Retirement Watch Weekly
Beating the Retiree Tax Surprise
The granddaddy of all the stealth taxes continues to thrive, snaring more taxpayers each year. Though designed to hit only the wealthiest taxpayers, it now is imposed on many others, and its prime payers often are those in or near retirement. The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) essentially is a second tax system. You compute your […]
November 2014
November 26, 2014 03:00 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review Happy Thanksgiving to each of you. Since there isn’t going to be significant data reported Friday and markets will close early on Friday. I’m doing the weekly summary on Wednesday. A lot of data was reported in this holiday-shortened week. Markets took a break […]
Analyzing the New Money Market Fund Rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission revised the rules for money market funds earlier in 2014, making the first substantive overhaul of the funds in decades. Investors need to understand the rules and consider if they want to make changes to where they cash is held after the rules are effective. The first thing to know […]
How to Review Your Estate Planning Essentials
You need a complete, up-to-date estate plan now more than ever, regardless of the value of your estate. Estate Planning never was all about taxes, though people thought it was back when estate taxes clipped many estates. Because few estates will face a federal tax burden, we can focus on the real issues of estate […]
Medicare Myths and Mistakes
Medicare and medical expenses are among the most misunderstood parts of retirement and retirement spending. Many surveys have documented how ill-informed both financial professionals and individuals are on these topics. It’s no wonder that the leading cause of financial difficulties in retirement often is cited as medical expenses that aren’t covered by insurance or Medicare. […]
The Smart, Easy Way of Charitable Giving
Two refrains are quite common among taxpayers as the year draws toward its close. One, of course, is the inquiry for deductions and other strategies that will reduce their tax bills before the end of the year. The second refrain is to ask which charities should receive contributions for the year. There’s a tax planning […]
7 Key Investing Behaviors
Behavioral economics ended the idea of rational economic man. Here’s a quick review of the top seven common human behaviors that are irrational and cost investors money. 4. Confirmation bias How it tricks us: It’s a basic human flaw: We like to think we’re always right, and will go to great lengths to seek out […]
More on Medicare and Affordable Health Care
Here’s an interesting piece explaining how the Affordable Care Act reduces the growth of Medicare spending over time. According to this essay, it’s a straightforward case of rationing. What will this mean? Seniors will be the least (financially) desirable patients as they attempt to find doctors who will see them and institutions that will admit […]
