Retirement

getty In order to make the most of your retirement savings in your former employer’s plan, you need to act sooner rather than later. This is particularly true if you have recently changed your job, have become disabled, or are nearing 59 ½. It is necessary to understand what options you have and the inherent

getty Many estate planners will admit that a lot of the plans don’t achieve the owners’ goals. Most of these failures were avoidable. The failures most often result from the nontechnical aspects of the plan, what some refer to as the human side, or soft side, of an estate plan. There’s not a lot of

getty Are composite plans, that is, risk-sharing plans that protect participants from outliving their assets even if employers are no longer willing, or even able, to make this guarantee, a part of the future of retirement? I’ve no doubt of that. Is every component of the legal structure of the enabling legislation, the GROW Act,

Show your love by making sure your spouse will be ok when you’re gone getty You don’t need to be an actuary to predict that for married couples, there will come a time when one spouse will be aging alone. You can see insights on key differences between how men and women experience widowhood in

Fraudsters Take Advantage of PPP Loans A Los Angeles man is accused of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in PPP funds at a Las … [+] Vegas casino. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images) PA Images via Getty Images I have written about how to legitimately apply for and seek forgiveness of

By Roger McIntosh, Next Avenue Contributor getty As our country braces against the ebb and flow of mandates to stay-at-home, we should give serious consideration to the repercussions of self-quarantine or isolation on the mental and physical well-being of those most vulnerable to Covid-19. As a health psychologist and expert in human immunodeficiency, I know

TOPLINE Senate Republicans unveiled a new coronavirus relief proposal Monday that would replace the extra weekly $600 unemployment aid (which end this week) with a 70% wage-replacement program—but state labor departments are scrambling to figure out how their overwrought systems would handle the payments. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for an extension of unemployment

The CARES Act offers many opportunities for relief for businesses and individuals during the … [+] pandemic. getty 2020 has been a colossal mess. For the first time in 100 years, we’ve encountered a NON-manmade economic crisis. The economic punch delivered by the coronavirus pandemic is staggering; dropping US GDP by the second largest decline

Are there cases when the amount of guaranteed income can be decreased? Generally, if an annuity contract states that a guaranteed income level remains for life then this is the case as long as distributions do not exceed the guaranteed levels. But some annuity providers make clear that there is an option to receive more

getty Separate and apart from the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) is the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) program.  Initially enacted many years ago to provide loans to businesses that have suffered from major storms, droughts, and other federally-declared disasters, the SBA has already advanced over $150 billion in EIDL money to borrowers who have verified

Risk reward ratio / risk management concept : Risk and reward bags on a basic balance scale in equal … [+] position, depicts investors use a risk reward ratio to compare the expected return of an investment getty With puts and calls, forget sexy. Go for functionality. It’s not so boring, after all. Using put

As benefits expire, rent comes due, the school year looms and states struggle, Washington’s warring factions are racing to rescue the economy—and their political fortunes. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, Mario Tama/Getty Images, Alex Wong/Getty Images, Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images. Design by Forbes The coronavirus pandemic has taken an inconceivable toll on the American

Volunteer tutoring students in classroom getty In an earlier post, we explored how the practice we call “retirement” is transforming under the influence of the Baby Boomers. Now let’s look ahead to what we anticipate happens next. In the first chapter of James Michener’s captivating 1959 book Hawaii, he talks about how for millions of

When federal “regulators” go boldly where no regulator has ever gone before–to promote retirement … [+] gambling, WATCH OUT! getty Private equity—speculative investments in the stocks of companies not publicly traded and hard-to-value—“has the potential to hasten the retirement day for American workers,” Trump’s DOL Deputy Secretary recently gratuitously advised. Trump’s SEC Chairman Jay Clayton

Several retirement trends have been brought into focus by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most disturbing is the number of workers between 50 and 65 who are in jobs without retirement benefits. Today half of all workers don’t have access to a work sponsored retirement plan. According to a recent study by Alicia H.

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – JUNE 10: President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gestures during his … [+] daily morning briefing on June 10, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images) Getty Images When Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, was elected as president of Mexico in 2018, he was characterized by

getty There’s something curious about mobile and online personal finance apps and websites, sometimes called fintech. They’re not used much by people over 50, especially low-to-moderate income older adults. What I’d tell my fellow 50-plusers: It’s not you, it’s them — the fintech designers and marketers. “Online banking has never been more important than it

This strategy offers a safe balance between too much frugality and too much spending in retirement Getty Images/iStockphoto Many retirees are spending their retirement savings quite frugally, according to a handful of recent reports and studies. These studies—from the Employee Benefits Research Institute, United Income, and the Boston College Center for Retirement Research—reveal that as

getty When to collect Social Security and which strategy to use has become a popular topic over the last few years, and a lot of ink has been spilled on the subject. Usually it focuses on how much you might be able to collect through retirement by waiting, or perhaps how much you would give up

TOPLINE  Lawmakers are unlikely to put together another federal stimulus package before certain key parts of the CARES Act—most notably the expanded unemployment insurance—expire. Here’s what you need to know.  Storm clouds pass over the Capitol dome as a severe thunderstorm approaches Washington on Wednesday, … [+] July 22, 2020. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty