Retirement Watch Weekly
Evaluating Your 401(k) Plan
Most people don’t know a lot about their 401(k) plans, which is odd, because that is the main retirement savings vehicle for most Americans. SmartMoney lists the key factors you need to review when evaluating your 401(k) plan. I don’t usually like SmartMoney’s “10 Things…” series, but this one makes a few good points among […]
The Neglected Part of Retirement Planning
Medical expenses and long-term care costs are the wild card in all retirement plans. Most people don’t plan well for them. Even those who use financial advisors arent’ doing a good job of planning for medical expenses, according to a new survey by Nationwide Financial. We discussed in Retirement Watch many times the importance of […]
The Shrinkage in Variable Annuities
Hartford Financial wants to get out of the annuity business. It wants out of the variable annuity business so badly that recently it offered to buy out the interests of current variable annuity holders. This is part of a trend among insurers to limit or withdraw from their annuity businesses. The problem for insurers is […]
Why Stocks Go Down
It doesn’t have much to do with the election or even fears of the fiscal cliff. Only a couple of things move stocks. They boil down to people either want to pay a higher multiple for earnings than they did yesterday, or they don’t. The fact is that earnings aren’t as robust as they were […]
Why Is Fidelity Liquidating Some Funds?
Fidelity is one of the biggest mutual fund firms. It seems to roll out a new fund regularly. It’s a behemoth. Yet, it’s closing three funds. Not closing them to investors, but shutting them down. There are lessons for investors in this news, and they are well-expressed here. Too often, a fad is created in […]
The Federal Reserve Chance of Recession Chart
A few days ago I linked to a chart from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis that attempts to forecast recessions. The post I linked to asserted that the chart now indicates we have a 100% chance of a recession based on how the chart today compares with past performance. But it turns out […]
A Primer on Converting to a Roth IRA
Tax rates and taxes on investment income could rise after 2012. There’s the fiscal cliff of expiring tax provisions. Beyond that, there’s the likelihood that spiraling federal budget deficits and tax reform will cause higher tax rates on distributions from traditional IRAs. That’s why in 2012 Roth IRA conversions are on the list of potential […]
Proving Charitable Contributions
Many taxpayers still don’t realize the charitable contribution deduction rules changed a few years ago. Now, you can’t take a deduction unless you have certain paperwork in hand when your tax return is filed. If you don’t have the paperwork, you can’t take the deduction. Consider this recent case. A very successful real estate developer […]
