Retirement Watch Weekly
The Little-Known Estate Planning Advantages of Revocable Trusts
Many estate planners recommend revocable Living Trusts to their clients. Often simply called living trusts, the tool has been around for centuries. Despite its longevity, many people don’t realize the many advantages of using living trusts in their estate plans. Usually living trusts are recommended as a way to avoid probate, and they are one […]
Deflationary Forces Abate in the Midst of Mixed Economic News
Consider joining me for my presentation to the Washington, D.C., chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) on June 18at the Richard J. Ernst Community Cultural Center on the Annandale campus of Northern Virginia Community College, 8333 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. and the program starts at 9:30 […]
Estate Planning Strategies for Navigating the Kiddie Tax
Shifting assets and income to your children and grandchildren can provide many benefits, including tax benefits. That’s why Congress set up hurdles to keep you from enjoying all the potential tax benefits. When planning gifts of investments to your loved ones, be aware of the kiddie tax. This tax was created in 1986 to reduce […]
The Key, Overlooked Retirement Spending Expense
A major retirement expense is overlooked or downplayed in most retirement planning. It is one of the largest expenses in the budgets of those 65 and older, yet it is taken for granted by both individuals and many financial professionals. Transportation accounts for 16% of annual spending by Americans 65 and older, according to the […]
Building Your Long-Term Care Plan
The cost of long-term care is one of the major retirement financial worries. Survey after survey confirms that. The data also confirm that few people do anything about long-term care, other than worry. One survey even found that many people would rather go to the dentist than talk to someone about LTC. That needn’t be […]
2016: A Good Year to Convert IRAs?
This could be the best year in a while to maximize the benefits of converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Even if it didn’t seem to make sense in the past, it might in 2016. You know the benefits of a Roth IRA. There are no income taxes on the IRA’s earnings or […]
Do you have investment advice other than the portfolios?
I’ve always recommended that investors simplify matters by consolidating their mutual funds at either a discount broker or at one or two fund companies. Many of these firms also let investors save money by offering to trade funds with no transaction fees (NTF programs). I regularly list the funds I recommend in each investment category […]
Do you tell me when to sell my investments?
Absolutely. There’s no point in generating positive returns if you don’t keep your profits. I follow each recommendation I make and give specific sell advice. I continue to provide updates on long-term recommendations until I say to sell them. When I think it is close to the time for selling an investment, in each issue […]
