New Roth IRA Rules
February 1, 2010
The Roth IRA was introduced as a retirement investment option back in 2007. The New Year, 2010, has brought changes to the Roth IRA rules that are making this retirement investment vehicle better for some investors than ever before. In order to fully understand how a Roth IRA can be more beneficial than a traditional […]
9 Mistakes People Make with their IRA
January 29, 2010
People make a lot of mistakes when it comes to IRA and 401(k)-related decisions. And I can’t blame them. The tax code is obscenely complex. That said, there’s no need for you to make these mistakes. 1. Converting to a Roth when it makes no sense Just because you can convert your traditional IRA to […]
Reverse Mortgage Disadvantages
November 28, 2009
Reverse mortgages were the topic of a post several weeks ago in which we promised to take a look at the downsides of seniors using a reverse mortgage in retirement. Here are some of the disadvantages of using a reverse mortgage to borrow against the equity in a home. Builds up Debt Traditional mortgages allow […]
Reverse Mortgages for Seniors
November 11, 2009
If you or your parents have lived in your home for many years and have built up a lot of equity in the property you may have heard about or considered a reverse mortgage as a potential source of income during retirement. There seems to be a wide divide in opinions on whether reverse mortgages […]
Life is Short: Save & Spend Wisely for Those Left Behind
September 17, 2009
Do you ever ask yourself why you’re being such a stickler with your money? We save and invest money for “the future” but how do we know when that future we’ve been preparing for becomes the present? My Grandmother’s Apartment My kids and I paid an evening visit to my grandmother this week, just so they could […]
Roth IRA Conversion Tips
September 16, 2009
The Roth IRA conversion rules are changing in 2010, here are a few things to consider if you’ve been thinking about converting your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Roth IRA Conversion Limits The current IRS rules only allow you to convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA if your modified adjusted gross income […]
Four New Retirement Saving & Planning Tools?
September 5, 2009
Retirement planning can be daunting. You make a lot of assumptions about where you’ll be financially decades down the road. You assume that the tax laws won’t do anything crazy and that the financial markets will continue to operate as they have for decades. You also debate whether Social Security funds are going to shrivel up […]
Do Married Couples Need to Buy Life Insurance?
September 7, 2008
Death. No one wants to think about, especially a newly married couple. However, thinking about the worse case scenario is an essential trait for maintaining a sound financial plan. There’s no scenario worse than the death of you or your spouse, and that is why you need to prepare for it. When Should You Buy […]
A Socially Responsible Reply to Avoiding Social Security
November 16, 2007
A reader sent the following response to yesterday’s post on avoiding Social Security payments. I asked them for permission to share it because the email reminded me that Social Security is a safety net for many people and asks some interesting questions about keeping the Social Security program viable: Reader Response: Why would your wife forfeit her […]
How to Avoid Paying Into Social Security
November 15, 2007
What? Is that possible, to avoid Social Security payments? Well, like most things in personal finance the answer is that it depends. My wife didn’t pay one cent into Social Security for the last seven years of working, better yet, it was all legal and above board. As a state employee, she still contributed to a mandatory […]
