Latest News
Should you stop contributing to your retirement savings?
With inflation outpacing wage growth, yes, you can cut back on retirement savings, but realize you may need to push back your retirement date by doing so. Should you stop contributing altogether or lower your contributions? Mike Winters talked to…
Eliminating the backdoor Roth IRA strategy
A backdoor Roth IRA is a strategy rather than an official type of individual retirement account. It is a technique used by high-income earners—who exceed Roth IRA income limits—to convert their traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. However, the backdoor…
The US slipped one spot to No. 18 out of 44 countries in retirement index
According to Natixis Investment Manager’s 10th Annual Global Retirement Index, the United States is ranked 18th for retirement security. Although the United States drop was due to the improvements in other countries that pulled them ahead in the index, the…
COLA Watch: Another Forecast of Substantial Increase
As inflation continue to rip through the U.S. economy, it’s becoming more commonplace to see estimates of the 2023 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment well north of the 5.9% bump seen in January of 2022. For example, a post by The…
Always Consider Spousal Benefits When Timing your Entry into Social Security
The common wisdom is to wait as long as you can to begin drawing your Social Security benefit. And while that’s mathematically true with respect to individual retirement benefits, it may not be the best advice when it comes to…
Collecting Social Benefits Without a Work Record…How’s That Happen?
Although many folks tend to have misgivings about the ubiquitous payroll tax, they often come to realize that the revenue from that specific tax ultimately leads to a benefit later in life (and for some, earlier in the case of…
Learn more about Medicare and determine the type of coverage you’ll need
Medicare is an essential health insurance program serving millions of Americans; it is the second largest program in the federal budget. With all the money spent on Medicare, a total of $917 billion in 2020, Medicare only covers specific services…
How COLAs increase your future Social Security
With all the talk of a record high cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) for 2023, many people near retirement are wondering if they should file for their Social Security benefits to take advantage of this increase. You want to make the right decision;…
You earned it, you keep it
Is there a possibility of seeing another increase in your monthly Social Security check besides a hefty COLA increase? What is it? According to the Social Security Administration, around 56 percent of recipients pay federal taxes on a portion of…
A Peek into the future of Social Security payments
Mike Obel states that by looking at historical data on annual hikes in Social Security payments, the average monthly payment for retirees by 2030 is expected to have climbed to $2,112, according to an analysis by Better Benefits Guide. Obel explains…