Social Security
Found 254 Articles.
Get access to our full article archive by subscribing to Retirement Watch and Retirement Watch Spotlight Series.
Social Security’s Looming Problem
It’s interesting how policies have unintended effects. Last year commodity prices shot up. Some people think this largely was due to central banks’ pumping up their money supplies. Others think the main culprit was the disruption from the Arab Spring turmoil. Whatever the reason, there was a temporary surge in commodity prices that translated into […]
February 2012
February 25, 2012 04:50 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review The big news this week came largely from overseas. One action that didn’t receive enough attention was from China. It decided to engage in another major round of its version of quantitative easing. That shows that China’s economy is slowing more than many observers […]
New Estate Tax & Social Security Rules, Limits
Inflation and other factors triggered some tax and benefit changes for 2012 announced recently by the IRS and Social Security Administration. The exempt amount for estates and gifts increases because of inflation. The estate of anyone dying in 2012 excludes up to $5.12 million from federal estate taxes. The annual gift tax exclusion remains at […]
Comparing Annuities and Bond Ladders
Which is better: an immediate annuity or a bond ladder? I’m asked that frequently these days, and the frequency increases as more Baby Boomers inch closer to their post-career years. First, let’s define terms. A bond ladder is constructed by purchasing a portfolio of bonds that mature in different years. The simplest ladder is equally […]
Social Security – The Issue They Won’t Discuss
You won’t hear many politicians discussing Social Security these days, and probably even fewer will next year. But changes are occurring in the program. Not long ago, the trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund were projecting that tax revenue would exceed benefit payments for some years to come. Things have changed. According to The […]
October 2011
October 31, 2011 12:15 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review Last week was a wild, euphoric one in the markets, and it capped off a great month for equity investors. Stocks had their best month since 1974. The major indexes rose over 12%. A collection of good news hit the market recently. Of course, […]
Solving Couples’ Retirement Problems
Your retirement isn’t all about your finances. I regularly try to stress that point. Financial security and knowing you have a plan increase your options and peace of mind. But how you spend your time is critical to whether you are happy and have a successful retirement. Another key ?soft? aspect of your plan is […]
No Place to Hide When the Stock Market Falls?
One thing usually happens in times of crisis. You can use this to identify a bad market from a period of serious system wide financial stress. In a crisis, investors sell off all risky assets and seek only safe havens. In investment geek terms, all correlations go to one. We’re seeing that now. The final […]
