KEY POINTS This holiday season, it may be possible to lower your taxes while supporting your favorite charity, experts say. If you itemize deductions, consider donating profitable investments or selling losing assets before gifting the cash proceeds. Donors age 70½ or...

Are emotional health and personal fulfillment part of your retirement portfolio? Retiring successfully requires careful planning to ensure financial and physical health, but what about other important aspects of retirement, such as emotional health and personal...

You’ll be retired by this time next year. Here’s what to do now You’ve scrimped and saved and planned for decades, through good times and bad. Now your goal is to retire in this uncertain environment, perhaps in the next year — even though the last six months have...

For many Americans, retirement may look different in 2021 than it has in years past. The severe economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic could push many people to consider retiring early, with less saved than they may need. Whether or not your retirement plans are...

The 401(k) has become the go-to retirement plan for many Americans and continues to gain traction. The flexibility, tax savings and scale of 401(k) plans have made it attractive to employers and employees alike. But A 401(k) plan doesn’t need to be just for large...

The Covid-19 recession, like all recessions, threatens the wealth and retirement security of millions of workers. Job loss prompts people to stop saving, raid their nest eggs or go into debt by falling behind on their rent and mortgage payments. Most workers nearing...

You now have an extra month to lower your tax bill with contributions to your individual retirement account (IRA). Just like last year, the IRS has extended the 2020 tax filing deadline to May 17, allowing Americans an extra month to make IRA contributions that can...

A year has come and gone since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States in March 2020, upending all of our lives. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their lives, millions have lost their jobs and practically every kid (and parent) in...

See how the benefits of a fixed index annuity work together to keep retirement income planning on track. We look at six top fixed index annuity benefits: principal protection, tax deferral, growth opportunities, liquidity, guaranteed income and beneficiary payments....

Figuring out if you can retire securely can sometimes feel like the most complicated math problem ever.  Just figuring out which retirement number to worry about can be perplexing.  And then there is the further complication of knowing how they all fit together. Here...

his story is part of a series in support of America Saves Week 2021. Since 2007, this initiative has provided a call to action for U.S. consumers to save intentionally. Today’s theme is: Save to Retire. Once you reach a certain age, nearly every dinner party you...

These changes in Social Security taxes and benefits take effect Jan. 1 Every October, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announces its annual changes to the Social Security program for the coming year. Here are the Social Security changes that were announced in...

CORONAVIRUS Reactions to COVID-19 and the impact on consumer confidence is prompting many consumers to reassess their retirement and financial plans. A majority of today’s workers and retirees range from feeling cautious to pessimistic about the economic outlook for...

FERS INFORMATION Eligibility is determined by your age and number of years of creditable service.  In some cases, you must have reached the Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) to receive retirement benefits.  Use the following chart to figure your Minimum Retirement Age....

Your Social Security benefit may be taxable. Try these strategies to reduce your tax bill in retirement. MOST WORKERS PAY INTO the Social Security program throughout their career. Many people also pay taxes on part of their Social Security payments in retirement....

Why you should look for other solutions first More than 4 of 10 jobs lost during the pandemic may never come back, the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago predicts. That grim statistic means many pre-retirees may not find work again....

The author offers an introduction to how annuities can help. For investors, the last twenty years have been something of a roller coaster. The dot-com bubble, 9/11, the financial crisis, and now the recession associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have roiled stock...

For many Americans, retirement may look different in 2021 than it has in years past. The severe economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic could push many people to consider retiring early, with less saved than they may need. Whether or not your retirement plans are...

Considering annuities, insurance, new investments and delaying Social Security? With all the changes 2020 brought and a new year around the corner, it may be time to revisit traditional approaches to retirement planning. The pandemic and near-zero interest rates...

It's a pivotal age for retirement planning — even if you aren't ready to retire yet Gone are the days when most people retired at 65, received a gold watch, then lived off their pension and full Social Security benefits. But 65 is still an important age financially...

Over the last year, both before and after the current pandemic, there have been multiple law changes that have impacted retirement plans and retirement benefits. There have been many articles and constant commentary on these changes, but as we reach the end of 2020,...

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended just about everything this year, including retirement planning. Enough new rules governing Individual Retirement Accounts and workplace 401(k) plans were introduced that a year-end review is in order. Congress enacted many of these...

Should US retirees delay claiming Social Security until age 70, even if they have to spend savings until then? The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College proposes that strategy as a default option in retirement plans. What do Social Security benefits and...

Fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) address many basic retirement concerns: protection of hard-earned dollars, tax-deferred growth, balance, and lifetime income. Get some peace of mind — no matter what happens in the market. Consider these five key benefits: Guaranteed...

And one other reason to keep working Being ready to retire means more than being ready to stop waking up at 6:00 a.m. to put in long hours at a job you're not thrilled about. If it were that simple, most of us would retire at 25. What it really takes to retire is a...

Durable power of attorney is one of the most important and useful documents you will ever sign. It is also one of the most dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands. Your will controls what happens to your money after your death. But the power of attorney can...

It’s a way to hedge against uncertainty The COVID-19 pandemic is making many Americans — whether they’re approaching retirement age or just starting out in their career — anxious about their finances, and retirement savings and plans. As a result, people are...

Millions of Americans expect their efforts to save for retirement to be derailed, perhaps permanently, by the coronavirus pandemic. That’s the main takeaway from several surveys released in October that begin to create a snapshot of the retirement landscape in the...

Don’t let the pandemic derail your plans for retirement These days, older workers and retirees are understandably concerned that their retirement plans will be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn. There are concerns that pre-retirees...

Workplaces have grown steadily less friendly to older employees, and the pandemic has pushed more of these workers from the labor market. Joey Himelfarb estimates that in his 25 years in sales, hawking everything from Hewlett-Packard computers to cars and swimming...

Motivating people to save for retirement isn’t easy. Fraught decisions around when to start a nest egg, how much to set aside, and where to invest can be so overwhelming that inertia often sets in. Increasingly, economists who study this paralysis have shown that...

The world has been in a panic since the outbreak of coronavirus, causing almost unprecedented market volatility. Some have been quick to compare this to the credit crisis of 2008 that lasted five years. Depending on the duration of the health crisis, I foresee it more...

The old line about retirement goes something like: “My problem is not that I have too little money left at the end of the month, it’s that I have too much month left at the end of the money.” For many people, though, the real issue could be having too little money for...

Section 2202 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), enacted on March 27, 2020, provides for special distribution options and rollover rules for retirement plans and IRAs and expands permissible loans from certain retirement plans. Q1....

As the Coronavirus has spread in communities around the country, Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of the virus on jobs, the economy and their own financial security – but most importantly about the health and safety of their loved ones....