Category: Retirement

Save, invest, and plan for your retirement

Retirement, Taxes

Will You Need to Pay Any Taxes in Retirement?

When you think about your retirement, what usually comes into your brain are all the times when you will sleep late, dress comfortably, and spend most of your time doing just about anything you want to do. The everyday grind of fighting traffic and the routine at work—and even worse the pressures of it—will be far behind you when you retire and you cannot help but think about the good things that retirement will bring. But is that all a reality?

It's important to plan ahead to minimize your taxes in retirement. Here is a list of income that is taxed as well as breaks you can use.

When you’re younger, you may spend some of your time trying to avoid paying taxes and stay up on all of the tax law changes to do it. Here are some of the ones everyone under 50 should know right now.

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Retirement, Saving & Investing

What Do You Have in Common with a Squirrel?

Does the title here sound a bit odd to you? I mean, what do we have in common with squirrels? You see them all the time around here in spring and summer but almost never at this time of the year. They’re off keeping warm and relaxing, getting ready for spring I guess. And that’s my point here.

The squirrel has to prepare long in advance of winter to survive. Heed this lesson about preparing for retirement, and start right away!

There isn’t much squirrel activity now that winter has truly set in. Over the last several months, like just about every squirrel, the ones in my neighborhood got ready for the long winter ahead. This past week we just had a 20+ inch snowstorm and a well prepared squirrel can pretty much feel good if he did what we was supposed to do.

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Health, Retirement

An Overview of Medicare 2021

For today’s guest post on Medicare, please welcome Danielle Kunkle Roberts from Boomer Benefits.

As you are looking at the future and trying to plan, there may be a few fundamental necessities you know you need to budget for. Health insurance is most likely one of them. Every situation is different, whether you are retired and starting Medicare at age 65 or working and will start Medicare after. Previous income can affect your Medicare premiums, and the supplemental coverage you may choose can determine what you will spend on health coverage in a year.

Medicare costs and coverage can be confusing depending on the options you choose. Here's an overview of those costs and your options.

Medicare Costs

For most Medicare beneficiaries, Part A has a $0 monthly premium. However, if you have not worked at least 40 quarters in the United States, you will have to buy Part A. If you fall between 30-39 quarters, your premium will be $259 per month, and if you are lower than 30 quarters, it will be $471. Each time you are admitted into the hospital as an inpatient, there will be a $1,484 deductible per benefit period. Additional costs and coinsurance can occur while you are in the hospital.

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Retirement

Take a Good Hard Look at Your Retirement Nest Egg

Most people refer to their retirement savings as their “retirement nest egg”. In theory that’s the money that is made up from the many sources of retirement income, the many eggs you should be socking away so that when the time comes, you have those eggs to “cook up” a great retirement. I say “should” because reality is that an awful lot of people are leaving their cupboard bare and for a million reasons are not preparing for retirement at all. In fact, I am ashamed to say I have friends and relatives who are in their prime earning years and still have not saved a single penny for retirement!

So much for having a very sage financial blogger in your inner circle!

Social Security was never meant to replace your retirement nest egg. Are you doing all you can to plan for a secure retirement?

You may have ignored retirement when in your 20’s or 30’s, but when you are still saying “la, la, la, la, la” about it in your 40’s and 50’s, you are in a boat that is sinking fast. So right now is a good time to take a good hard look at your retirement nest egg and start bailing!

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Retirement

What Are the Best and Worst States to Retire in Today?

Retirement represents the end of one’s career, but it doesn’t have to be the end of your financial security. It also doesn’t have to mean a lower quality of life. Your decision of where to retire can make a big difference. There are still several good retirement options throughout the United States and if you had to make an educated guess about where, you would probably score fairly high on this little test. You just have to know what you want and what is being offered to you and connect those dots.

When deciding where to retire, there are many factors to consider. Here are some of those considerations as well as the best and worst states.

So what are the best retirement spots in the U.S. today and why are they so good?

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Retirement

Retirement Investment Strategies That 20 Somethings Need Now

Please note this post contains affiliate links which help to fund this blog at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

I seem to write about retirement a lot these days and frankly I’d say it’s because I am one of them…the retired, that is. From my perspective, it’s pretty easy to see a path leading way back to my youth that is a good one to get safely here. But the problem seems to be always the same, most 20 somethings—and for that matter 30, 40, and even 50 somethings—just never do the work to get where they want and need to be: ready for retirement. That’s why we need to talk about investing for 20 somethings, even if retirement feels like it’s eons away.

There's no better time to start planning for retirement than the beginning of your career. Here are some tips for investing for 20 somethings.

I say it all the time and it is so true: start saving for your retirement as soon as you latch on to your very first job! That means that you should start saving early. Make regular contributions to your employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, and even get their big generous company match.

Given that most Americans feel they need to catch up on their retirement savings, this will keep you ahead of the game. But is there anything else you can do to secure your financial future? The simple answer is yes!

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Retirement, Saving & Investing

P.R.O.T.E.C.T. Yourself and Your Money in Retirement

Now that I am well into the retirement mode—having actually retired back in 2013 and started collecting my Social Security—it is way easier to look back and see what I did in planning and executing my journey. 2013 may seem like eons ago, but in reality it’s just a flash in my mind and that’s the way time seems to go for all of us. One day you’re 35 and retirement seems like it will never get here and in a flash you’re 60-something and you need to have all your ducks lined up and a real retirement plan in place. That’s where the little reminder I came up with comes into play: P.R.O.T.E.C.T yourself, or Plan Retirement Options To Ensure Cash Tranche.

When it comes to your retirement plan, it's important to P.R.O.T.E.C.T. yourself - Plan Retirement Options To Ensure Cash Tranche.

P is for Plan

When the word “plan” comes up in any conversation, it requires that you do something. You means you and not someone else who may have a plan and you just may be a part of the fringe of that. For example, when it comes to your future and retirement, if your family has built wealth and you are planning to inherit some of it to fund your expenses and even your retirement…don’t count on it. While that may qualify technically as a plan, it is a terrible one!

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Retirement, Saving & Investing

How to Start Investing Without a Lot of Money

Please note this post contains affiliate links which help to fund this blog at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

We all hope and aspire to be able to save and grow our money. It’s not just a good idea. It may be fun to do and a challenge, but it is very important to save money for the future, target “numero uno”: retirement! But right now, even trying to find a high-interest savings account online has become practically impossible and if you do find any, you can’t earn enough interest to keep up with inflation. That’s where investing comes in. You may have put off investing because you didn’t have much in the way of finances, but I’m here to tell you to how to start investing without a lot of money.

Many people put off investing because they think it's a big commitment of funds. But you can learn how to start investing with only a small amount of money.

Investing Your Money Has Become a Real “Go To” Plan

You may think that investing is only for wealthy people. Or that you just don’t even know the most fundamental thing about investing and are simply frightened at the thought of it. Or you may have just put off investing forever. If you did that because you didn’t have much money left over for investing, then I have very good news for you. It doesn’t take much money to get started with investing!

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