In a great piece in The Wall Street Journal, Glenn Ruffenach answers a question by a retiree who is looking to move. She wants a safe neighborhood, and Ruffenach explains that while most retirees looking to relocate are focused on the fun aspects of life like "climate, lifestyles, housing, shopping, cultural events," they should also be paying attention to things like "taxes, health care—and crime." Face it, if you're scared, sick or broke, it doesn't matter how many restaurants or shows are on Main Street, your retirement isn't going to be any fun at all. Ruffenach continues: Beyond the … [Read more...]
America is Beating Japan in this Retirement Savings Measure, but Not for the Right Reason
Running out of money during retirement is the greatest risk people take when they decide to stop working. The World Economic Forum has published new research that shows Americans aren't saving enough to cover the last decade or so of their retirement. That pales in comparison to the Japanese, who fail to save enough for the last two decades of their retirement. The only problem here for Americans though is that a big portion of that savings disparity comes because Japanese people are living so much longer, not because Americans are simply saving that much more. Bloomberg's Ben Steverman … [Read more...]
Can You Lower Your Property Tax Bill in 8 Steps?
If you own real estate, you know that property taxes seem to rise continuously. Undoubtedly you have questioned if yours could be reduced. Fidelity has posted a guide that could help you lower yours. Sandra Block writes: Home values have risen across the country, which means many homeowners' property taxes are going up, too. The average annual property tax for owner-occupied single family homes nationwide in 2017 was $3,399, an effective tax rate of 1.17%, according to Attom Data Solutions. Nine counties impose average annual property taxes of $10,000 or more. In Westchester County, New … [Read more...]
Record Hiring in April
In April, businesses hired 5.9 million employees, the highest on record. Despite filling so many positions, there are still more jobs available than unemployed workers to fill them. You can see on my chart the demand for employees has been higher than the number of unemployed Americans since March of 2018. Bloomberg's Jeff Cox reports on the strong numbers for the economy: “In sum, the labor market remains strong and poised for continued solid job growth,” Ward McCarthy, chief financial U.S. economist at Jefferies, said in a note. “Despite the 21.4 [million] private sector jobs that … [Read more...]
Don’t Just Think About Retirement Planning, Act Now
According to a report from the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies Americans are concerned with their retirement, but they're not actually doing much about it. I urge you and anyone who hasn't already taken action toward planning for retirement to not wait, get to work now. FEDWeek reports: The report, based on polling samples of the baby boom, generation X and millennial generations, found that majorities of all three expect to have a harder time achieving financial security for retirement than their parents’ generation, with the younger two generations agreeing more strongly; and … [Read more...]
Have You Already Lost Hope for Retirement?
A scary statistic was recently uncovered in a survey conducted by LendEDU. Nearly 40 percent of Americans fear they will never save enough money to retire. Bloomberg reports: That’s despite nearly one in five Americans who said having enough money saved to be able to retire is their most important financial goal, according to a survey of 1,000 adults conducted by LendEDU in May. More Americans said saving for retirement is more important versus those that indicated paying off credit card debt or building an emergency fund, according to the survey. However, slightly more respondents said … [Read more...]
The Creative Destruction of America’s Business Cycle
Business is a cyclical phenomenon. The ups and downs of the business cycle serve to raise men and women up to the peak of prosperity, but also to destroy wealth in shocking fashion. Federal policies play a major part in the duration and regularity of these cycles. As you can see on the chart below of America's Business Booms and Depressions from 1775 to 1944, many of the business booms and busts have labels attached to them. Some were created by wars, embargoes, trust building and busting, monetary policy, etc. It's interesting to notice that the longest period of prosperity (green blocks) was … [Read more...]
A Wolf of Wall Street in Sheep’s Clothing?
The SEC has completed its new regulation on best interests, and will begin enforcing it in one year. The rule increases the level of disclosures brokers must make, but it should not be confused with the more stringent fiduciary rules registered investment advisors are held to. In my opinion, if you're looking for financial advice that may be free of some of the conflicts of interest that may be associated with brokers, you need to find a registered investment advisor held to a fiduciary standard. The Wall Street Journal's Dave Michaels explains the new rule here: The SEC said the new rule, … [Read more...]
Healthcare Could Cost You Your Retirement: Part II
Yesterday I explained to you how even frugal retirees can have their savings sunk when unexpected health care costs arise. Running out of money in retirement is not something anyone wants. Many Americans end up working through what should be their retirement years because they failed to plan properly. If you want to better formulate a plan that includes provisions for health care costs in retirement, read through this guide from Fidelity. If you are like most Americans, health care is expected to be one of your largest expenses in retirement, after housing and transportation costs. But unlike … [Read more...]
Healthcare Could Cost You Your Retirement
Americans tend to work hard their entire lives, saving pennies and dimes wherever they can to build a retirement nest egg. When they finally do retire, Americans are generally frugal, with retired couples having just an 80% spending-to-income ratio on average, according to research just released from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Where things go bad for retirees though, is usually when healthcare costs rise. According to Rebecca Moore at PLANSPONSOR: EBRI found housing expenses were by far the largest item in all groups’ budgets. For the average single retired household, … [Read more...]
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