Don’t Be the Victim of These 20 IRA Mistakes
Hey! It’s just an IRA. What is there to know? You put money in and it’s a tax deduction, you get to take it out after 59 ½ without paying a penalty, and at 72 the IRS makes you take some out. What else could there be? In reality, there’s a lot more. Besides being able to contribute $6,000 every [...]
10 Social Security Mistakes That Can Devastate Retirement Income
Social Security, even with all its problems, is unquestionably an important component of retirement income for millions of American retirees. For about half of seniors, Social Security is 50% of their income, and 1 in 4 seniors say it makes up at least 90% of their income. There are more parts to Social Security than most people realize. Only in [...]
6 Tax Breaks Retirees Often Don’t Think About
Let’s update some two-thousand-year-old tax advice—Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but don’t give him more than that. Today, tax deductions and credits help determine how much Caesar gets. As an old guy told me a long time ago, “If it’s in the IRS code, it’s there to be used.” Unfortunately, there are tax breaks available to retirees that [...]
4 Social Security Planning Steps BEFORE You’re Ready to Retire
Social Security is an important part of almost every retirement plan, whether you’ve saved enough or not. That’s why it’s important to know as much about your Social Security situation as possible. And you don’t want to wait until you’re about to retire to gather the facts and take appropriate steps. Social Security planning needs to start 5 years before [...]
Don’t Forget the Health Care Power of Attorney
The mention of estate planning usually evokes thoughts of a will or trust. But there are other documents that should always be part of any estate planning package, such as a living will, a durable power of attorney, and a health care power of attorney. Planning for the distribution of your assets after you’re gone is certainly important. But what [...]
States with the Biggest and Smallest Retirement Tax Bite
Remember that sage financial warning, “It’s not how much you make. It’s how much you keep.” Truer words were never spoken when it comes to retirement income. And taxes, federal and state, are one of the biggest determinants in just how much retirees have to live on. Here are some taxes you’re likely to see in retirement, who’s doing the [...]
The Biggest Mistake of Having a Living Trust
Your estate planning is complete. A living trust was created because it was the best vehicle to accomplish what you want to do. Now you can breathe easily. Or so you think. Over the years, I’ve had new clients come to me who had invested lots of time and money to set up a trust. But when I asked if [...]
Retirement Exit Strategy Checklist
Retirement. It’s a magic word and it’s supposed to be a magic time in your life. You’ve planned for it, worked for it, anticipated it, and expected a great life that comes after it. Today, people are retiring at a rate 27% higher than 10 years ago. Much of the increase is because of unplanned, early retirement due to declining [...]
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