Beneficiaries: What do you do when an account owner passes away? If your loved ones have invested, saved or insured themselves to any degree, you may be named as a beneficiary to one or more of their accounts, policies or assets in the event of their deaths. While we all hope “that day” never comes, [...]
They are no longer exempt from creditors & bankruptcy proceedings. A SCOTUS ruling raises eyebrows. On June 12, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that assets held within inherited IRAs by non-spousal beneficiaries do not legally constitute “retirement funds.” Therefore, those assets are not protected from creditors under federal bankruptcy statutes.1,2 This opinion may have [...]
Wall Street Trading: What don’t we know about the way the markets work? In a perfect world, the financial markets would be entirely transparent and without mysteries. In this imperfect one, we have financial markets reliant on high-speed trading and dark pools, both of which are imperfectly understood. Thanks to the bestselling Flash Boys: A [...]
Retirement: Your outlook may influence your financial outcome. What kind of retirement do you think you’ll have? An outstanding one? A depressing one? What if it all starts with your outlook? Qualitatively speaking, what if the success or failure of your retirement begins with your perception of retirement? A whole field of study has emerged [...]
Have you kept up with them? Have they raised new questions for you? Retirement Plan Fiduciaries On July 1, 2012, the Department of Labor implemented some rules changes for ERISA-covered defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans. These changes were made to improve transparency.1 Covered service providers (CSPs) must fully describe services & fees. Financial [...]
Agreeing about what you want from retirement is crucial. What does a good retirement look like to you? Does it resemble the retirement that your spouse or partner has in mind? It is at least roughly similar? The Social Security Commission currently projects an average retirement of 19 years for a man and 21 years [...]
A summary of what you need to know. Key Medicare enrollment periods are approaching. This fall and winter, there are three periods in which Medicare beneficiaries can either enroll or disenroll in forms of coverage. * Oct. 15-Dec. 7: Open enrollment period. This is when you can exit Original Medicare (Parts A & B) for [...]
Can stocks keep their momentum once the Federal Reserve quits easing? “Easing without end” will finally end. According to its June policy meeting minutes, the Federal Reserve plans to wrap up QE3 (Quantitative Easing) this fall. Barring economic turbulence, the central bank’s ongoing stimulus effort will conclude on schedule, with a last $15 billion cut [...]
Is the conventional wisdom for everyone? Questioning traditional assumptions about retirement planning can be illuminating. Some retirement planners and economists argue that they need to be reexamined. Does most retirement planning focus on the future at the expense of the present? One noted economist makes that case. Laurence Kotlikoff, the former White House economic advisor [...]
Offshore accounts are receiving a new level of scrutiny. The federal government implements new rules to fight tax dodgers. As of July 1, 2014, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is in effect. FATCA requires something new of foreign financial institutions: they must now report any assets held by American citizens, U.S. “persons,” U.S. [...]
