Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
November 23, 2009 - It's impossible to see into the minds of our readers to try to assess their motivations in finding their best place to retire. We do, however, have some evidence based on which of our articles get read the most. No surprise, articles on low-tax states and most affordable always attract many readers. As in that rude truism, "It's the Economy, Stupid".
One of our pet peeves is the overemphasis that many people place on low taxes as a retirement criteria. In this article we will argue
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Published on November 23, 2009
Comments 8
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Editor's note: This report was originally written in 2009. There have been several new articles since then, notably "Worst States for Retirement, 2014", which are more up-to-date.
Deciding which state you ought to retire to is hard enough. First you have to find the right climate, tax structure, environment, culture, crime, etc. But with the economic recession of the last few years another factor enters in - is your state in financial trouble so deep it might not be able to dig itself out (think worst states to retire)? The Pew Center on the States issued a report last week that should be enough to
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Published on November 16, 2009
Comments 24
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
October 15, 2009. It's official, there will be no social security COLA (Cost of Living Allowance) increase in 2010, the first time this has happened since 1975. The reason is simple, this year there was no increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009, hence no need for a payment.
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Published on October 15, 2009
Comments 9
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
With many of us baby boomers increasingly worried about their finances in retirement, reducing what we pay in taxes is an attractive option. It's one option that might not impact our lifestyles in any way. So, if you already live in a high tax state, voting with your feet to escape some of those taxes might be a good idea.
The principal state taxes you typically face in retirement are income, property, and sales taxes. Gasoline, cigarette, and estate taxes certainly exist, but they probably
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Published on September 8, 2009
Comments 2
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
For many baby boomers one of the questions we have always loved to debate is about to change. The old question was - how much do we need to accumulate in savings to afford a comfortable retirement? The old question had a corollary which is also changin - when will we be able to retire and start spending?
These questions will change direction because retirement is either here for a lot of us boomers, or it will be here within just a few years. We will have saved and invested what we did, and that is what we have to work with. for many of us, our traditional careers are over. So now the question has mutated into - how much can we safely spend each year and not run out before we die in 30 years or so from now. The decision is a momentous one, because if we miscalculate we might end up working as a greeter at Walmart to make ends meet. Or almost as bad, we will reach the age when we can no longer do anything with a pile of money, but regret that we never took the trips or had the fun we actually could have afforded.
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Published on August 30, 2009
Comments 1
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Update - July 31: As of today the Cash for Clunkers Program has been so unexpectedly successful that 250,000 cars have been sold. Result: the program has run out of money, and the New York Times reports that the Transportation Department told dealers to stop taking new applications. But today (Friday) the House added $2 billion to the original $1 billion level. The Senate has not yet voted on it, but government officials said the program will continue running at least through this weekend.
{GOOGLE_AD}July 27 - The program to take gas-guzzling cars off the road while stimulating new car purchases was so successful in Europe that it is now in place in the good old U.S. The law was signed by President Obama in late June and went into effect on July 27, after the resulting regulations were published in the Federal Register on July 24.
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Published on July 27, 2009
Comments 2
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
In the last year mentioning the word "retirement" often generates a pause or a snigger; it might even seem like you've made a sick joke. As in, "What retirement? My 401k has blown up, my job gone, and along with that my retirement dreams."
{GOOGLE_AD}True enough, millions upon millions of baby boomers are asking hard questions about their retirements. Sadly for many of us, the new reality is here - we won't have enough to retire on comfortably. For others the day of reckoning is all too close; they never saved enough. Even if there hadn't been a global economic meltdown, they were never going to retire in the lifestyle to which they had become accustomed.
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Published on July 6, 2009
Comments 0
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Update: October 15, 2010 - It's official - no social security increase in 2010 - $250 payment pushed.
It will be the first time in 3 decades, but there will be no cost-of-living increase for social security recipients in 2010. Following a formula set by law to counter the effects of inflation, beneficiaries can usually count on getting a "raise" every year. Thanks to the economic slowdown, inflation is not a problem at the moment, hence the formula indicates no increase next year.
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According to the AARP, beneficiaries have received automatic cost-of-living every year since 1975. The increase in 2009 was 5.8%. Controlling inflation should be a good thing for retirees because it means the prices they pay for goods and services are not increasing.
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Published on May 8, 2009
Comments 29
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Oh baby boomers, what a mess we're in now. Not only have our investment portfolios been hammered, but our real estate investments are hurting too. A recent study from the Council for Economic Research points out that both add up to grim news for baby boomers - particularly for those who planned on moving to start their retirement.
“The collapse of the housing bubble, which led to the current recession, has already destroyed almost $6 trillion dollars in housing wealth for homeowners,” said report co-author Dean Baker. “This reality is compounded by the recent collapse of the stock market. The result is that many baby boomers will only have Social Security and Medicare to rely on in their retirement."
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Published on March 15, 2009
Comments 4
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Ask any 4 people when they intend to start taking social security benefits and you might get 4 different answers. Ditto with how long should you keep working and how that work will impact your social security benefits (short answer: working longer is usually a good thing for your benefits).
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Published on February 1, 2009
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