Welcome to the first installment of our Social Security series: An Introduction to Social Security. This article, and the others within our Social Security series, will focus on the particulars related to retirement and survivorship benefits.
A key component within the overall estate planning process is estate administration. Estate administration is the procedure by which a person’s financial dealings are managed and distributed to their heirs after they die. In other words, when a person with assets and property dies is when the estate administration process begins for the executor of the estate.
Estate Planning can be complex and overwhelming, as there are many nuances to keep track of and potential pitfalls for the unaware. For that reason, it is best to consult with an attorney specializing in Estate Planning matters and seek their professional assistance in drafting documents. Even then, there are several estate planning matters that often get overlooked that no one warns you about. With that in mind, let’s look at the top 5 mistakes – detailed here:
If you are the kind of person that must plan ahead to ensure your family will have enough money to live on, AND you are not blessed with the gift of foresight, you’ve likely spent a few sleepless nights wondering if you have saved enough for retirement. To go along with those restless nights are a multitude of “what-ifs” that begin to creep in. With all that in mind, this article will explore a few rules of thumb and techniques used to estimate how much a retiree will need to have saved so that their nest egg lasts their lifetime.
For most investors at or nearing retirement, bonds have long been a place where you can go to get a secure and predictable stream of income. That experience that many have gone through since the 1980s is now being questioned as to whether it will continue for the years to come. The bond market through the first 3 quarters of 2022 has been historically bad and some would say doesn’t seem to offer much hope for the “bond-like” returns that we’ve grown accustomed to.
Alas, the answer to the title question of this article is… it depends. I was tempted to say “yes” and make this a very quick read. However, I didn’t want to shatter anyone’s retirement dreams. As a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) practitioner, my goal is to do the opposite of that. Really, the honest way to assess this question is to examine if a retiree’s financial resources are enough to last them their lifetime. Doing so will go a long way towards determining whether or not they should consider unretiring during a stock market crash.
Whenever markets start to face some head winds, one of the most common questions to come thereafter becomes, “what to invest in during a recession?”. The easy answer is that there are no recession proof investments out there. The more realistic answer is that not all recessions are built the same way. Some recessions are due to pandemics, while others can be due to rising interest rates, a faulty housing dynamic, over extended stock markets, or a number of things.
As of the most recent consumer price index (CPI) reading on Aug 10, inflation came in at 8.5% annualized. While the rate has come down from the 9.1% reading in June, it remains to be seen if this is a temporary step in the right direction or if inflation has in fact peaked. Any way you slice it, Americans are experiencing the worst level of inflation since the end of 1981.
Before we dive into the main components of this article, which is Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Medicare, let’s do a brief primer on how these types of accounts operate. HSAs are tax deferred savings vehicles that allow contributions to go in tax-free, and for withdrawals to be taken out tax-free – as long as the money is used to pay for qualified medical expenses. Therefore, HSAs are truly the only triple tax savings accounts allowed by the IRS.
You will encounter many important dates and deadlines once you peer into the world of Medicare and you will want to attend to these matters earlier than later – each day 11,000 people turn 65 and “get in line” to sign up for benefits. We hope this article will help you stay on top of things and have a smooth experience signing up for Medicare.
