Retirement

By Holly Lawrence, Next Avenue Contributor Getty Two of America’s most influential advocates for caregivers, Maria Shriver and Ai-jen Poo, recently partnered on a poll that examines the state of caregiving in our country. One of the poll’s most significant findings, according to Shriver and Poo: We are a nation of caregivers in crisis, unified

Getty So much about retirement planning is about making smart money decisions to get you to the time when you’ll retire. But what about managing your money after you retire? The latest Friends Talk Money podcast episode, which you can hear wherever you get podcasts, has some advice on just that. Full disclosure: I’m one

Roth IRA strategies will be much more attractive under the new SECURE Act. Getty It’s not a surprise to find that there are several advantages to a Roth IRA: they can grow tax-free, they are not subject to Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), and they can pass tax-free to a spouse or heir. The new SECURE

shot of word retirement plan Getty The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019, which passed the House in a sweeping 417-3 vote, was incorporated into an end-of-year spending bill and was signed by the President on December 20, 2019. SECURE will vastly change the way savers think about saving for

For a naturally frugal person, the decision to pursue a lifestyle that embraces financial independence retire early (FIRE) tactics isn’t necessarily a tough choice. The hard part comes with figuring out what tactics to use as you start. There are very few easy to digest guides as you adjust your savings rate to 25% or

By Donna Freedman, Next Avenue Contributor Getty “Have a side hustle” is common advice for people who want to ensure their financial survival in case their full-time job goes away, survive unemployment or help boost retirement savings. About 28% of workers have one, according to the new Gallup Great Jobs Survey. One way to launch

Senior man reading online news on smartphone outdoors. Getty Today we’re going to look ahead to 2020—and specific sectors to target for rising profits (and dividends!) in both stocks and 7%+ yielding closed-end funds (CEFs). We’re also going to look inside a worrisome piece of news you might have heard about 2019—that analysts expect corporate

©Nitr – stock.adobe.com How To Get The Same Return With 1/3 Less Risk…Sometimes The original commercials for Miller Lite Beer started in the 1970s. Sports stars like Mickey Mantle, entertainers like Rodney Dangerfield and others took part. One of the key lines in many of those commercials went something like this: “…and it has 1/3

Young couple is checking their finances with a smile on a face. Man is using smartphone, while woman … [+] is writing down. Getty Are you worried about a market meltdown in 2020? Fair enough–stocks went straight up for an entire decade, making a pullback more than due as we head into the 20s. Now,

Especially at Christmastime many people are inspired to do good for others. What is most impressive is when people dedicate their lives to helping those less fortunate. This story in my Great Entrepreneur Series is about an executive who found a calling and built something truly important.   Pete Brady and the Handy Dandy Handyman

This article is part of a series; click here to read Part 1. The safety-first school of thought was originally derived from academic models of how people allocate their resources over a lifetime to maximize lifetime satisfaction. Academics have studied these models since the 1920s to figure out how rational people make optimal decisions. In

Change Concept, Road Sign theme. Getty The SECURE Act of 2019 has passed. This bill is the product of bipartisan effort, which should give thinking Americans a lead-in-the-gut realization about the sorry state of retirement preparedness and the importance of this issue. If the two sides of the aisle are working together, it might be

CLEVELAND, OH – NOVEMBER 13 – Birds flock around the Manistee, a “Maritimer” class bulk freighter, … [+] as it is towed down The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio on November 13, 2014. The Seafarers International Union, Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes, and Inland Waters multi-employer pension plan is 143% funded. (Photo by Angelo Merendino/Corbis via Getty

Photo: Getty Let’s briefly think back to 2008, when the world was “falling apart” at the hands of the latest devastating (albeit temporary) market correction. The S&P 500 ended that year down roughly 38.5%. The uncomfortable joke around many offices was that a “401(k) is now a 201(k)” as the markets pillaged all those who

The Capitol building in downtown Washington D.C. Getty On April 3, 2019, I wrote an article titled, “Will The SECURE Act Make Your Retirement More Secure?”, providing a summary of the key provisions of this bill, which had just been passed by the House Ways and Means Committee. The provisions of the bill were not

Getty Imagine, you’re ready to transition into retirement, financially secure, barely having planned for it. Is that even possible without winning the lottery, receiving a large inheritance or having an old-fashioned pension plan? As more employers add automatic features to their 401(k) retirement plans, one day this could be possible. Some pieces of the puzzle

Getty This is part one of a two part series on expatriating to save taxes. The other day I got a call from a client who was concerned about the threat of tax increases if Democrats win the presidency and a Senate majority in 2020. He was particularly worried about the wealth tax proposed by

By Liz Seegert, Next Avenue Contributor Getty Images Pete Buttigieg has a plan to help those in need of long-term care. A really ambitious plan. The South Bend, Ind., mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful recently released his Dignity and Security in Retirement proposal, part of his campaign’s efforts to address the very real and

Compass with needle pointing the word retirement, concept image to illustrate retirement planning Getty Feeling old enough to worry about retirement, you have finally decided to check your 401k account to see how your money is invested.  You look at the investment options in your plan and they seem to be mostly mutual funds. Then you

How are annuity taxation and attorneys alike? For both, the answer is “it depends.”  Contrary to popular wisdom, there is no simple answer to how annuities are taxed. Yes, they are generally income tax deferred, but there is more to it than that. Taxation depends on how the annuity is owned, and how distributions are made from the