Social Security in 2014 Next years small COLA isnt the only adjustment related to the program. Here are six things you need to know about Social Security for 2014. For claritys sake, here is a rundown of what is changing next year, and what isnt. Social Security recipients are getting a raise but not much of one. Next year, the average monthly Social Security payment will increase by $19 due to a 1.5% cost-of-living adjustment, one of the smallest [...]
Dividend Reinvestment & Compound Interest Their combined power must be recognized & appreciated. Why reroute dividends back into your investments? Isn’t taking the income the preferred outcome when a dividend is produced? Retirees and pre-retirees are eager for dividend income in this era of historically low interest rates. Even so, the choice to buy more shares has merit for the long run. Reinvestment & compounding may have profoundly positive effects. As a hypothetical example, let’s say you own 100 shares [...]
How Impatience Hurts Retirement Saving Keep calm & carry on – it may be good for your portfolio. Why do so many retirement savers underperform the market? From 1993-2012, the S&P 500 achieved a (compound) annual return of 8.2%. Across the same period, the average investor in U.S. stock funds got only a 4.3% return. What accounts for the difference?1,2 One big factor is impatience. It is expressed in emotional investment decisions. Too many people trade themselves into mediocrity – [...]
Reassessing Retirement Assumptions What makes financial sense for some baby boomers may not make sense for you. There is no “typical” retirement. Many baby boomers want one and believe that they will have one, and their futures may indeed unfold as planned. For others, the story will be different. Just as there is no routine retirement, there are no rote financial moves that should be made before or during this phase of life, and no universal truths about the retirement [...]
IRAs & workplace retirement plans have higher contribution limits. The IRS has set annual contribution limits for IRAs, 401(k)s and other retirement plans higher for 2013, and made other important adjustments for inflation as well. Here is an overview of some notable changes just announced. The 2013 IRA contribution limit: $5,500. This is a $500 increase from 2012, and it applies to both Roth and traditional IRAs. The IRA catch-up contribution limit for those 50 and older remains $1,000.1,3 The [...]