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Taxation of Social Security Benefits at the State Level: Something to be Aware of for Retirement Planning
If you’re looking ahead to retirement and doing your due diligence with respect to cash flow, one of the key items to look at is how your Social Security benefits will be taxed. It often comes as an unpleasant surprise…
Secure Act 2.0 is a start
To change the way Americans save for retirement, the House passed the Securing a Strong Retirement Act, better known as Secure Act 2.0, on March 29th. However, some experts disagree on effective this new legislation will be in helping Americans…
The substantially equal periodic payment exemption
According to the new analysis, more than three million Americans decided to retire earlier than they would have due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For those early retirees under the age of 59.5, who decided to take distributions from their retirement…
You opened an IRA, now what?
You know you should have an individual retirement account (IRA), but what do you do with it? IRAs come in two forms – traditional, where your contributions are tax-free, and you pay taxes when you remove the funds during your…
Social Security benefits for spouses, ex-spouses, and survivor benefits
According to the Social Security Administration, 37 percent of men and 42 percent of women receive 50 percent or more of their income from Social Security. Also, the statistics show among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 12 percent of men and…
Could higher interest rates help certain retirees?
Although potential homebuyers are nervous about the Fed raising interest rates; however, some retirees are smiling about it. Why? If the retiree has a part of their income coming from fixed-income investments, they could see those yields rise. Another group…
Medicare Advantage plans are getting a raise in 2023
In 2021, more than 26 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. The average Medicare beneficiary has access to 39 Medicare Advantage plans, more than double the number of health plans per person in 2017, and the largest…
Don’t ignore your financial health
Americans are obsessed with dieting and exercise; however, they ignore their financial health. According to Laurence Kotlikoff, Boston University economics professor and Social Security expert: We Americans are financially quite sick.” Kerry Hannon writes about her conversation with Mr. Kotlifkoff…
Are you on the right track with your retirement savings?
Saving for retirement at any age can be confusing and daunting. Where do you begin? What percentage of my income should I be saving? Even if you have retirement savings accounts, are you on the right track to a comfortable…
How Secure 2.0 bill will impact your retirement
Although the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022, otherwise known as the Secure 2.0, has yet to pass the Senate, it has the potential to solve some of the retirement problems Americans are facing. With almost half of older…