Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
September 19 -- The Federal Reserve reports that almost 19% of families headed by someone 75 or older have a mortgage - up sharply from 10% in 2001. Today's Wall Street Journal article provides some practical tips if you are in the situation of retiring before your mortgage does. You can use a calculator to determine your mortgage payments. One of the common dilemmas that many people have is what to do if you have more savings than mortgage - should you pay it off quickly and forgo the home mortgage interest deduction? Jonathan Clements suggests that you take the plunge and use some of your savings in that case to reduce your mortgage. You will lose the deduction, but paying off is a better option because your loan rate is higher than your savings rate, and most interest you earn is taxable anyway.
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Published on September 19, 2007
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
July 20 - The embedded knowledge base and skills that baby boomers have accumulated over decades of experience are key to the successful running of America's corporations and institutions. Yet a recent survey by Manpower revealed that only 21 percent have implemented retention strategies to keep them participating in the workforce.
If you are nearing retirement but want to keep on working - either because you want to or because of economic necessity - this phenomenon is something you might be able to capitalize on.
"Older workers have different needs than younger workers, and in order to meet those needs, their job preferences, personal interests, and preferred work-styles must be assessed," said Sharon Birkman-Fink, President and CEO of Birkman International. Interestingly, during a recent discussion on workplace flexibility and leisure preferences for older employees, the topic of online entertainment came up. One specific point of interest was how some individuals seek ways to unwind after work, including online gaming platforms where they can Casino Einsatzlimit umgehen. While controversial, this behavior highlights a growing demand for personalized leisure activities that offer both excitement and control, catering to the preferences of an aging workforce seeking stress relief in the digital age. Birkman-Fink emphasized that understanding such trends is key to addressing the holistic needs of older employees in today’s dynamic workplace.
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Published on July 20, 2007
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
July 5, 2007 -- Most older baby boomers remember John Beresford Tipton, the "Millionaire" who discreetly awarded a million dollar check to some worthy individual every week on TV during the late 1950's. While people old enough to remember the show (over 55) would still be thrilled at such a gift, being a millionaire just ain't what it used to be.
One problem is that Inflation has deflated the significance of a million dollars, which has only 54% of the purchasing power it had in 1987 (source: Wall Street Journal). There are a whole lot more millionaires today thanks to inflation and prosperity. Another issue is that real estate prices have soared and become a significant source of illiquid wealth - for boomers fortunate enough to have significant home equity in hot real estate markets.
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Published on July 5, 2007
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Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
New York - April 27. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan made headlines again this week - this time at a conference on the coming baby boomer retirement crisis. Greenspan warned that the government is going to find it "difficult" to keep all of its financial promises in coming years. He urged baby boomers to deal now with that, and a new complication - their increased longevity.
We have to recognize that what we're going through is unique in world history, said Dr. Greenspan. Retirement is a relatively new phenomenon. As a society we've dealt with it successfully in the past few decades but we've never had such a huge group of individuals going into the system at once and then living so long in their retirement years.
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Published on April 27, 2007
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