Category Archives for Retirement Advice

The Uncertainty Paradox and Planning

Investment Advice Retirement Advice

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.” — Voltaire “The market hates uncertainty” has been a common enough saying in recent years, but how logical is it?

Designing a Retirement Income that Works for You

Retirement Advice

If ever there were an appropriate analogy for how to invest for retirement, it would be the classic fable of The Three Little Pigs. As you may recall, those three little pigs tried three different structures

Divorce and Social Security Benefits

Divorce Retirement Advice

Even if your ex-spouse has not applied for benefits, you may qualify to collect spousal Social Security payments based on his or her earnings record. When looking at divorce and Social Security remember,

Make the Most of Spousal and Survivor Benefits from Social Security

Financial Education & News Retirement Advice

Even after the crackdown, special rules can pay off handsomely for husbands and wives as survivor benefits come into play. Social Security smiles on married couples, with special rules that can richly

How to Save Taxes in Retirement

Retirement Advice Tax Focused Planning

When you take money from savings for retirement, you’re generally advised to tap taxable accounts first, then tax-deferred retirement accounts, and finally your Roth IRA. Here’s why: If you hold an

Taxes Never Retire, but Benefits Escape

Retirement Advice Tax Focused Planning

Congress’s complicated rules for the taxation of Social Security benefits open the door to opportunities to save. It used to be so simple. From the time the first checks were issued in 1937 through the

The Truth About the Earnings Test

Retirement Advice

You need to know how continuing to work will affect your benefits. The good news is that the reality isn’t nearly as nefarious as critics complain. It sounds like a cruel joke: After a lifetime of working,

The Social Security “Do-Over” Strategy Is Not Dead

Retirement Advice

Fear that you pulled the trigger too soon on benefits? You may be able to reload and set yourself up for higher benefits later on. A few years ago, a number of financial advisers began calling attention

Smart Social Security Strategies for Married Couples

Retirement Advice

Figuring out the best time to file for your Social Security benefits can be surprisingly simple or hellishly complex. If you’re retired—voluntarily or not—and need the money to live on, you may have

Structured CDs: Buyer Beware!

Investing Resources Retirement Advice

Most investors are familiar with Certificates of Deposit (CDs). You purchase one, and the bank pays you a bit of interest on it, plus your principal back. They don’t yield much, but they’re nearly