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10 Things to Know About Planning Your Retirement Income
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Historically, the United States had three strong legs of the retirement stool: a well-funded Social Security system, substantial corporate pensions with retiree health benefits and a strong personal savings rate. Unfortunately, the booming population coming of retirement age has changed all that. Now, the responsibility for providing for retirement income has largely shifted away from the government and employers to individuals.
State and local government pension plans are typically underfunded, cutting back on benefits and raising retirement ages. In the private sector, only 42% of Fortune 1000 companies still maintain a defined benefit plan in which participants continue to accrue retirement benefits.1 As for retiree health plans, the percentage of large employers that sponsor them has dropped from 46% in 1991 to just 8% today.
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Estate Planning Checklist
You have spent your life working hard to create a secure and comfortable lifestyle for your family and loved one, so one of the greatest gifts you can leave your survivors is an organized estate. Estate planning is a task that many people tend to put off. However, the time you spend now will help your loved ones to cope later and will leave your financial affairs in good order.
Here is a checklist to help you get started on organizing your estate, no matter where you are in your estate planning goals. Depending on your individual situation, you should also address you plans with your loved ones and the executor of your will, and, as with any serious or complicated decisions, consult with your legal, financial, and tax advisers.
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Tackling the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 in 5 Easy Steps
What is the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012?
This act addresses the expiration of certain tax provisions centered around what are called the Bush-era tax cuts. It tackles the tax revenue side of a Congressional deficit reduction plan, was passed by the United States Congress on January 1, 2013, and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 2, 2013.
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The 10% Average Market Return Lie, And What It Means To Investors
Talk to almost any financial advisor, and they will tell you that the stock market, “long‐term”, averages a 10% rate of return. They love to point to the past 70 years, in an attempt to prove their case. If you ask them to define “long‐term”, they will almost certainly say, “10 years or longer”.
And you know what? Over the last 70 years, the market has averaged a 10% return per year. But here’s my question. We have market data going back to 1896, so why are we using just part of the data and not all of it?
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