A qualified longevity annuity contract, or “QLAC”, is a retirement withdrawal tool. It can be a helpful part of your retirement withdrawal strategy. A QLAC allows you to use the money in a qualified retirement plan to purchase a deferred income annuity without running afoul of required minimum distribution rules. In this article I’ll explain …
It is possible to retire on 500k in retirement savings, but you’ll need to do some careful planning. There aren’t many universal answers to retirement questions like this one. You need an individualized answer. I’m going to show you a simple process for answering this question. Whether you can or not depends largely on how …
Tax-gain harvesting may seem counter-intuitive, but it can be an effective way to reduce your total tax burden in retirement. Mindful tax planning is one of the easiest ways to improve your finances in retirement. What makes that true is the fact that current tax rates are known, so any time you make a decision …
One of the most common questions I get about retirement is “How long will my money last?” Considering the number one retirement fear for most people is running out of money, that really isn’t a surprise. With that in mind, your money can last as long as you need it to if you plan ahead. …
A multi-year guaranteed annuity, or MYGA, is very similar to a CD. A MYGA pays a fixed rate of interest and is most appropriate when you need a stable return from a conservative investment. Any time I mention annuities I try to make it clear that I am not licensed to sell them. Annuities tend …
If you hold a portfolio that contains stocks or equity funds, whether they are mutual funds or ETFs, then chances are you receive dividends. You probably reinvest at least a portion of them. But are reinvested dividends taxable? Reinvested dividends are generally taxable like any other dividend but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll incur a …
Living happily in retirement means crafting a spending plan to support your lifestyle. To do that, you’ll need to think about how you plan to live in retirement. Not just now, but for the long term too. That could involve a plan to spend more early in your retirement.
Social Security is a significant portion of most retirees total income. In fact, about a third of retirees get 90% of their income from Social Security. Such an important component of your income deserves some attention. In this article you will learn how your benefit is calculated so that you can get an idea of …
Is Social Security Going Broke? More importantly, will YOU be able to collect Social Security benefits when you retire? Well, to quote the 42nd President of the United States, that depends on what the meaning of the word is… is. That’s right. I said it. The point I want to make here is that there …
One withdrawal strategy that you could use for your retirement income is to withdraw a fixed percentage of your portfolio each year. Because of its simplicity this approach may be appealing to you. It is also very easy to implement.
What are the risks of relying on dividends for retirement income? Like most things used in moderation there isn’t anything wrong with dividends, or the stocks that pay them. In fact, higher-dividend paying stocks are usually older, established, and strong companies. They can be good components of retirement income plans and help provide some diversification …
What is a Roth conversion ladder and how can it help you fund early retirement? I’ve written before on the five year rules of Roth IRA’s. This strategy utilizes a specific rule that affects Roth IRA conversions, and provides a means of taking tax-efficient withdrawals from your retirement account BEFORE you turn 59.5.
If you withdraw money from your tax-deferred IRA or 401k accounts before you turn 59.5 you will owe a 10% penalty in addition to income tax. A 72(t) distribution is a way of accessing the money in your retirement account before you turn 59.5 without incurring the penalty. No doubt, you are aware that withdrawing …
One of the key considerations in a retirement income plan is the amount of money that you will withdraw from an investment portfolio. Your decision regarding how much income to take from your retirement account necessitates that you strike a balance between current consumption and future account value. In simple language, this means that you …
Retirement income is inherently dependent on many different factors. This is true because retirement income planning involves accounting for unpredictable variables over a long time horizon, and weighing them against the comfort level of the individual retiree. Inflation is one of those factors. Even for a given amount of retirement savings, different retirees can have …
Roth IRA’s are one of the most popular retirement accounts. Roth IRAs have many advantages over tax-deferred accounts, namely the ability to provide tax-free growth. The ability to provide tax-free growth is premised on making contributions with after-tax dollars. As I’m sure you are well aware, you must pay taxes on essentially each dollar you …
Retirement planning is a comprehensive issue. What I mean by this is that there are a number of sub-components of retirement planning that are pretty distinct from each other. Consider the two broad phases of retirement planning. First is the accumulation phase when the investor sets aside assets as they are earned in order to …
Yes, but with a nod to Paul Harvey, there is a “rest of the story”. It isn’t as simple as adding your benefit check to your taxable income and paying taxes at your marginal rate. Social Security retirement benefits are an important part of retirement. For about 62% of retirees, Social Security represents at least …
If you save for retirement using tax-deferred accounts then you need to understand the rules surrounding required minimum distributions (RMDs) in order to avoid some pretty steep penalties. For some retirees, the required minimum distribution is less than they would withdraw anyway, and is therefore not much of a planning concern. For others who intend …
The purpose of accumulating retirement savings with tax-advantaged retirement accounts is to withdraw an income that will last for the duration of your retired lifetime. Considering this could be thirty or forty years, it’s important to get this right. Efficient retirement account withdrawals can help stretch your savings and achieve this goal. Clearly then, you …
The most commonly cited method of withdrawing retirement income from an investment portfolio is “the 4% rule”. This rule comes from a very popular study conducted by William Bengen and published in The Journal of Financial Planning in 1994 as Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data. The short-hand version of the rule, and the basic conclusion …
What is sequence of returns risk? We often think of investment return as an average rate over some period, such as 10, 15, or 20 years. This is especially true regarding investment returns within a retirement planning context where the investment horizon is often very long. Anyone interested enough to be reading this knows that …
