Tag Archives: retirement income

There was dancing in the streets when Social Security announced that 2022 checks will go up by 5.9%, the biggest Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in 40 years. But now, the streets are empty and the cheering is gone. Most of that Social Security COLA will be eaten up by increases in Medicare. Medicare Part B, which covers doctor services and outpatient care, will go up by 14.5% which is the largest Medicare increase ever. This year the monthly premium for Medicare...

Alhambra’s Bob Williams answers the question, “What do I do if I choose the wrong Medicare Plan?”. [embedded content] [embedded content] You Might Also Like Weekly Market Pulse: Perception vs Reality 2021-10-18 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Some see the cup as half empty. Some see the cup as half full. I see the cup as too...

[embedded content] [embedded content] You Might Also Like SNB Sight Deposits: Inflation is there, CHF must Rise 2021-07-19 Sight Deposits have risen by +0.2 bn CHF, this means that the SNB is intervening and buying Euros and Dollars. RRP No Collateral Coincidences As Bills Quirk, Too 2021-07-12 So much going on this week in the bond market, it actually...

Hey! It’s just an IRA. What is there to know? You put money in and it’s a tax deduction, you get to take it out after 59 ½ without paying a penalty, and at 72 the IRS makes you take some out. What else could there be? In reality, there’s a lot more. Besides being able to contribute $6,000 every year, or $7,000 if you’re over 50, IRAs make up one of the major sources of retirement savings in the United States. The Investment Company Institute says there was more than...

Social Security is an important part of almost every retirement plan, whether you’ve saved enough or not. That’s why it’s important to know as much about your Social Security situation as possible. And you don’t want to wait until you’re about to retire to gather the facts and take appropriate steps. Social Security planning needs to start 5 years before your target retirement date. Check your estimated benefit amount The easiest way to check Social Security’s...

First, it was 10%, then 20%, and today more than 50% of U.S. retirees pay taxes on their Social Security benefits, and the number is expected to go even higher. The cause seems to be that one government hand doesn’t know, or care, what the other government hand is doing. The rub comes because income tax brackets are adjusted for inflation each year. But income thresholds determine if you pay taxes on Social Security, and how much, haven’t been adjusted for inflation...

Your marginal tax rate is an important metric. But it is also a complex and misunderstood concept. Many beliefs about the marginal tax rates are wrong. So, in this article, I want to clear out as much as possible regarding the subject. By the end, you will know how to estimate your marginal tax rate and what it means. Marginal Tax Rate Let’s start at the beginning: what is a marginal tax rate? Your marginal tax rate is the rate at which new income is taxed. It is...

Planning for retirement. We spend most of our working career preparing for it, saving for it, covering every contingency. When you finally wave goodbye to the company, you’re ready for all that planning to take over. But does your planning take into account the taxes you’ll have to pay on your retirement income? It’s one of the biggest retirement planning mistakes people make. Anqui Chen and Alicia H. Munnell at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College...

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Many of you asked me about an excellent vested benefits account. Until recently, I did not know any good one. But now, I came across valuepension! valuepension offers an excellent vested benefits account. valuepension is a vested benefits account that relies on index investing! They are using low-cost index funds and allow people to invest heavily in stocks. Their vested benefits account looks like a great...

Today we’ll continue to size up the bull market in governmental promises. As we do so, keep an old trader’s slogan in mind: “That which cannot go on forever, won’t.” Or we could say it differently: An unsustainable trend must eventually stop. Lately I have focused on the trend in US public pension funds, many of which are woefully underfunded and will never be able to pay workers the promised benefits, at least without...