you reach FRA, the benefits forfeited in earlier years will be used to increase future benefits. Exceeding the earnings limit is more like a deferral or withholding of benefits than a loss of benefits.

You don’t have to guess how the earnings limit would affect you.

The Social Security website has a Retirement Earnings Test Calculator. Enter your birth date and a few other details, and the calculator will tell the amount, if any, by which your benefits would be reduced based on the amount of earnings you expect.

You don’t have to open a “my Social Security” account to use this calculator, but you can use a more robust calculator and save the results by opening an account.

The post How Working After 62 Changes Social Security Benefits appeared first on Financial Level.

When I talk to prospects and clients about retirement investing, no one usually thinks about what companies are inside their portfolio. They often have a shocked reaction thinking that they might be making money on the backs of the unfortunate prey of predatory lenders. Research provider YourStake defines predatory lending as “Companies that have received 25 or more Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaints for predatory lending complaints, including payday loans, installment loans, pawn loans, title loans, tax refund anticipation loans, personal lines of credit, and check cashing, over the last 3 years”. In this article, we break down how this can happen and offer guidance on making smarter, values-aligned choices for your retirement investing.

What Is Retirement Investing?

Retirement investing refers to the strategies and tools used to build a nest egg that can support you once you stop working. Common vehicles include employer-sponsored plans like 401(k) and 403(B) plans, as well as individual accounts such as Roth IRAs and rollover IRAs.

Many investors choose mutual funds or target date funds within these accounts. While these funds are managed by reputable companies like Vanguard, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price, the underlying research and investment selections may not always align with your personal values. The way an index fund may be created might include companies that generate significant revenue from predatory lending practices.

How predatory lending can slip inside of your investing?

The majority of people find themselves investing for their retirement, inside of mutual funds through their employer sponsored retirement plans. These plans can take the form of 401(k), 403(b), SEP IRA and others. In these plans, your employer facilitates the saving and investing by coordinating with a payroll company, custodian, and investment provider. Often employers hire a financial advisor (either a registered representative or an investment advisor representative). Often times, well-meaning employers will reach out to directly investment companies like Vanguard and Fidelity, foregoing a financial professional. They often pick investment companies known for their brand names as mutual fund providers. While this should cut costs to the employee, it exposes the company and its fiduciaries to unshared or distributed risk with a professional fiduciary.

They typically select funds from well-known companies based on cost efficiency without consideration for ethical research. As a result, funds that replicate broad market indexes without thorough screening can include companies that benefit from predatory lending practices.

I recently worked with an economic justice non-profit that specifically focuses on eliminating anti-predatory lending. In fact, they have fought for legislation that has helped either eliminate or reduce the impact of predatory lenders. When I started working with them, they proudly said that they were working with Vanguard through a direct relationship. Typically, most employers pick the target date mutual funds of the investment provider that they work with. This company had done the same. While many people exalt, the value of reducing the fees inside of investments, they don’t have the investment research to question whether or not that is actually the best option (see my fee adjusted returns article).

This organization, that proudly partnered with Vanguard due to its low fees, discovered that their investments inadvertently included companies benefiting from predatory lending. This raised serious questions about the real cost of chasing lower fees without understanding what lies behind the index funds.

In their pursuit for looking out for they employees, this organization had unknowingly allowed predatory lenders to slip into their investments, compromising their own mission statement.

How does that happen?

Unlike companies like Fidelity and T Rowe Price, Vanguard is in the business of replicating research that it gets from other research providers. For example, the often referenced S&P 500 simply is research from Standard and Poors. They take all of the publicly traded companies across the world and do various analysis. The S&P 500 is one of the most basic. It simply is the largest by market capitalization 500 companies in the United States. It doesn’t question what business or businesses these companies are involved in. It simply rank orders them by size.

As you might expect, there are companies that have a substantial amount of their business derived from predatory lending. That doesn’t mean that their company name includes the words predatory lending. In fact, I’ve yet to find someone who has actually investigated what they’re actually invested in. The Vanguard target mutual fund series link is here.

The As You Sow Invest Your Values 401k website rates target mutual funds. If you go to the page where the subheading is, you’ll see that index funds usually get an F grade as they don’t have built in exclusions in their prospectus. Non excluding companies on the basis of not fitting a social criteria doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re gonna make any more money. Fidelity and T. Rowe Price for example, do not follow Vanguard‘s lead. They spend time and research deciding which companies to include and not to include in their investments. This is known as active investing.

The MSCI KLD index is an index that has been combed for certain values. You can find more information on it here along with its methodology. iShares makes it possible to invest in this index.

Understanding 403(B) and Roth IRA Options

Many employees participate in 403(B) plans, especially those working in education, healthcare, or non-profit sectors. A 403(B) is similar to a 401(k) but is tailored to certain organizations. The investment options available within a 403(B) might mirror those in a 401(k), including mutual funds and target date funds. However, if the chosen fund does not screen out companies engaged in predatory practices, you could be supporting business models that are not in line with your values.

Similarly, a Roth IRA is an individual retirement account where contributions are made with after-tax dollars. The money in a Roth IRA grows tax-free, and qualified withdrawals in retirement are also tax-free. Because Roth IRAs are typically self-directed, investors have the flexibility to choose funds that align with their ethical standards. You might decide to invest in funds that consciously avoid companies with ties to predatory lending practices.

Is it necessary to invest in predatory lenders to make money?

First, I compare the Russell 1000 index versus the MSCI KLD index and a custom developed index based on excluding predatory lenders (YourStake Anti-predatory). You can quickly see the substantially better values adjusted returns for the KLD and the Anti-predatory, lending custom index from YourStake.

What about the effect on returns?

You see that the Anti-Predatory did the best with the Russell 1000 slightly besting the KLD. In this case, YourStake considered companies from the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI). The MSCI ACWI captures 2,647 large and mid-cap representations across 23 Developed Markets (DM) and 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries. The Russell 1000 only considers the largest 1000 US Companies and the MSCI KLD extracts 400 companies from 2,312 US Companies (MSCI USA IMI)^*.

While companies most often look for a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) to aid their employees and investing for retirement, there are more choices than simply the target date mutual fund. I prefer asset allocation funds or balance funds. Asset allocation funds align to a specified static combination of stocks and bonds. For example, 65% stock and 35% bond. Balanced funds typically have a 60% stock and 40% bond and significantly pre-date the target date fund.

Making Smarter Choices for Your Retirement

So, what should you do if you’re concerned about the potential inclusion of predatory lending in your retirement investments? Here are a few practical steps:

1. Review Your Funds:
   Research companies like The American Friends Service Committee and As You Sow allow you to screen for certain values. Look for any mention of screening criteria related to social concerns like predatory lending.
2. Consult with a Trusted Financial Advisor:
   It is vital to work with a financial advisor who understands both your financial needs and your ethical concerns. You could also look for advisors with this focus and that have access to research such as that from YourStake. InvestmentNews is even capturing an ESG Advisor in its Advisor of the Year Categories. First Affirmative is another network of advisors aligned with this practice.
3. Leverage Self-Directed Accounts:
   If you have a Roth IRA or a rollover IRA, consider choosing funds or individual stocks that match your ethical standards. Self-directed accounts give you more control over your investment choices. It can be the reason you decide to rollover an old 401(k) or 403(b).

Concluding thoughts on predatory lending and retirement investing

It’s much easier to exclude predatory lending from your retirement investing if your retirement money is in a rollover IRA or Roth IRA. If you are an employer selecting investments for your employees, you should be thinking about whether or not predatory lending might have you seen by your employees negatively. This and many other issues may push your employees not to invest at all.

Retirement investing should be about more than just chasing returns—it’s about building a secure future that also reflects your personal values. By taking a closer look at the funds in your portfolio, you can avoid unknowingly supporting companies engaged in predatory lending. Whether you’re saving in a 403(B), a Roth IRA, or a 401(k), make sure you understand where your money is going and the research behind those investments.

If you’re a employer, a retirement plan is to be for the benefit of the employee. Forcing them into something that goes against their interests and beliefs does not completely keep their interest in mind. I believe you owe it to your employees to at least consider issues like predatory lending in the decision-making process of your investment menu. This is especially true if you are an organization like the one discussed earlier, where your charter may have a social aim.

With careful research and the right guidance, you can build a portfolio that not only grows your wealth but also stays true to your values. In the end, a well-considered approach to retirement investing will provide you with financial security and peace of mind for years to come.

The post Is Your 403(b) And Roth IRA Retirement Investing Supporting Predatory Lenders? appeared first on Financial Level.

Many investors who prospered from gold’s bull market will be surprised by how profits on their gold investments are taxed.

Gold is a collectible in the tax code, giving it less favorable treatment than most other investments.

The first unfavorable treatment is that IRAs and other individually-directed retirement accounts (both traditional and Roth versions) aren’t allowed to own collectibles. The purchase of a collectible is treated as a distribution to the IRA owner. There are exceptions for certain types of coins and bullion. I won’t the treatment of collectibles in retirement accounts in detail in this post but discuss some major rules.

The second unfavorable treatment is that sales of collectibles in taxable accounts have a maximum long-term capital gains tax rate of 28% instead of the 20% top rate for other investments.

The exceptions for certain gold coins and bullion that apply to retirement plans don’t apply to the maximum long-term capital gains rate.

Exactly how gold is taxed varies based on how you choose to invest. I’ll review the major investment vehicles.

Bullion. The classic way to invest in gold is to buy bullion as either coins or bars that you either hold yourself or have stored at a facility.

Long-term gains on bullion are taxed at your ordinary income tax rate up to a maximum rate of 28%. That’s not a flat rate of 28%. Profits in gold are taxed at the lower of your ordinary income tax rate and 28%.

Short-term gains on bullion, like other investments, are taxed as ordinary income. An asset must be held for more than one year for any gains or losses to be long-term.

Before determining taxes on capital gains, a taxpayer first offsets, or nets, gains and losses against each other.

First, sales of collectibles are separated from sales of other investments. Then, in each category, transactions are separated into those held for one year or less (short-term gains and losses) and those held for more than one year (long-term gains and losses).

The short-term gains and losses are applied against each other to determine if there is a net short-term gain or loss. The same is done with long-term transactions.

Then, the net short-term gain or loss is applied against the net long-term gain or loss for each category.

Suppose Max Profits in his short-term non-collectible investments had $15,000 of losses and $5,000 of gains. That’s a $10,000 net short-term loss.

Max also had in long-term non-collectible transactions $5,000 of losses and $10,000 of gains. That’s a net $5,000 long-term gain for the year.

Max nets the $10,000 net short-term loss against the $5,000 net long-term gain to arrive at a net $5,000 short-term capital gain loss for the year in non-collectible investments.

The collectible investment transactions are netted the same way.

A net loss in the non-collectible category can be applied against a net gain in the collectibles. A long-term capital loss carryforward from previous years also can be applied against net gains in the collectibles.

Only after the full netting process is the capital gains tax computed on the net gain or loss. Through this process losses in non-collectible investments can reduce taxable gains in collectibles.

There are a few cases when a taxpayer will pay more than a 28% rate on net long-term gains from collectibles, such as when the alternative minimum tax applies or the taxpayer takes the Section 199A qualified business income deduction available to the self -employed and some owners of pass-through entities, such as partnerships and S corporations.

The tax rate also will be higher when the taxpayer is subject to the 3.8% net investment income tax.

The taxpayer’s state also might impose an income tax on gains from collectibles.

ETFs. A cheaper and more liquid way to own gold is through exchange-traded funds. The ETF is likely to pay much less than you for insurance, shipping, and storage and likely will pay a lower bid/ask spread when buying and selling.

The main gold ETFs are organized as trusts with ownership interests that trade on the stock exchanges.

You can buy or sell their shares any time the markets are open and as quickly as any stock. The ETFs generally trade at very modest premiums or discounts to net asset value.

The shares of the ETFs are investments in collectibles for purposes of the capital gains tax rules, according to IRS rulings. Sales of shares of the ETFs in taxable accounts will be taxed the same as bullion.

But shares of the ETFs are not considered prohibited collectibles for IRAs. The investor is purchasing shares of a fund. The shareowner does not have a legal claim on a share of the bullion held by the ETF and cannot force a distribution. If the ETF gives the investor a claim on gold and the right to force a distribution of bullion, then it is treated the same as direct ownership of bullion.

Futures. You can trade gold futures yourself or own an ETF that does the trading.

Futures contracts aren’t considered direct ownership of gold, so they aren’t collectibles, though not all IRA custodians allow futures investments.

Futures are taxed very differently from other investments, and an owner of a futures ETF is taxed just as if the owner held the individual futures contracts.

All gains in futures are treated as 60% short-term and 40% long-term, regardless of the holding period. In addition, the futures contracts are marked to market at the end of each calendar year, and taxes are computed on the paper gains and losses.

Most ETFs that trade futures contracts past their gains and losses to shareholders’ tax returns each year. Net gains must be included in gross income, even if there weren’t any distributions and the investor didn’t sell any fund shares.

Indirect ownership through ETNs. An ETN is a note, or debt, in which the note issuer (usually a major bank or broker) owes the investor the initial investment plus or minus the return of an index, changes in the spot price of an asset, or some other benchmark. Shares of an ETN are traded on the exchanges just like stock shares.

If the firm backing the ETN has financial difficulties, the note might not be paid in full. Bankruptcy of the issuing firm could result in a complete loss.

In general, an ETN is taxed the same as a bond or bond fund. Upon a sale, the investor has a gain or loss that can be short-term or long-term, depending on how long the ETN was held.

Any distributions from the ETF are treated as interest income.

Owning an ETN shouldn’t be treated as ownership of a collectible or a futures contract, regardless of the underlying asset tracked by the ETN. But the IRS hasn’t issued definitive rules on the taxation of ETNs.

Equities. An investor can purchase the shares of companies that mine and produce gold and perhaps other metals.

For tax purposes, shares of gold mining companies are treated the same as other stocks, not as collectibles. Gold miners’ shares can be owned in IRA.

When owned in taxable accounts, the shares qualify for the regular maximum long-term capital gains rate when held for more than one year, not the collectibles tax rate. Shorter holding periods result in short-term capital gains. Losses also are deducted the same as capital losses on other stock shares.

Gold mining company shares can be purchased individually, through open-end mutual funds, or through ETFs.

The post What You Need To Know About Taxes And Gold Profits appeared first on Financial Level.