American Airlines wants to terminate the pensions of 130,000 workers as part of its bankruptcy proceeding. The move would be good for the company’s balance sheet, but would it be good for America? American’s pension termination would be the largest in U.S. history. The airline wants to end the plans and turn them over to [...] [read full article…]
Most retirement planning exercises begin and end with a simple question: How much income will you need to replace after you quit work? But looking at income alone isn’t enough, as spending habits change during retirement — you’re no longer paying FICA taxes, saving for retirement or incurring work-related expenses for clothing and transportation. And [...] [read full article…]
Okay, folks — it’s time for a Personal Finance 101 quiz. Please answer the following three questions: 1. Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 percent per year. After five years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to [...] [read full article…]
Inherited retirement accounts are truly one of those gifts that keep on giving because heirs can benefit for many years without much tax burden. But Congress is starting to talk about curtailing breaks on the accounts. A revenue-raising proposal floated in the Senate Finance Committee last week would sharply limit the time allowed for the [...] [read full article…]
This week’s federal appeals court decision throwing out California’s Proposition 8 adds considerable weight to the argument that the federal Defense of Marriage Act violates the U.S. Constitution. While DOMA’s legal fate is far from sealed, this much is clear: the law results in differential treatment of same-sex married couples under federal law in hundreds [...] [read full article…]
