Retirement Watch Weekly
Life Expectancy in the U.S.
One of the criticisms of the medical system in the U.S. is that despite all the money we spend, we don’t have great results. Life expectancy is considered the prime way of measuring the effectiveness of medical care. Most of the time the U.S. ranks 19th or 20th when developed countries are ranked for life […]
November 2013
November 29, 2013 04:25 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review I hope each of you is having an enjoyable and relaxing Thanksgiving weekend. I am, and I am thankful for the many positive comments I continue to receive from Retirement Watch readers. Too many investors lack a strategy for managing their investments. That makes […]
Wise Estate Planning Ways to Make Family Gifts
We’re entering the traditional gift-giving season. The tax rules still are important. Too many people believe that with the estate tax exemption set at $5 million per person, they don’t need to worry about shrewd, tax-wise ways to give wealth. (The exemption is indexed for inflation; it is $5.25 million in 2013.) They couldn’t be […]
When a Gift Tax Return is Required for Estate Planning
Don’t think making a tax free gift means a gift tax return isn’t due. The general Estate Planning rule is you need to file a gift tax return for any gift that exceeds the annual gift tax exclusion ($14,000 per recipient in 2013). A gift that exceeds the annual exclusion either reduces your lifetime estate […]
Avoiding Taxes on Your IRA
Yes, your IRA could be hit with income taxes, even if it’s a Roth IRA. This is nothing new. The potential for an IRA or other qualified pension plan to owe taxes has been in the law for a long time. It hasn’t affected many investors, because it is only in the last few years […]
Simple Low-Cost Estate Planning Ways to Help Grandchildren
For many of my readers, helping the grandkids is a high priority after ensuring their Estate Planning affords their own financial independence. There are so many ways to help beyond making cash gifts and setting up Uniform Gifts/Trusts to Minors Accounts. In fact, those two widely-used methods often are far from the best ways to help. […]
Guaranteed Returns, Lifetime Income
Most of those approaching retirement or in its early years share several goals. They want to avoid the volatility and periodic steep losses of the stock indexes. They want higher yields than can be earned in the safest investments, but they don’t want their principal to decline if interest rates rise. Down the road they’d […]
Social Security for 2014 Set
The announcement of the latest Consumer Price Index locks in the Social Security numbers for 2014. Retirement benefits will rise 1.5% (compared with a 1.7% increase for 2013), and taxes on salaries and self-employment income will rise by by 2.9%, with the top income subject to the tax being $117,000. Details are here. While the […]
