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Retirement Income
Roth IRAs have been a popular way to generate future tax-free growth and income since their creation. Yet the decision to contribute or convert to a Roth IRA incurs an immediate tax liability that could become so heavy as to be destructive. So writes Michael Kitces in “Using Systematic Partial Roth...
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There’s an unspoken etiquette on elevators that would make Marian the Librarian very happy — it can be summed up with “shhh!” And that’s too bad, because an elevator affords one a unique opportunity, and a captive audience, for whatever you want to say — but in a short span of time.Even if one is...
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Among the strongest trends of the outgoing year: growth in employee engagement in their financial wellness, use of annuities and offerings of qualified longevity annuity contracts (QLACs). And next year may bring more of the same. So say two recently released studies that look at what’s been...
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Multiemployer defined benefit plans show stability and then some. A recent study reports they are enjoying sustained recovery from the Great Recession.In “The Multiemployer Retirement Plan Landscape: A Ten-Year Look (2004-2013),” the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and Horizon...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued its annual report, which shows that in federal fiscal year (FY) 2015 the agency paid millions of dollars to support multiemployer pension plans and billions to people covered by pension plans that failed. The report also shows that the PBGC...
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The Financial Services Roundtable recently hosted an event on Capitol Hill that amounted to a retirement counseling session for Millennials working in Congress.Headlining the event was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). A freshman member first elected in 2014...
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The Obama Administration recently unveiled its myRA program, a federal effort to encourage retirement savings and provide an easy, low-impact way for those who do not participate in a retirement plan to set something aside. But it’s not the first time the administration has embarked on such an...
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Myth: The current tax system provides an “upside-down” incentive to save.Fact: By taxing investment returns, an income tax discourages savings. By effectively taxing investment returns at a zero rate, tax deferral eliminates this disincentive and equalizes the inventive to save.Those are among the...
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A new survey finds that most workers strongly disagree with the statement, “My employer is responsible for providing for my retirement.”The study, “Investor Mindset: Attitudes, Concerns, Beliefs & Goals,” one of 10 sections of the Hearts & Wallets’ 2015 Investor Quantitative Database, not...
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The “Sandwich Generation” (roughly those age 45-65) and the Millennials (roughly those age 18-35) are separated in age by one to four decades. That’s quite a gap, and those generations have starkly different needs and concerns. But while the reasons for it may differ, they are alike in at least one...
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Underestimating how much one will need to be financially prepared for retirement is rife, and that can have serious consequences, says a study by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).AICPA’s survey of CPA financial planners for the third quarter of 2015 reports that 57% of...
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Overall, more than two in five (42%) Americans say the economy most affects their spending habits, according to a survey Bank of America and Merrill Edge have released. In looking toward 2016, most respondents believe they will be saving more (68%), spending less (67%) and investing more (53%)...
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Several weeks back, I wrote a column entitled, “5 Things Millennials Need to Know About Saving for Retirement.” But what about those at the brink of retirement?Retirement seems close — perhaps too close for the comfort of Boomers, some of whom have already begun cycling into retirement. In fact,...
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A frequent commentary on today’s plan designs is that they are more focused on accumulation than the eventual spend-down of those savings.It’s said that defined contribution plans too often not only facilitate lump-sum distributions, but, in design at least, encourage them. And yet, despite a...
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People who don’t have access to a plan at work don’t save for retirement. Here’s why small business owners should care.About half of private sector workers did not participate in a workplace retirement savings program in 2012, and a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found...
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The Windy City played host in the first week of November to a gathering focused on developing ideas to address America’s retirement savings challenge — but government-run solutions dominated the conversation.At the conference, “Saving — America’s Challenge and Opportunity in the Twenty-First...
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“In my 40 years of doing this, I never thought I’d see the day we’d have a president giving us direct instructions …” [on state-run, automatic enrollment IRA programs], Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi told the ERISA Advisory Council Nov. 3-4.At the hearing, Borzi noted that about 68...
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The Treasury Department has officially launched its MyRA program on a national basis, hoping to “create a savings habit that will grow,” according to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.While the Nov. 4 launch was new, the program is not. Originally unveiled in President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union...
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The details of a new budget deal have been released and to use the late Yogi Berra’s famous malapropism, it’s déjà vu all over again (and again). Congress has once again (and again) gone to the defined benefit pension well to pay for a budget deal, using gimmicks that further penalize responsible...
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Much has been said about the interest and engagement of Millennials in retirement readiness. So a discussion at a recent TD Ameritrade Advocacy Summit held in Washington, DC certainly appears well-timed. Fiduciary News’ Christopher Carosa provides a look at what a panel of four retirees told...
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