My Retirement Blog

  • Take Advantage of IRA & 401(k) Tax Benefits

    When it comes to investing, the tax benefits of IRAs (both Roth and Traditional) and 401(k)s can’t be matched, as long as you use them properly. So, it always pays to make sure that you’re not putting tax advantaged investments into those accounts (unless that’s the only place you’re investing) because you generally can’t take…

  • New Social Security Debit Cards

    Last Friday, the Treasury Department announced that they were working with Comerica Bank to begin rolling out new debit cards linked to social security and other federal income benefit programs in an effort to save the taxpayers some money and reduce some of the headaches related to the issuance of paper checks. The cards, according…

  • Protecting Against High 401(k) Fees

    The latest article by Laura Rowley on the 401(k) fee flimflam involves how some 401(k) plan providers are charging exorbitant fees hidden behind a haze of complicated math and chicanery. The bottom line is that some employers are ill-equipped to properly analyze the fees of a plan provider and so sometimes make mistakes in picking…

  • Keeping Spending In Check In Retirement

    The latest Chairman’s Corner article at Vanguard.com is out and in it John J. Brennan, Chairman of Vanguard, warns that retirees have to be careful not to increase spending as they enter retirement. There’s a temptation, a reasonable and totally understandable temptation, to increase spending to “reward” yourself in retirement. Going on lavish vacations, buying…

  • Five Biggest 401K Rollover Mistakes

    401K rollovers are always tricky because they come at a time when there’s a lot of change in your life. Hopefully, it’s the result of a voluntary job change – you resigned amicably, you switched jobs, etc. Sometimes, it’s the result of an involuntary job change and those big changes are difficult; there’s no sense…

  • Employers Can Cut Medical Coverage for Medicare Eligible Retirees

    The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on Wednesday, said that employers could cut the medical coverage of those retirees eligible for Medicare. Whether or not an employer decides to cancel coverage for those over 65 with Medicare is up to the employer but this opens the door to the option of canceling coverage if they want…

  • Put That Bonus Into Retirement

    Were you one of the few who was eligible for and received a bonus this year? If so, congratulations on your hard work, you deserved it. Now that we’ve gotten those formalities out of the way, I want to stick a little bug in your ear as to how I believe you should be spending…

  • Your Home Is Not Your Nest Egg

    If the recent housing problems hasn’t woken many Americans up to the idea that your home isn’t you nest egg, perhaps a recent article to The Mole, Money Magazine’s undercover financial planner, will. In it, a reader asks if they should invest their entire net worth into a half-million dollar home they intend to live…

  • Morningstar Recession Proofing Tips

    I don’t buy the fears that a recession is on the horizon but Morningstar’s recent article on how to recession proof your portfolio is valuable regardless of the economic future. Their tips of buying, not selling on a gloomy forecast, dollar-cost averaging, saving, and diversification analysis are important no matter what. That being said, given…

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