Retirement

There is a very good article in the New York Times on long-term care insurance . The article is largely in a question and answer format. It is non-technical and there are many comments and questions from readers that should prove very useful to anyone taking a look at long-term care insurance products for themselves or for a family member. There are good, basic questions such as "why should I buy long-term care insurance" and "don't Medicare and Medicaid cover long-term care?" Long-term care...

Income limits that have prevented many people from converting from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA will be eliminated on January 1, 2010. With a traditional IRA, contributions and growth of capital are tax free, but distributions are taxed as normal income. Roth IRAs differ in that contributions are taxable while growth of capital and distributions are tax free. In addition, unlike traditional IRAs, there are no required minimum distributions with Roth IRAs. Last, with a Roth IRA your heirs do...

The picture for near and current retirees has changed 180 degrees in the past couple of years. Questions such as where to retire and what do do during retirement are replaced with whether to retire and how to make sure one does not run out of money during retirement. Working longer, waiting to draw on Social Security , and understanding longevity risk are front and center for the vast majority of retirees. Decumulation or drawing sustainable income from accumulated financial assets is one of...

Employers who offer 401k plans seem intrigued by the notion of providing an annuity option to employees who participate in the plans. Recent stock market volatility makes the prospect of stable, guaranteed income very attractive in theory: Given the stock market’s volatility, Silgan is one of a number of 401(k) plan sponsors seriously discussing adding an annuity option to their 401(k) plans. With most employees’ 401(k) accounts decimated, the idea of providing guaranteed post-...

An outstanding layout of a retirement planning timeline from Emily Brandon at U.S. News and World Report. Key dates and ages are discussed for all manner of retirement planning milestones: 401k contributions and distributions. IRA contributions and distributions. Roth IRA contributions and distributions. Medicare. Social Security . Required minimum distributions. Source: U.S. News and World Report Full Story