Category Finance

Self-Checkouts And Their Detractors

12/12/2019 Finance  No comments

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So I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of self-checkouts. Don’t you prefer the human touch? I do. Do you enjoy laboriously placing items on a machine, or kiosk, and following directions from a disembodied voice on how to make a simple transaction? I don’t.

In September, I was forced to think about such matters when two automatic checkout machines were installed in my local CVS store in New Jersey. They appeared one day, replacing two cashier positions out of four. As I stood in line waiting for a human being while glaring at the machines, a cashier I was friendly with beckoned me over to one of the kiosks, where she was assisting people trying to use them. “No way,” I said. “I’m not going to use those things.”

Granted, I’m an elderly shopper with a long-s...

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Charitable Giving: the Benefits it Gives Us

11/08/2019 Finance  No comments

Many of us use charitable giving to make the world a better place for the next generation. Some people volunteer time and talent. And some are fortunate enough to give through wealth.

Using wealth for good has become a core aspect of the U.S. value system. I’ve seen charitable giving grow steadily over the past several decades. Studies show that since the 1950s, even after adjusting for inflation, charitable giving has grown by 6.5 times.¹

I believe when you combine your personal values with wealth management strategies, you create a greater sense of purpose and achieve benefits.

Why do we give?

Vanguard Charitable conducted a survey years ago on charitable giving...

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Student loans: A recipe to burn them off

10/04/2019 Finance  No comments

Like most of my friends, when I graduated from college, I was ready to take on the world and be a force for change. Unfortunately, like most other college graduates, I entered the job market with unpaid student loans. My first student loans bill 6 years ago drove reality home: I was staring at a balance of over $100,000.

I asked myself the same question you’re probably asking yourself right now: “How am I possibly going to pay off these student loans, buy a house, travel the world, and save for retirement?”

After taking a few deep breaths, I calmed down, composed myself, and thought long and hard about how to tackle this dilemma.

The balancing act

Don’t let student debt control you. Many indebted Americans don’t believe they can achieve financial success after starting out so fa...

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Divorced Widow’s Benefit: Why Is Corrine Harkins’ Being Stolen By Social Security?

09/10/2019 Finance  No comments

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Corrine Jean Harkins lives at 2001 Airport-Pulling Road, Naples Florida 34112. Her PO Box for Social Security mailing purposes is PO Box 301 Naples Fl 34106. Corrine is 70. She has been taking her own retirement benefit since age 62. We’re posting her information because it’s the only way we can help her. Now there is a problem with her divorced widow’s benefit.

Last January her ex-husband from a 14-year marriage passed away. She went to her local office in Naples, Florida and applied for her excess divorced widow’s benefit. The agent who took all the information was pleasant, stating she’d be receiving a large increase — over $1,000 more per month, as her ex was receiving a very large benefit...

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How To Reduce Taxes In Retirement

08/17/2019 Finance  One comment

Tax planning for retirement

Credit: Getty Royalty Free

Stephen Nelson, a wealth manager at Aldrich Wealth in Carlsbad, Calif., has some very good advice here to reduce taxes in retirement: even though you may be retired, the taxman is ready to take a slice of your Social Security and retirement fund payouts. How can you minimize his cut and reduce taxes in retirement?

Larry Light: With boomers retiring every single day, how can they minimize their tax bill in retirement to keep more money in their pocket?

Stephen Nelson: Some people in retirement find out that they actually pay more in taxes than they did when they were working...

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Retirement Crisis: How to Create One

06/14/2019 Finance  No comments

Long-nosed skunk- retirement crisis smells Humboldt’s hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus humboldti) searching for food in Valle Chacabuco, Patagonia, Chile

Retirement Crisis! Citizens of the world! The press is misleading you on retirement savings!

A worrying new study from the World Economic Forum predicts a retirement crisis with “retirees might run out of money 10 years before they die,” according to Bloomberg News coverage. The World Economic Forum calculates that the average 65-year old American has only enough savings to cover 9.7 years of retirement income out of a nearly 20-year expected retirement. Results for other countries are similar.

As usual, headlines from the credulous news media pile up: “Japanese women face retirement savings gap of almost 20 years,” says the Japan Times...

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Communication is Key

04/30/2019 Finance  No comments

Communication with our elderly parents is very important in getting through issues. When Gen Xers gather with friends, there is a common theme that pops up in the conversation. Whether at the kids’ softball game or over a glass of wine, the query comes with concern, and at times, hushed tones: “How are your parents doing?” “Do you communicate with your Boomer parents easily?” How are Gen Xers doing with communication with their Boomer parents.

Family Time

While this seems like a fairly innocuous question, as Gen X navigates their 40s and early 50s, they are commiserating more on the challenges associated with the aging of their Boomer parents...

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Taxes On Retirement Savings

04/03/2019 Finance  No comments

Concerned couple trying to figure out taxes today and at retirement. Photo Credit: Gettty

Taxes are confusing by themselves, much less adding the complexity of the various types of taxes on retirement savings and all the options available. Often headlines that say, “The Best Way to”, oversimplify and lead to even more confusion. To learn about tax-advantaged retirement savings, we need to look at three taxation components: when saved, while earned (interest, dividends and appreciation) and when used (spent).

In “Today’s Opportunity Lost Or Retirement Opportunity Cost In Your Paycheck”, I provided an example of a $104,000 income earner, filing Single. The following table uses the 2019 marginal tax rates for that earner. This tax rate of 24% is assessed only on their earnings above $84,200. The highest marginal income tax rate of 37% is charged on income over $510,300 for Single taxpayers. Future taxes are generally unknown. We do know that the current tax rates are set to reset to their 2017 levels.

Retirement Tax On Savings Categories

Retirement savings	Taxable	Taxable	IRA, 401(K), 403(b)	IRA, 401(K), 403(b)	Roth IRA, Roth 401(k), Roth 403(b)	Roth IRA, Roth 401(k), Roth 403(b)	Health Savings Account	Health Savings Account
Type of tax	Income tax	Long term Gains	Income tax	Long term Gains	Income tax	Long term Gains	Income tax	Long term Gains
When saved	22%	NA	0%	NA	22%	NA	0%	NA
While gaining	NA	15%	0%	NA	0%	NA	NA	NA
When used	NA	Maybe	22%	NA	0%	NA	0%	0%

This table should be read across from the “Retirement Savings Type” column, and then down the “Type of Tax” column, then across from the “Timing of Tax” rows. For example, let’s look at Taxable retirement savings. You may want to think of the money that you are in working the gets deposited into your brokerage account or invested in say a hard asset, such as property. You pay income tax on the Interest and gains from short-term accounts, such as a short-term CD or money market. Our hypothetical $104,000 income earner is currently taxed at 22%.

There are no long-term gains until the investment has been held for more than a year. After that, it may be subject to long-term gains. Currently the long-term gains tax stands at 15% for our hypothetical earner unless the long-term gains when added to the $104,000 income exceeds $434,550. Then it will be taxed at 20%.

Now let’s look at the so-called, tax-deferred IRA or 401(k) accounts. The initial savings amount is not taxed when saved. If you pay for your IRA from your checking account, the tax-deferred benefit is calculated when you file your taxes. If you save through a 401(k) at work, then your company’s payroll provider adjusts your paycheck accordingly. You don’t pay capital gains taxes on the earnings while your money grows. However, when you use it after age 59 ½, you will pay taxes on both the original savings and the capital gains at the income tax bracket at that time. Today that is 22% for the $104,000 earner. Notice that the long-term gains are also taxed at the income tax rate and not the capital gains tax rate. Today, the highest income tax rate is 37% while the highest capital gains rate is 20%.

Now, let’s read across to the Roth IRA and Roth 401(k). Think of this as saving from your take-home pay if you are a salaried worker. There is no tax due while the money is growing (capital gains). When you go to use the money, there are no taxes due on your gains. This is in stark contrast to the Taxable, where you pay capital gains taxes on the earnings funded from your net pay.

Finally, in the last column, there is the Health Savings Account. No taxes are ever due if it is used for health expenses. After age 65, if it is used for something other than health expenses, you pay taxes as if it was an IRA.

Unfortunately, some people overstate their retirement savings because they have not accounted for unpaid taxes on their retirement savings. When many people look at their IRA and 401(k) accounts, they equate it to looking at their checking account. The amount you see is the amount that is available to use. Monies saved in a Roth IRA and health savings account, if used for health expenses, can be viewed that way, but not IRA and 401(k) accounts.

Let’s look at this in dollar terms. A Roth IRA of $1,000,000 could be withdrawn, and you would receive $1 million, no matter what the tax rate is at the time. However, based on the 2019 federal tax brackets a $1,000,000 IRA totally withdrawn would receive closer to $719,537. State and local taxes can further reduce that amount. If the account is withdrawn before age 59 1/2 there is likely a 10% penalty too!

As you age, most of us find our cognitive abilities decline. That’s not the time for us to have to start calculating tax rates when withdrawing money. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s already bad enough that you will have to learn the language of Medicare with its part A, part Bs and various Medigap coverages.

If diversification is wise for investing, then it might also be wise to apply that to your retirement savings. Recently, we have seen tax rates go down. They are scheduled to go back up in a few years. If you have saved in different categories, you can use the one most advantageous based upon prevailing tax rates. No one has a crystal ball on making this perfect, but you can potentially save yourself thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. Recall our $1,000,000 Roth IRA versus IRA example earlier.

Hopefully, this article has helped to clarify the types of ways your money can get taxed. By envisioning your retirement lifestyle, you can plan today to control the impact taxes on retirement savings will have on your future.

The information contained in this material has been derived from sources believed to be reliable but is not guaranteed as to accuracy and completeness and does not purport to be a complete analysis of the materials discussed. None of the information in this document should be considered tax or legal advice. Therefore, you should consult your tax or legal advisor for information concerning your individual situation before investing.

*Tax rates were pulled from the College for Financial Planning’s 2019 Annual Limits.800 × 1574

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Senior Housing Investments

04/02/2019 Finance  No comments

Senior Housing Investments

Did you read my article on Monday about Senior Housing Investments?

You should have. Really. I’m not being egotistical saying so. I can barely even believe how quickly my warning came true.

Titled “The April ‘Fool’s Gold’ REITs,” it was all about real estate investment trusts that my spidey sense (and technical analysis) was telling me to avoid.

In other words, it was on one of my favorite topics to talk about: sucker yields.

There were three REITs in particular that I listed as being in danger of having to chop their dividend offerings to a sustainable size. But the write-up could have applied to any dividend-yielding stock paying out more than it should.

Sadly, there are more than a few of those out there all told.

To capture the article’s main po...

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Getting ready to retire?

03/29/2019 Finance  No comments

You are finally ready to retire! Congratulations! For this blog post, I’m going to take off my Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) hat and assume you’re set financially.

The financial decisions are important, but the decisions around what kind of lifestyle you want to have in retirement are equally important. You can make this next stage of your life whatever you want it to be.

Now that you are ready to retire, have you thought about what you’re going to do with your time? What activities or pastimes will keep you energized once the novelty of not going to work every day wears off? You need a reason to get up every morning. Will you travel, volunteer, or start those hobbies you never had time for?

Set your schedule

No matter what you decide to do, it’s important to think about ho...

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