Retirement Watch Weekly
A Lesson in Stock Market Signals
The major stock indexes had negative returns for January. That presents a good opportunity to review market indicators and how not to use them. A well-regarded and -known indicator is the January signal or January barometer. It is what many investors look for: A simple, straightforward indicator that requires little analysis and has a solid […]
A Break for Inherited Annuities
Inherited annuities usually offer beneficiaries few options. They can cash out the annuities (and pay all the income taxes) or stay with the same annuities they inherited. A new IRS ruling, however, opens more possibilities. The beneficiary inherited a series of fixed and variable annuities. She wanted other annuities that better fit her needs and […]
February 2014
February 28, 2014 04:15 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review New Fed Chairman Janet Yellen this week said things a number of investors apparently wanted to hear. Her words shouldn’t have surprised or made a difference to anyone who pays attention, but they apparently did. Yellen said that it is too early to tell […]
The True Costs of Working in Retirement
More and more people say that they plan to work in “retirement.” A growing minority say they will never retire. I’m not opposed to that. There are good reasons to continue working after age 65 or any other age, even if it’s not full time work. Some people need the money. A few extra years […]
Estate Planning Dangers in Inherited IRAs
People who inherit IRAs from somone’s Estate Planning need to be careful before they take any actions. They also need to be clear with the IRA custodian. Otherwise, the IRA might be inadvertently liquidated, triggering significant taxes. There are two mistakes commonly made by beneficiaries or custodians. After an IRA is inherited, it has to […]
Managing RMDs for Maximum Wealth
People are most prone to make expensive mistakes and miss opportunities with the IRAs when it is time to take distributions. Required mini-mum distributions (RMDs) for those over age 70½ are a key source of lost wealth, and that is only going to get worse. The IRS in recent years concluded that RMD mistakes are […]
It’s What’s Priced Into the Stock Market that Counts
Periodically I try to make the point that forecasting the economy or an investment doesn’t matter unless you make the forecast both accurately and before it is priced in to the markets. Sometimes markets are surprised by events or changes. Other times markets are ahead of the curve, so the actual events don’t stir markets. […]
Medical Expenses in Retirement
Too many people continue to believe that Medicare will cover all or most of their retirement medical expenses. While Medicare does cover a lot, it isn’t close to covering all your expenses. On average it covers about half of medical expenses. That means for a large number of people it covers much less. The Employee […]
