social security
3 Common Questions About Social Security
While Social Security shouldn’t be relied upon to be the sole source of income during retirement, it can play an important role in your overall financial strategy for retirement. But making sense of the basic ins and outs of Social Security can be overwhelming. Here are three questions people commonly ask as they approach retirement…
Read MoreEquifax Cybersecurity Incident
You have likely heard that on July 29, 2017, Equifax discovered a breach of some of the sensitive information that they maintain in their data bases. Equifax estimates that as many of 143 million Americans were impacted by this hack. This data security incident may have exposed some of your personal information, including your Social…
Read MoreMaintaining Independence in Retirement
Independence is something we have to work for throughout our lifetimes, whether we want to or not. As babies, we push our way up from four limbs to two and start walking our way into messes. As toddlers, we profess “No!” and “Mine!” to make our point. In the teenage years, we rebel against parents…
Read MoreWhat is a “safe” retirement withdrawal rate?
In an investment portfolio, the withdrawal rate is the monetary percentage from which a retiree draws from his account each year. A “safe” withdrawal rate is a fixed percentage distributed as a systematic withdrawal that reasonably expects portfolio funds to last throughout the retiree’s lifetime. When determining your personal retirement withdrawal rate, it’s important to…
Read MoreWhen Should You Retire?
About half of Americans retire between the ages of 61 and 65. Among today’s retired households, a traditional pension or retirement plan appears to be one of the differences between a high- and low-income lifestyle. That’s because among the 41 percent of retirees whose annual income is less than $25,000, only 21 percent receive income from…
Read MoreLive Long or Prosper? How Retirees can do Both.
Some retirees underspend throughout their golden years, sacrificing quality of life to assure they don’t outlive their income. Others resist their desire to be philanthropic because of concerns that donations could leave them short on money down the road. A market downturn during the early years of retirement can be one of the biggest risks…
Read MoreFacts About IRAs
While an IRA may have a lower annual contribution limit (2017: $5,500; $6,500 age 50 or older) than a workplace-sponsored retirement plan, opening an IRA can provide an opportunity to help diversify your retirement assets. An IRA offers certain benefits that are generally not available in a 401(k), such as: Lower cost Larger spectrum of…
Read MoreTax Strategies for Retirement Portfolios
Tax-deferred financial vehicles are an effective way to accumulate assets while you’re working. However, once retired, individuals should carefully consider how (and when) to position assets to help optimize growth and income while reducing their tax liability. The following are some points to remember about distributions. Taxable Investment Portfolio Short-term capital gains are taxed at…
Read MoreRetirement: Spending vs. Income Planning
One common rule of thumb for retirement savings is to replace 80 percent of your pre-retirement income — or an even higher percentage. But what if you currently spend more than you earn? Or what if you spend much less than you earn? Perhaps a better measure would be to base your retirement income on your…
Read MoreThe Old-School Stool
The proverbial “three-legged stool” of retirement funding traditionally comprised Social Security, a company pension and personal savings, but that stool has been wobbly for quite some time. In fact, the traditional pension has been replaced largely by employer-sponsored 401(k) plans. This development firmly places the responsibility of two of the three stool legs on individual…
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