Posted On: January 20th, 2009 by Bob Richards
Traditionally, about 50% of people eligible to collect Social Security at 62 do so. But if you do, you’ll receive about 25% less income (i.e. Social Security benefits) than waiting until your full retirement age – between 65 and 67 depending on your birthday. What implication does your early retirement have on your spouse?
Everyone whose [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: social security spouses benefit
Posted in social security benefits | 56 Comments »
Posted On: January 16th, 2009 by Bob Richards
Once you’ve reached age 70½, you must take a minimum required IRA distribution (MRD) each year. But if you don’t need the cash to live on and you expect your IRA stock to increase in the future, consider taking an ‘in kind’ IRA distribution for improved tax benefits.
Recent economic conditions have hit many equities hard. [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: ira distribution
Posted in ira distributions | 32 Comments »
Posted On: January 15th, 2009 by Bob Richards
There can be no question that saving for your own retirement is a financially sound and important thing for you to do, and one of the most common and popular methods of doing this is by investing in a 401K plan at your place of work. But what you may not know is that not [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: 401k plan, 401k plan fees
Posted in 401k plan, financial advisor fees | 64 Comments »
Posted On: January 14th, 2009 by Bob Richards
If a recession becomes severe, dollars may suffer from deflation rather than inflation. This would change the rules you have for retirement investing over the past 30 years. What should retirees consider doing if deflation sets in?
We’re familiar with the effects of inflation. Our dollars just don’t buy as much as they used to. Too [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: deflation, retirement investing
Posted in deflation, retirement investing | 47 Comments »
Posted On: January 12th, 2009 by Bob Richards
Generally, your IRA and or company 401(k) distributions are taxed as ordinary income. That’s because you funded them with tax-deductible contributions and all the earnings of these contributions have been tax-deferred. So nothing has been taxed. Taking a distribution before turning 59½ will add a 10% penalty tax to the income tax.
Nevertheless, you may have made some [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: 401k distribution, 401k distriubution, ira distribution
Posted in 401k distributions, ira distributions | 24 Comments »
Posted On: January 9th, 2009 by Bob Richards
How you Use or Spend Your Savings Determines how much Retirement Tax You Pay
When it comes time to tap your savings and investment accounts, investors often ignore which source should come first for retirement distributions. In general, many experts often advise investors to draw from their taxable accounts first, then tap qualified accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: cut senior taxes, retirement distributions
Posted in retirement distributions, retirement income | 48 Comments »
Posted On: January 8th, 2009 by Bob Richards
Some foreign governments may offer a higher interest rate on their bonds than the US Government does. Additionally, some foreign corporations might offer a higher interest rate than the US companies. For retired investors, this could be an opportunity to diversify in an area that offers potentially higher returns, more stable returns and a hedge [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: Add new tag, bond investing, international bionds, international bond funds, international bonds
Posted in retirement income | 17 Comments »
Posted On: January 7th, 2009 by Bob Richards
Most people think about charitable bequests as part of their will or trust to be consummated when they die. However, you will miss some senior tax breaks if you wait until death. If you attend to these charitable giving issues while alive, there are some big tax breaks available and a decent income for life.
Charities [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: charitable gift annuity, income for life, retirement income, senior tax break
Posted in charitable gifts, lifetime income, senior tax break | 218 Comments »
Posted On: January 5th, 2009 by Bob Richards
People invest in variable annuities for many reasons including the tax-deferral of earnings, the ability to name beneficiaries and avoid probate, the growth potential of the managed sub-accounts and potentially the death benefit.
Then whenever they are ready to withdraw an income from their annuity, they have the opportunity to select lifetime income payments. However, with [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: gmp, guaranteed minimum payment, guaranteed minimum payout
Posted in variable annuities | 24 Comments »
Posted On: January 4th, 2009 by Bob Richards
Perhaps no word is scarier to a fixed income investor than inflation – especially for those who depend on the yields from bond investments for their retirement income needs. For example, inflation can reduce the payout rate of bonds over the long-term, as the higher costs of living can often weaken the purchasing power of [...]
Read the Post »
Tags: bond investment, deflation, fixed income investing, tips, treasury inflation protected securities
Posted in deflation, tips | 9 Comments »