Retirement Watch Weekly
How to Get the Most from Bank Fees
You are paying about $200 annually in bank fees, according to recent surveys. There are many different fees. I even got charged an excess account activity fee. Fortunately, the financial services revolution continues. Deregulation, technology, and competition give you a number of ways to reduce these fees or get your money’s worth from them. Here’s […]
Finding The Best Tuition Savings Plan
Retirement Watch readers were among the first to learn about the great estate planning and investment benefits of qualified tuition savings plans (QTSPs), also known as Section 529 plans. Now, there are so many plans available that you can get even more benefits by finding the best plan for you or using several plans at […]
7 Shrewd Insurance-Buying Tips
Insurance mistakes can be among the most expensive financial mistakes. Own too much insurance or the wrong insurance, and each year you’ll pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in premiums that don’t do you much good. Own too little insurance, and you could end up paying for losses that easily and cheaply could have been […]
Profiting From “Excess” Annuities and Cash Value Life Insurance
Many of you own annuities or cash value life insurance that no longer fit your needs. They were good ideas when you bought them. But times have changed, and so have your needs. Fortunately, there are strategies you can use to enhance the value of these policies to you. Let’s look at a creative strategy […]
Smart Ways to Make Gifts
It’s gift giving season, at least it is for those who want to make shrewd income tax and estate planning moves. While most people don’t make annual estate planning gifts at all and those that do make them in December, the first part of the year is the best time to make tax-wise gifts. Making […]
Boosting Retirement Plan Limits
Retirement plans, especially defined benefit plans, used to be a great deal for professionals and small business owners. A successful business owner could sock away large deductible contributions in his account each year. But sharp limits were put all pension plan contributions in the 1980s, and defined benefit plan contributions were targeted for the most […]
How to Protect Your IRA
Would you spend a minute or less deciding the fate of your most valuable asset? Do you want a mutual fund or other financial institution to make the decision? Most people actually spend less than a minute designating the beneficiaries for their IRAs or other qualified retirement plans. And they give little or no thought […]
The Easy Way To Pay for Long Term Care
Financing potential long-term care expenses can be complicated and expensive. Nationally, a month in a nursing home ranges from $3,000 to $6,000, and is rising faster than general inflation. That’s why many people do no planning. Another reason is that half of nursing home stays are for 90 days or less, and Medicare pays for […]
