Retirement Watch Weekly
6 Year-End Strategies for IRAs and 401(k)s
Retirement plans are in the news a lot these days, and it’s more important than usual this year for many owners of IRAs and other retirement plan accounts to focus on year-end strategies. Congress is considering raising income tax rates and eliminating many long-time retirement planning strategies. You need to consider the potential changes in […]
Bob’s Journal for 12/2/21
Profit Margins Keep Soaring The major question for stock investors is: Can profit margins continue to increase faster than the economy? For most of the 2000s, profit margins of nonfinancial businesses have increased faster most quarters than the post-war average. Lately, they’ve increased faster than at any point since the early 1950s. Profit margins also have […]
Could Your IRA & 401(k) Wind Up Paying Off Your Heirs’ Creditors?
As part of your estate plan, you need to consider whether it’s possible your IRA or 401(k) could end up in the hands of creditors of one of your heirs. A general rule is that qualified retirement plans are exempt from bankruptcy claims. But that general rule applies only to the original owner of the […]
Inflation and Economic Growth Aren’t Transitory
Central banks are curtailing their pandemic stimulus measures, and investors need to assess how that will affect different investments. As expected, the Federal Reserve announced that in November it would begin reducing its monthly asset purchases of $120 billion with the goal of eliminating those extra asset purchases by June 2022. That doesn’t mean the […]
7 Ways to Tax-Free Assets and Income
Tax increases probably are coming. Even if Congress doesn’t agree on substantial increases this year, they’re coming. The 2017 tax law is scheduled to expire after 2025. The pre-2018 tax law will be re-instated automatically unless Congress agrees to something else. Plus, the trillions of dollars added to the national debt the last few years […]
End the Confusion That Reduces Guaranteed Lifetime Income for Many Couples
Maximizing Social Security retirement benefits is one of the more important actions a married couple can take, but it’s also a goal many couples have difficulty achieving. Lifetime income can increase by tens of thousands of dollars, and even more, when Social Security benefits are claimed at the optimum time or some- thing close to […]
Key Year-End Issues for IRAs and 401(k)s
Retirement plans are in the news a lot these days, and it’s more important than usual this year for many owners of IRAs and other retirement plan accounts to focus on year-end strategies. Congress is considering raising income tax rates and eliminating many long-time retirement planning strategies. You need to consider the potential changes in […]
How to Transfer More Than Money to Future Generations
The COVID-19 pandemic caused many people to re-assess their values and priorities. This accelerated a trend in which people wonder if there is something more than money and property they can leave when putting together their estate plans. You can leave more than money and property, and more and more people are adding this element […]
