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What 5 states may do about retiree tax breaks
Do America’s retirees need more tax breaks? Some politicians at the state level clearly think so. According to a report from the Citizens for Tax Justice, a non-profit that lobbies for tax policy on behalf of middle and lower-income Americans, plans…
Fun Fact: Federal employees own $1 trillion of U.S. debt
If federal employees were a foreign country they would rank only behind China and Japan as holders of U.S. Treasury securities, according to federal data. The Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employee Retirement System hold a combined 837 billion…
Retirement: The payoffs of an active lifestyle
Some people are planning ahead for their physical fitness in retirement just like they plan for their financial fitness, says one of the country’s top national diet and exercise experts. And that’s as it should be, he says. If you start…
5 Hardest Things About Retirement That You Aren’t Expecting
If you love your job, retirement can be more difficult than you might expect. Sure, hanging out on the golf course, traveling and sleeping in all sound great, but for many people the transition from corporate culture to a life…
How to navigate Social Security’s highways and byways
Social Security’s main highways are the basic benefits for worker and spouse. Most people take the earliest on-ramp at 62, but you’ll get more a month — and possibly more total lifetime payout — by waiting until full retirement age…
Increasing Social Security retirement age could bridge income gap
The age to receive full Social Security benefits should be closer to 70, according to a report published in the journal Daedalus. “We’re living longer and healthier than ever before, but the statutory age of retirement for receiving Social Security benefits…
Time to cleanup old social security data
A recent Social Security inspector general report showed that 6.5 million people in the U.S. may have reached age 112. In reality, there are only about 42 people known to be that old in the entire world. Of the 6.5…
What states’ residents pay the highest taxes?
You may have already sent off your 2014 paperwork to the IRS, enclosed a check or requested a refund, and crossed taxes off your to-do list for the year. But you’re not done yet. You’ll still have to work until April…
Raising Social Security retirement to 70 makes sense but penalizes the disadvantaged
Adjustments to the retirement age have not kept up with increases in life expectancy or healthy lifespan. The age to receive full Social Security benefits should be closer to 70, according to a report published in the journal Daedalus. But,…
Why converting 401(k) to annuities requires new mindset
Are we hard-wired to shun certain retirement investments? Some new research suggests so, and that has implications as the government gives the green light to annuities in 401(k)s and IRAs. In a research brief for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston…