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The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) recently passed in the House of Representatives by a margin of 417-3 last Thursday. The bill is slated to be successfully ratified into law by the U.S. Senate later in the year in a rare moment of bipartisanship. The SECURE Act marks the most momentous legislative change in retirement planning since the Pension Protection Act of 2006. That said, the SECURE Act that passed in the House of Representatives recently is a nece

Social Security is one of the main benefit programs for workers in the United States. At some point, almost everyone will collect something from Social Security. If you are getting close to collecting from Social Security, you might be wondering how the program works and what to expect. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about Social Security benefits. How Old Do You Have to Be to Collect? The short answer is that it depends on when you were born. Also, you can decide if you wan

Naming Guardians For Your Minor Children One of the crucial decisions in life if you have minor children is to make arrangements for the guardian or guardians who will finish raising your children if you and your spouse should happen to die in a common accident or weather disaster. A will likely find that a lot of thought and planning have to go into that decision, and you need to give it a great deal of consideration. The first step is to have a complete discussion with the person or people t

 This years tax deadline is behind us. If you received a refund, what’s your plan? Some taxpayers choose to spend the entire check on clothing, shoes, and their appearance.  They never look into investing their money for their own personal future. In a sense, you may be temporarily happy about your purchases or your new hairstyle, but in the future, you might regret not investing some of the money for your retirement. There are many ways to put your tax refund to work,

 Two years ago, the current government built their own mark on the United States with what some call the most necessary and important tax reform. The retirement reform that they are planning might be the long shot of 2019 since there are four important pieces of retirement reform in legislation before Congress. Every single piece tends to have been supported by both sides in their latest drafts, on the other hand there are various regulatory advancements and state level when it comes to ret

Many people spend years dreaming about the day they will retire. They envision spending time in their vacation home’s with their family and friends at their sides. However, for some, this vision doesn’t become reality.  Instead, they spend their golden years working instead of at the golf course or having coffee with friends. If you have a sneaking suspicion that you may be a person who needs to delay retirement, then here’s what you need to know. Many factors contribute t

Before you turn 60 years old, your 401k plan has a set up that you may want to take advantage of. In the past, there has been a lot of middle-aged taxpayers who were scared to open certain bank accounts. Nowadays, those thoughts of being financially taken advantage of are not what investors are thinking about. In fact, if you have contributed to a 401k plan, you can have in-service withdrawals happen before you turn 60. Primarily, these withdrawals are those who are still employed at that age.&n

 Retirement income is not a one size fits all calculation as wants and needs vary significantly from one person to the next. Several factors such as life expectancy inflation, and balances do play a huge part but considering your retirement expectations for the "golden years" will help in the planning process to make the most of your retirement. Remember your first payday? How excited were you to get that hard-earned cash in your hands? You opened the envelope and found all s

Democratic Congressman John B. Larson introduced the Social Security 2100 Act on January 30, 2019. The proposed legislation seeks to raise payroll taxes to keep Social Security solvent and expand benefits. Payroll Tax Increases Some say that Social Security is in crisis. The program has had a deficit every year since 2010. If Congress does not act, the Social Security Trust Fund is forecast to become insolvent by 2034. The Social Security 2100 Act would address that problem by raising the 12.4

If your retirement dream includes bouncing around between a beachfront condo in the winter and a mountain retreat in the summer, you are in good company. Perhaps you want to keep a small condo close to the kids while also maintaining a home in an area more conducive to how you plan to spend many of your weeks throughout the year. These are only a few of the many reasons why retirees often maintain a primary home as well as a secondary home. While this may seem like an idyllic retirement experien

 Millions of people in the U.S. are unable to care for themselves and need long-term care services. These people need assistance in performing one or more self-care activities of daily living such as eating, bathing, dressing, and executing basic movements like walking, sitting, or standing. Services can be provided in the patient’s home, a residential care community, nursing home, assisted living facility, adult day service center, or at a hospice. Housework, money management, shoppi

Elder financial abuse can be a complicated subject, but at its most basic level it involves taking advantage of an older adult through manipulation or intimidation to steal their money or property. Elderly adults are some of the most vulnerable to financial abuse. Some of the biggest risk factors for older adults include: Isolation Isolation can cause extreme loneliness in seniors, leaving them desperate for any sort of social connection. Many abusers target elder adults for this reason. Lack of

How a Divorce Can Affect Your Retirement The divorce is being called the most expensive divorce in recent history, the divorce of Amazon CEO & Founder, Jeff Bezos and his wife.  While his divorce could be expensive, he will financially be able to survive the transition.  Some of us are not so lucky.   Divorce is always hard on many levels. One of the things that is most important is the financial split of the couple's assets. These assets include retirement benef

 You've spent the better part of your working years planning for your comfortable retirement. As you celebrated your last official day of work, you already had a pretty good idea of the value of your financial investment portfolio and personal worth. And, you probably had a plan for how much money you would need on a yearly basis to maintain the comforts of life that you were accustomed to. You either would have more than enough for a comfortable retirement or you would have to be caref

Planning for retirement will be easier for those contributing to in 2019!  Recent changes to a list of savings accounts are going to yield higher returns for savers in the new year.  You will be able to take advantage of "Employee-Sponsored Account", including 401(k) and 403(b)plans. The current limit for contribution is a little over $18,000. In the new year, the contributions are going to exceed more than $19,000. The plan also includes catch-up contributions around $6,000

Time is almost up for this years Medicare Open Enrollment period.  You have until the 7th of December to modify your existing Medicare plans. In this period you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan or a Part D drug plan. Any modification made during this period is effective from January 1st of the following year. Generally, this is the only time of the year when one can opt for a new plan or switch from Advantage plans to Original Medicare plans. A tweak not known to many is to purchase

Some seniors are dependent on their Social Security benefits, but the majority of your retirement income may be derived from other sources. While your Social Security income may not be your primary source of income in retirement, you nonetheless may be counting on that income to provide financial support for your quality of life in a modest capacity. Social Security benefits increases have been minimal most years since 2000. The exception was in 2012 when benefits increased by 3.6 percent. Howev

Retirement should be a time of rest, relaxation, and play. It should be about focusing on those pursuits that you wanted to do when you were younger, but you have yet to cross them off of your bucket list.  Failing to plan for a comfortable retirement, however, can be a major stressor in the life of someone facing their golden years. Recreational hopes and dreams can quickly be squashed in the wake of news that you haven't set up things to be nearly as prosperous as you'd hoped

 When planning one’s last will and testament, one always hopes that the people they will be passing on their hard-earned wealth to will be responsible enough to handle it well and if possible, carry on their legacy. This is a hope which can be difficult to keep alive, especially in cases where the heirs have issues such as bad spending habits, drug addiction, gambling problems, and other weaknesses which compromise their judgment. When passing your estate to an imperfect heir, you nee

Life insurance is one of those things that many people prefer to avoid thinking about because it often conjures up dark images.  Many people are jarred into realizing the importance of buying life insurance after a close friend or family member has passed away or even after hearing a news story about a tragic death that hit close to home. The reality is that it is better to be prepared and know that our loved ones will not be left to fend for themselves. Consider these important questions t

The average individual can spend less during their retirement due to a budget. One exception can be giving to charitable causes. A study by the WPI or the Women's Philanthropy Institute looked at the way households in America spent money as they retired. The study revealed both single women and married couples maintained the same level of giving to charities both prior to and after they retired. The charitable giving of single men decreased once they retired. The report from the WPI also sho

The way we work and save for retirement has changed and the old rules no longer apply to every individual's situation. There are many professionals with the resources to retire early, but continue working until retirement age just to avoid paying penalties to the IRS. However, there are ways to retire early that you might want to consider. You Can Pay the Penalty The most obvious solution is to bite the bullet and pay the 10% penalty for early withdrawal. Most people are motivated to avoid