Your age can make a big difference for retirement income.
Are you below your full retirement age (FRA) ?
Social Security is intended to be a retirement benefit; therefore, there are consequences for collecting your benefits early (that is, prior to your FRA and before you stop working).
If you opt to collect benefits prio...
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton surprised many a few years ago when he announced his decision to become a vegan. In a meat-loving country like the United States, the choice to not only drop all meat from your diet but also eliminate any products that come from animals -- milk, cheese, eggs, etc. -- can almost seem revolutionary. But he’s not alone. Millions of people have also made the cho...
If you are among those Americans whose work history qualifies them for both Social Security retirement benefits and a government pension, there are two rules of which you may (and definitely should) be aware. The first, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), affects individual benefits; the second, the Government Pension Offset (GPO), can have an impact on your spousal and survivor benefits....
My biological clock is ticking—as is yours and everyone else's. With each passing day, you are either moving closer to or further past the day you quit working full time. Baby boomers are retiring at a rate of 10,000 per day and will continue to do so for the next 17 years. Whether you count yourself among that group or not, understanding where economic data—such as unemployment rates and i...
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) will make health insurance more affordable to millions of uninsured Americans by providing subsidies to purchase coverage on new health insurance exchanges. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 24 million people will buy insurance via the exchanges by 2023. However, according to a report by the Center for Studying Health Sys...
For many of today’s investors, diversification goes beyond owning companies in a variety of industries - it means adding securities from different parts of the globe, too. In fact, many wealth management experts recommend diverting a third or more of one's stock allocation into foreign enterprises to create a more efficient portfolio.
But if you’re not aware of the tax treatment of ...
Let’s say you’re 25. Close your eyes for a moment and try to imagine what it would be like to be 75.
You couldn’t do it, could you? What you may not realize is that when your parents were 25, they also couldn’t imagine being whatever age they happen to be today. That’s why asking you to save money for your retirement is like asking you to give money to a stranger.
So l...
Here’s an eye-opening statistic: 73% of Americans who are collecting Social Security (SS) today are receiving less than their full benefit. That’s right — they ma not be getting their just deserts.
That’s because we all have options when it comes to collecting Social Security benefits. And the decisions can be complicated, particularly when you consider the many facets of the p...
Roughly seven in 10 seniors are heading into 2016 on a happy note, knowing that their Medicare costs are largely unchanged from last year. But it’s a different story for wealthier seniors, who are seeing their share of the program’s costs increase – and their bill will only grow in coming years.
Two recent developments, in particular, are widening the gap betwe...
On February 1st, the World Health Organization (WHO) took the unusual step of declaring an international public health emergency regarding the mosquito-borne Zika virus and its suspected link to the birth defect microcephaly. The move by WHO highlights the seriousness of the outbreak, coordinates the global effort against the virus and helps countries where it has shown up – the U.S Centers f...
