A little-noticed provision of a law signed by President Obama this week promises to boost the use of Roth accounts in workplace retirement plans. The Small Business Jobs Act really has very little to do with retirement saving-it’s aimed at boosting the economy by giving tax cuts and credits to small businesses. But those cuts [...] [read full article…]
Q: I’m 66 and just started receiving Social Security. I have COBRA health insurance for 18 months, and the Social Security people told me that I would have to sign up for Medicare Part B within (eight) months of starting Social Security or else risk a penalty. The COBRA plan from my company is very [...] [read full article…]
A new Government Accountability Office report shows that the gender gap in management jobs persists, along with the ongoing gender gap in income. For women, the gap has serious implications for retirement security, since retirement benefits are driven by career income. Social Security benefits are derived from income history, and the ability to contribute to [...] [read full article…]
Steve Vernon continues his great series on frugal retirement living with a post this week at CBS Moneywatch on the benefits of downsizing your housing at a young age. His argument: staying in place can work for a while, but eventually issues around mobility can catch up to you. Vernon suggests looking for a place [...] [read full article…]
The numbers are dismal: the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the poverty rate rose sharply last year to 14.3 percent, the highest since 1994. Forty-four million Americans were below the official poverty line, and one out of every five children were considered poor. If there’s a silver lining in the annual poverty report, it seems [...] [read full article…]
