Retirement Watch Weekly
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 […]
November 2012
November 30, 2012 04:40 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review There’s still room available at my next free online investment presentation, but slots are filling up. I’ll try to make some sense and order of current economic and market issues and answer the question: How should you manage your portfolio in this environment? You […]
Why is the Power of Attorney an Essential Estate Planning Tool
Many people use the last part of the year to put their financial houses in order. Yet, one move many overlook is to create or revise their powers of attorney. You need more than one POA, and they are an essential part of every estate plan, regardless of the value of your estate. You should […]
How Financial Crises Start
A number of people saw the problems that culminated in the financial crisis of 2008. They saw the problems clearly and early and predicted that bad things had to happen. Most of these people were way too early. See the book The Big Short by Michael Lewis for details. They predicted a calamity, but things […]
Expanding Medicare Coverage
Medicare coverage is about to expand, perhaps substantially, for people with chronic conditions and disabilities. The rule for a long time has been that skilled nursing and therapy services were covered by Medicare only if there was a likelihood that the care would result in a medical or functional improvement. Care that simply helped people […]
More Gloom About Retirement
The bounceback from the financial crisis of 2008 and recovery in the stock markets hasn’t helped the confidence of many Americans about their retirements. In 2009 only one in four adults was “not confident” about being financially prepared for retirement. The number increased to four in 10 Americans being anxious about their retirements this year, […]
The Risks of Investing in Collectibles
Investors are worried about stocks and bonds as investments. Stocks are volatile and have a negative return after inflation for at least 12 years. Bonds have done well, but their interest rates are low. When rates rise, as they will, bond investors will lose money. That’s why many investors are looking at alternative investments, including […]
