Retirement Watch Weekly
Reducing Medicare Premiums, Social Security Taxes and More
Retirees face the highest marginal tax rates. They use the same tax tables as everyone else, but there are nuances in the tax code that can trigger higher marginal rates for seniors. For retirees in what I call the marginal rate trap zone, reducing gross income or taxable in-come can have powerful benefits. The marginal […]
Comparing Bonds to Annuities
Can you build a bond portfolio that does a better job providing secure retirement income than an immediate annuity? Economists and many financial advisors believe some portion of a retiree’s portfolio should be placed in immediate annuities. These are the annuities that pay a regular income for life or the joint life of the owner […]
January 2013
January 25, 2013 04:40 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review There were a few conflicts in the headlines that kept investors from moving strongly in either direction. The positive news was a decision by House Republicans to extend the debt ceiling for three months with no conditions other than a requirement that the Senate […]
Avoiding the Estate Planning Personal Property Molehill-to-Mountain Track
Small items often cause the biggest Estate Planning problems. Anyone experienced with estates knows the worst disputes among heirs often are over what seem like trivial items. Even in a large estate, heirs might aggressively contest the disposition of a few pieces of furniture or personal mementos. Those small, personal items are the most likely […]
Two Estate Planning Tax-Wise Ways to Shift a Business
Many business owners scrambled to sell their businesses before the end of 2012 to avoid potential tax increases. If you didn’t sell, don’t worry. There are a couple of other Estate Planning tax-wise ways to transfer business ownership that don’t require you to rush. In one recent case, a taxpayer owned 100% of a corporation. […]
Coming Changes in Reverse Mortgages
Reverse mortgages help older homeowners stay in their homes by letting them spend home equity without selling the homes or writing monthly repayment checks. The number of reverse mortgages issued increases each year, and most of those mortgages are insured by the FHA. If the banks or other lenders misprice the mortgages and lose money, […]
The Expanding Asset Bubble in Art and Collectibles
Recently I was talking to a friend who spends a lot of time with wealthy people, primarily trying to raise money from them. He said that when he asks them what they’re doing with their money these days, many saying their eschewing financial assets (stocks and bonds) and buying things: land, timber, art, wine, etc. […]
Why to Ignore Stock Market Forecasts
In my book, Invest Like a Fox, Not Like a Hedgehog, I devote some space to the futility of using forecasts to make investment decisions. In that portion, I refer to the work of Philip Tetlock on political forecasting. For the latest on that work and an update on what Tetlock’s been doing, read this […]
