Retirement

As recounted on Twitter and the Illinois politics website Capitol Fax, Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot had some strong words on pensions at last week’s investor conference: “We’ve really struggled to get Springfield to pay attention to pensions. . . The problem is not going away, it’s only going to intensify. At some point it’s my

The signs of slipping can be very subtle at first. Mom forgets an appointment. Dad can’t remember how to get somewhere he’s been a zillion times. Your aging parent is just starting to seem a little off, a little more forgetful and it’s happening enough for you to notice. Should you do something or is

Today’s column addresses questions about whether Social Security spousal benefits might be available before their spouse takes their retirement benefits, why spousal benefits were terminated after filing for retirement benefits and how to determine when to file for maximum benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president

The labor market is slowly recovering, albeit in fits and starts. The current recovery is leaving many older workers behind. They now face the prospect of lengthy spells of unemployment, depleted savings and pressures to retire early with permanently lower Social Security benefits. The recession hit older workers harder this time than somewhat younger workers.

About a month ago, Illinois governor JB Pritzker signed legislation that boosted pension benefits for a group of Chicago firefighters, despite the urging of Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot not to do so, because of the cost to the already-woefully-underfunded plan. As I wrote back in January, this change could drop the funded status from 18%

The labor market is barely and apparently very slowly starting to recover and employers are already claiming that they cannot find enough workers. The Washington Post reports of anecdotal evidence that employers in the restaurant industry, among others, supposedly cannot find enough people to work for them. Most of the labor market data, especially a

By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue Cynthia Murray, who turns 65 years this month, is a 20-year Walmart WMT associate in Laurel, Md. who puts in 32 hours in a four-day workweek. In February 2021, she got a 30-cent an hour raise boosting her hourly wage to $15.27. But even at that level, Murray can’t afford to

By Nancy Collamer, Next Avenue The freelance market is heating up. During the first quarter of 2021, the Freelancer.com platform posted over a half million jobs. And during the same period, FlexJobs.com reported a 10%+ jump in postings for freelancers in a variety of career categories. It’s a trend that’s unlikely to cool anytime soon and

A friend called me the other day to ask a question that I know many share and that many financial advisors are hearing, especially from those who are currently in retirement. Here’s how the conversation went, along with a few notes specifically for financial advisors to help in the similar conversations you’re having with your

By Arlene Weintraub, Next Avenue Only 58% of Americans age 65 or older have broadband internet access at home, which means 22 million people that age lack it, according to the nonprofit Older Adult Technology Services (OATS). This became especially problematic during the pandemic, when so many people needed to get on the internet for telehealth

If you haven’t filed your 2020 tax return, are you still dealing with complexities created when RMDs (required minimum distributions) were waived for 2020? RMDs are mandated distributions (withdrawals) from tax-deferred accounts, such as IRAs. Doing your taxes for 2020 can be confusing, given that RMDs were suspended for 2020 in March by the CARES

Clutter is one thing. Lots of us have unneeded items in our homes. Books abound on how to de-clutter but these do not seem to apply to aging parents. It bothers the adult children when they see it and say something but the elders do not seem to want to change the situation. Or perhaps

According to the National Retail Federation Mother’s Day spending is expected to total a record $28.1 billion this year, up $1.4 billion from last year. Can you imagine if instead of splurging on flowers and gifts, that much money were to pour into women’s retirement accounts this month? Of course, that’s not going to happen.

Shocking that a movie about discarded older people could win an Oscar! And not just any Oscar — Best Picture! “Nomadland’s,” starring Frances McDormand and directed by Chloe Zhao, prize means millions more people will watch the movie and learn about Amazon’s “CamperForce program” and the roaming ‘nomads’ who work there, especially older workers. McDormand’s

The Roth IRA is one of the largest gifts ever bestowed upon the American taxpayers by congress. While many people ignore the Roth IRA, it has been around for more than 20 years. Even small contributions over time can grow into a substantial amount of tax-free income in retirement. Sadly, the Roth IRA is often

If passed, the ‘Secure Act 2.0’ would significantly alter the retirement landscape. Officially called the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, the bill is essentially a follow up to the 2019 Secure Act. After approval from the Ways and Means Committee yesterday, the proposed legislation is now going to the House. If voted into

Pre-retirees and retirees have been trying to squeeze out extra yield on fixed income investments for many years in the current low-interest environment. And lately the pickings have been pretty slim. However, if you broaden your goal from simply earning more interest on your savings to reliably increasing your financial security in retirement, you might

Back last month, I observed that supporters of greater federal government funding of child and eldercare, in the form of the American Jobs Plan spending, had taken to calling this “infrastructure spending” by redefining infrastructure away from referring to basic physical systems such as roads, electric or water systems, to a new meaning of “job-enabling

Rules of thumb are common in financial literature. Who can disagree with “buy low, sell high” or “decrease your risk exposure by diversifying your portfolio”? Author and retirement planner Dana Anspach, CFP®, RMA®, observes that these kinds of rules of thumb can be useful to point the way, but beyond that, may lose their value. In

Let’s talk stimulus. First, let’s talk about someone who normally does not file an income tax return, then someone who does. Then, we’ll discuss what you can do if your stimulus payment got lost. Don’t Owe Taxes? The first two rounds of Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) were, according to the IRS, “advance payments of the