Retirement Watch Weekly
Health = Wealth in Retirement?
A high percentage of American seniors die having few or no financial assets and depending on Social Security for their income. Of those with few assets, a high percentage of those are single and don’t live as long. These are the conclusions from a new study published by professors from MIT, Dartmouth, and Harvard. The […]
Sorting Through Preferred Stocks
Preferred stocks provide above-average income with no more risk than long-term treasury bonds or stocks. One way to invest in preferreds is through an exchange-traded fund. But there are details about preferred stock ETFs that many people don’t know, and the preferred stock ETFs are not the same. Barron’s this week has a good, brief […]
The Cult of Stocks
That’s what Bill Gross is attacking in his latest monthly essay. Gross’s timing confuses some. PIMCO started adding an equity mutual fund division to its wide array of bond offerings just a few years ago. While one part of PIMCO tries to convince investors to buy its stock funds, Gross continues to argue that stocks […]
August 2012
August 31, 2012 05:45 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review Ben Bernanke’s given his important Jackson Hole speech, indicating the Fed might take more action at its September meeting. But what, if anything, will Europe do? And what about the fiscal cliff in the U.S.? Will China suffer a hard landing? There’s a lot […]
Understanding and Using Estate Planning Trusts
Trusts are an essential part of Estate Planning, not only for the rich and famous. They’re also simpler than many lawyers and estate planning professionals make them seem. Almost every-one needs a working knowledge of trusts to ensure estate planning is effective. It’s easy to obtain that knowledge. A trust is simply a contract between […]
Life Insurance as Savings and Investment
Investors are pouring money into an old investment: life insurance. That’s right. Life insurance can be an investment. Before interest rates were deregulated a few decades ago, life insurance and passbook savings accounts at the local bank were a major vehicle for saving and investing for many people. It became less popular after money market […]
Using IRAs to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff
Taxes will increase, especially for investors, in 2013 and beyond. The only question is how high they will increase. The 3.8% tax on investment income that was enacted as part of health care reform will go into effect, as described on page five of this visit. The Bush tax cuts, payroll tax reduction, and other […]
Avoiding the New Tax on Investments
The Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (a.k.a., Obamacare). As a result, among the provisions that will go into effect in 2013 are the expanded Medicare taxes on high income taxpayers. Foremost among the new taxes is the 3.8% tax on the “unearned” income of single taxpayers with modified […]
