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Try It NOWCategory: Financial and taxes in retirement
October 25, 2020 – Just how much do you really know about your Social Security benefit? This quick 12 question quiz, will tell you with an instant score. This year’s edition covers the basics you need to know with new, revised, and updated questions to reflect your benefit in 2020.
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
October 18, 2020 -- We have had several members who posted about rival delivery services to another unrelated Blog. So we are publishing those comments here and taken them off the other one. That should keep things cleaner.
From Mary 11 - I signed up for the yearly unlimited Walmart Delivery service. I order once or twice per week. I paid $98 but you save alot of money in the long run. I haven’t been to a grocery store since January. We don’t do restaurant delivery because of Covid so we do alot of cooking at home….
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
October 15, 2020 — Social Security recipients will see a small Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) next year. Based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2019 through the third quarter of 2020, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries will receive a 1.3…
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Oct. 12, 2020 -- Many Topretirements Members are still working, wondering if and when they might retire. Enter the pandemic, and many new calculations enter into the mix.
So many corporations and small businesses have been affected in serious ways by the coronavirus. Airlines, restaurants, and hotels have been particularly devastated by people not traveling and going out to eat. States and municipalities, hit by extra expenses and declining revenues, are looking for ways to cut their budgets. Organizations like these are wondering how they are going to survive. One of their most obvious options is to layoff workers or encourage others to take early retirement.
You might be one of those people approached with a retirement package. Or you might have decided that the pandemic has made it too difficult to keep working. For example, if you are having to teach via Zoom and don't find it rewarding. Or, maybe you found working from home so liberating that you don't ever want to go back to the office. Worse yet, you might have been laid off and facing an early retirement you weren't expecting. Whatever your situation, now is a good time to re-evaluate your retirement premises.
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
July 4, 2020 -- Our friend Robert Powell at TheStreet.com just wrote a very helpful article for people who worked for governments or non profits and did not pay into Social Security for much of their work lives. They are usually concerned that they won't get Social Security retirement payments. In "Did You Work for a Government and Not Pay Social Security", Powell writes to straighten out some misconceptions.
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) reduces your Eligibility Year (ELY) benefit amount before it is reduced or increased by early retirement, delayed retirement credits, cost of living adjustments (COLA), or other factors. If applied, your Social Security retirement payments will be lowered.
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
July 1, 2020 – Bummed out that for once in your life you were early, and took out your 2020 Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) earlier this year? Well, relief is in site. The IRS announced On June 23 that all investors who already took RMDs in 2020 have an extension…
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Category: Estate Planning
June 23, 2020 -- Note: This article starts with the premise that it is crucial for every person of retirement age (and younger) to have a will and/or an estate plan, no matter how small the assets you own. If you don't have a legal document, you are going to leave a huge mess for your heirs to clean up, you will waste money on probate expenses, and perhaps end up with a result you wouldn't like.
Every family is different in so many ways. Couples might have children that are equally successful and get along well. But for family like that there are those with a child who has had a hard time, a disability, or other issue. Families with stepchildren face additional challenges. Many people worry about a child they feel is not responsible, and who might squander any bequest on drugs, gambling, etc. There might be a family business where one or more siblings, but not all, are actively working. It can get very complicated. And, your children probably know if have already substantially helped one child financially more than the others.
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Note: July 2020 - This deadline has been extended. April 24, 2020 - Are you kicking yourself because you took some or all this year's Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your IRA or 401(k) earlier this year? Now that the Cares Act has eliminated RMDs for 2020, you have reason to be upset, especially because all of your distribution is taxable income. Fortunately, there might be some relief.
Act before July 15
The CARES Act just passed as part of the coronavirus relief package has a provision that eliminates all required minimum distributions (RMDs) for 2020. Unfortunately, if you took RMD in January of this year, you probably can't reverse that decision without jumping through a lot of hoops. But, if you took one on or after February 1 and May 15, 2020, you can still roll it back, if you act by July 15. The rollback option isn’t available if the plan was inherited. Issued on April 9, IRS Notice 2020-23 provides limited relief by allowing an extension of the 60-day rollover period. You cannot rollback any taxes you had withheld, although you can probably get a refund or adjustment when you pay your 2020 taxes. There is only one IRA rollback every 365 days.
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
April 7, 2020 - The FIRE Movement, Financial Independence Retire Early, got a huge boost from the roaring stock market from 2019 through Feb. 2020. People who had been cutting way back on their expenses and investing that extra money saw their portfolios go way up. For that matter, anybody with a 401(k) or retirement portfolio was feeling pretty good. Many young people in their 40s and 30s even "hit their number", quit their jobs and planned to live on their savings and non-traditional income sources, such as side gigs or rental income. Then the coronavirus hit, throwing a bucket of cold water on FIRE flames.
In just a few weeks during March stocks were down as much 40%. While that would not be fatal for a person with 20 or more working years or who did not have a big equity position, it would be devastating for someone who based their retirement on a booming stock market. Not only would they have less money to take out of their portfolio to live on each year, but they also wouldn't have the steady income of a job to help them rebuild those savings. What's more, studies show that the longer someone is out of the job market, the harder it is for someone with to yesterday's skills to re-enter it. Folks who built their dream on renting out an Airbnb or rental property are probably seeing their revenues go to zero in 2020, while expenses continue.
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
March 27, 2020 — The good news for people who get Social Security retirement or disability (SSI) benefits is that most of them are about to get a nice check as part of the stimulus package signed today. Social Security recipients are included in the bill to get $1200 (payable…
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