The Retirement Expenses You Won’t Find in Your Monthly Budget

The Retirement Expenses You Won’t Find in Your Monthly Budget

You have estimated your monthly retirement income. You have added up the mortgage, groceries, utilities, and insurance premiums. The numbers appear to work. Then the air conditioner needs replacing. A dental bill arrives. Your vehicle becomes unreliable, or a family...

Beneficiary RMDs: Calculation Basics

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Although many IRA owners are required to take required minimum distributions (RMDs), much confusion remains as to how the RMD is calculated. Factors include whether the original IRA owner reached his required beginning date (“RBD”...
Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary

It was another volatile week on Wall Street, with US indices ending the week with mixed results.  Ongoing concerns about AI financing and its return on investment continued after Meta announced its 3rd-quarter results.  The company beat estimates and offered solid...
You’ve Built a Financial Future. Have You Protected It?

You’ve Built a Financial Future. Have You Protected It?

Building financial security takes years of effort. You save, manage expenses, pay down debt, and make decisions with the future in mind. Each step helps create more options for yourself and the people you love. But there is another question worth asking: How would...

The Same-Property Rollover Rule Gets No Respect

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Many of you are probably aware of the 60-day rollover deadline and the once-per-year rollover rule. But there’s a third IRA rollover restriction you may be less familiar with: the “same-property rule.” The same-property rule is the Rodney...

5 Things to Know About HSAs at Age 65

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education The unfortunate reality for many Americans is that medical expenses will be a large part of their expected budget in retirement years. Health Savings Accounts (HSA), which continue to grow both in numbers and in...
Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary

It was a chaotic week on Wall Street as investors tried to interpret mixed Q3 financial results, a spike in oil prices, sharp swings in yields across the curve, hotter-than-expected inflation data, dovish tones from central bankers, and renewed concerns about the AI...

Top 10 RMD Mistakes

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst IRA owners and retirement plan participants trip over the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules all the time. Bad advice is provided, misinformation is freely disseminated on TikTok, and sometimes smart individuals do...
Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary

U.S. financial markets logged weekly gains as Wall Street shook off tech sector volatility and focused on stabilizing energy prices. Despite severe global bond market pressure, the S&P 500 rose 1.15% and hit an all-time high this week; the Dow Jones Industrial...

Can I “Borrow” From My IRA?

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education With the cost of food, energy, healthcare and other basics on the rise, many Americans are facing a cash crunch. For some, their IRA is their largest asset. Therefore, it is not surprising that they may be looking...

72(t) On a Roth IRA?

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst The 72(t) rules (“series of substantially equal periodic payments”) allow a person to tap retirement dollars before age 59½ without a 10% early distribution penalty. However, to gain early access to the funds, the IRA owner must...
Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary

As we move from the third quarter into the fourth, investors have a lot to consider in this crazy market.  US equities finished the week mixed in volatile trade.  A standstill in negotiations between the US and Iran pushed oil prices higher early in the week, but the...
7 Year-End Financial Moves to Consider Before December 31

7 Year-End Financial Moves to Consider Before December 31

As the year begins to wind down, your financial plan deserves a year-end review too. The final few months of the year can be an important time to evaluate retirement accounts, taxes, insurance coverage, income needs, and other financial decisions that may affect both...