Posts Tagged ‘Retirement Planning’

How many of us will retire with $1 million or more in savings? More of us ought to – in fact, more of us may need to, given inflation and the rising cost of health care. Sadly, few pre-retirees have accumulated that much. A 2015 Government Accountability Office analysis found that the average American aged…

Contrary to popular belief, classic pension plans have not disappeared. Corporations have mostly jettisoned them, but highly profitable small businesses are giving them a second look. Why are small business owners deciding to adopt old-school, employer-funded retirement plans? The tax breaks attached to a defined benefit plan may be substantial. In fact, if these plans…

How does a single parent plan for retirement? Diligently. Regularly. Rigorously. Here are some steps that may help, whether you are just beginning to do this or well on your way. Setting a household budget can be a wise first step. Most households live without budgets – and because of that financial inattention, some of…

The end of a year makes us think about last-minute things we need to address and good habits we want to start keeping. To that end, here are seven aspects of your financial life to think about as this year leads into the next… Your investments. Review your approach to investing and make sure it…

Each October, the Internal Revenue Service announces changes to annual contribution limits for IRAs and workplace retirement plans. Are any of these limits rising for 2017? Will IRA contribution limits go up? Unfortunately, no. Annual contributions for Roth and traditional IRAs remain capped at $5,500 for 2017, with an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution permitted for…

Are you worried about retiring? Many baby boomers are, and they have reason to be, given low interest rates, subpar returns on equities, increasing health care costs, and the issues facing Social Security. Now, do yourself a favor. Read that last sentence again, and ask yourself, “which of those four things can I control?” The…

Imagine if you could preview your retirement in advance. In a sense, you can. Financially and mentally, you can “rehearse” for the third act of your life, while still enjoying the second. Pretend you are retired for a month or two. Take two steps to act out your rehearsal – one having to do with…

Every day, articles appear urging people to save for retirement. These articles are so prevalent that it may seem like retirement planning is entirely about getting people to save. Actually, retirement planning concerns much more than that. It has another aspect well worth discussing: the eventual spending of all of that money that has been…

Will you live to 100? Your odds of becoming a centenarian may be improving. Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control reported that the population of Americans aged 100 or older rose 44% between 2000-2014. The Pew Research Center says that the world had more than four times as many centenarians in 2015 as…

Do you want a simple retirement plan? A plan you can implement easily as an independent contractor or small business owner, without a lot of paperwork? A SIMPLE IRA may be the answer. A SIMPLE IRA plan gives you a tax break, while giving you and your employees a way to build retirement savings. True…