My column this month at Registered Rep magazine’s website explains how the new health reform law impacts retirement planning. It’s mostly good news, although high-income retirees face higher Medicare premiums. The story explains improvements in Medicare’s prescription drug benefit, how pre-65 retirees will gain important new coverage options, how Health Savings Accounts figure in the [...] [...more]
Saving and investing for retirement is tough enough. But making a plan to spend your nest egg is an equally critical challenge. Most Americans don’t have a “decumulation” plan–that is, how much to draw down from savings and when. A majority of pre-retirees (over age 55) can’t identify a “rule of thumb” for an appropriate [...] [...more]
Should a financial advisor be required to put your best interests first? The answer seems obvious, but the question is being punted back and forth between lawmakers and regulators trying to re-structure oversight of financial advisory services in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown. At issue here is a provision of the new Dodd-Frank [...] [...more]
Morningstar sponsored a webinar on retirement portfolio planning earlier this week featuring an all-star cast of money managers. Morningstar Director of Personal Finance Christine Benz quizzed the panel on issues such as coping with a rising interest-rate environment; finding the right asset allocation in retirement; balancing income and total return; optimizing withdrawal strategies; incorporating annuities [...] [...more]
My friend Manisha Thakor is a financial planning expert who has devoted herself to the challenge of helping women to get smart about money and retirement planning. Manisha is a passionate advocate on the subject. “But definitely not because we are “worse than men” with money, that’s a total myth,” she says. “My 15 years [...] [...more]
