Even the most disciplined planners can face unexpected hurdles. Your career takes a turn for the worse or your child’s education is costlier than you’d expected and, just like that, your savings goals can be in jeopardy. Here, then, is the reality behind seven assumptions savers often make—and solutions that can help keep you from being caught short. Goal: Retirement Assumption 1: My expenses will be lower in retirement. Reality check: Many retirees find they spend just as much money in retirement as they did while they were still working. Plus, most want to travel and pursue other passions ..read more

From U.S. News and World Report… The way people retire is quite different than it was even 10 years ago. That means you need to change your way of thinking about retirement. If you are still planning for retirement like you did a decade ago, you could be in trouble. Here's a look at how retirement has changed over the past decade: 1. Retirees are living longer. 2. Retirement could last for several decades. 3. Baby boomers have redefined retirement. 4. A shift from pensions to 401(k)s. 5. Becoming a millionaire is no longer enough. 6. CDs and bonds generate less income for retirees. 7. The 4% r ..read more

Procrastination comes at a steep cost for retirees who want to hold off on taking mandated withdrawals from their retirement accounts. If you turned 70½ this year or you’re older, you’re on the hook for a required minimum distribution (RMD) out of your individual retirement account and each of your 401(k) plans. For the majority of Americans, this is a something they have to deal with as IRA and defined contribution plans (i.e. 401(k)s) make up the majority of retirement assets. This also means you can expect a tax bill whe ..read more

Sharing an informative article below to add to the “aging with dignity” discussion. We often look to our parents as pillars of strength in our lives, so it is hard to bring up uncomfortable topics associated with their declining health. However, as life expectancy continues to increase, more and more of us will have to face such challenges as dealing with parents with dementia. The article’s author provides some very helpful insights when it comes to helping your loved ones and preparing for this reality… ----------------------------------------- By Adam Bulgar Mom was always scatterbrained, b ..read more

Get out your pencils and calculators: The IRS has released a breakdown of what's ahead for the 2020 tax year. Taxpayers who've been paying close attention will notice that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act overhauled the tax code. Those sweeping changes include a higher standard deduction — it's now $12,400 for singles and $24,800 for married joint filers in 2020. Following the overhaul, individual income tax rates also went down, and personal exemptions were eliminated. For the 2020 tax year, the IRS tweaked the individual income tax brackets, adjusting them for inflation. See below for your new brac ..read more

More than half of people age 40 and older have not discussed aging with their parents, and 84% have nothing saved for their parents’ future should they need it, according to a study conducted by Mavencare, a home care provider. Why is this statistic important? Because nearly six in 10 respondents said they’re worried about their parents aging and another 58% said the cost of care, in terms of a caregiver, is a major concern. Saving for parents old age is extremely challenging since most people have enough trouble handling their own retirement savings and healthcare concerns plus requirements f ..read more

Much has been made about the rising cost of student loan debt and the pressure it has put on the ability for Millennials to save for retirement. Coming out of college and almost immediately owing (in some cases) mortgage-level payments for your education puts you behind the eight ball. The issue has garnered enough attention as to become platform talking points for presidential candidates, and to raise calls for paths to loan forgiveness in order to strengthen future generations’ retirement prospects. So it may come as a surprise that a recent survey by TD Ameritrade found that debt is NOT the ..read more

It’s official: Your Social Security checks will get a modest increase next year. The Social Security Administration announced last Thursday that the cost-of-living adjustment for 2020 will be 1.6%. That number is less than what retirees have received in recent years. In 2019, they got a 2.8% bump, while in 2018 the increase was 2%. Still, it’s better than zero, which retirees saw in 2010, 2011 and 2016. Social Security cost-of-living adjustments have averaged 1.4% in the past decade. To calculate the change, the Social Secu ..read more

As you near retirement, your life expectancy is probably the last thing you want to think about. Right now, you're focused on all the ways you want to enjoy retirement, not your final years. But life expectancy has a bigger impact on your retirement plan than you may realize. The average 65-year-old man and woman can expect to live until around age 84 and 86, respectively, according to the Social Security Administration. But it's estimated that a third of today's 65-year-olds will make it past 90, and one in seven is expected to live past age 95. That means if you retire in your mid-60s, there ..read more

When people say that you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip, it means that you cannot get something from a person, especially money, that they don't have. Such is the unfortunate case of the trajectory of healthcare costs and wages in the United States. The graphic and article below highlight the treacherous path we are on when it comes to healthcare expenses. While we see costs continue to rise (far outpacing inflation for other goods and services), wage growth is not keeping up. It’s no wonder that fear of unknown healthcare costs continues to crop up as a top threat to people’s financial a ..read more