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Changes to Social Security Claiming Options
On November 2, President Obama signed a two-year budget deal that was approved by congress on a bipartisan basis. It eliminates the possibility of a government shutdown, keeps the Social Security disability fund solvent and reduces premium hikes for Medicare Part B beneficiaries. These features caused it to earn the support of AARP and the […]
Paying for Long-term Care with Health Savings Accounts
A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). There are no taxes on the contributions and no taxes on qualified withdrawals. As the cost of long-term care (LTC) insurance rises and the benefits decline, alternatives are […]
IRA Rollover Rules Change in 2015
As a refresher, IRA rollovers are simply the transfer of funds from a retirement account such as a 401(k) into an IRA, or an IRA-to-IRA transfer. There are three ways to accomplish this rollover or transfer: Direct rollover – The administrator of your account may issue your distribution in the form of a check made […]
Retirement Planning for CSU Employees
CSU employees do not pay Social Security taxes. Because of this, employees are not eligible for Social Security benefits (see the exceptions discussed below). Because your earnings from CSU are not covered under Social Security, employees are mandated to participate in one of the following retirement programs: • Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) • […]
Variable Annuities – Beware!
Variable annuities are insurance products. These contracts are marketed by insurance companies as investments. However, due to fees, surrender charges, tax issues and limited investment choices, annuities should be avoided if possible. Generally, two versions are offered: immediate and deferred. With immediate annuities, you give the insurance company a lump sum of money and they promise […]
Reasons to Delay Social Security Payments
In this article, I want to share some information on the benefits of waiting to begin Social Security. Industry research has confirmed that most retirees benefit from delaying Social Security payments. There are, of course, reasons why people don’t do this even though it might benefit them to do so. Some simply need the money […]
Distribution Planning in Retirement
Retirement income involves thinking about the amount of money that you need for expenses and determining the source of these funds. The key difference between where you get your cash in retirement years versus working years is that you’ll no longer receive a paycheck in retirement, and you’ll need to replace that income from investments […]
How to manage expenses in retirement
The basic concept is really pretty simple: keep annual expenses below the planned withdrawal rate of your assets. As usual, it’s the details that can get a little tricky.
Help! The Required Minimum Distribution from my IRA is more than I usually spend
When your required minimum distribution (RMD) is larger than the amount of income you need for expenses, you have many options for handling the excess. We find it is helpful to manage the extra amounts wisely in order to avoid spending more than you had planned.
When am I required to start withdrawing from my IRA?
Generally, for the year in which an individual turns age 70 ½ an individual must start taking distributions from their retirement accounts. Whether these amounts are needed for funding your retirement, the IRS requires that you begin taking the distributions.