By Dan Moisand; MarketWatch ~ Nov 02, 2015
Things change over time. How you want your estate plans arranged is likely to change too. Periodic review and updating is often a good idea.
Blog Archives
Opinion: Blame Washington if your retirement plan costs are too high
By Chuck Jaffe; MarketWatch ~ Nov 01, 2015
Government should protect investors by setting a limit on fees
If the government and regulators can’t simply do what’s right when it comes to the financial-advice industry, they should simply define what’s wrong.
We got proof this past week, again, that legislators are more concerned with satisfying their favorite lobbyists than protecting consumers/voters when the House passed a measure that prohibits the U.S. Department of Labor from advancing and enhancing rules about actions and standards that financial advisers must live by.
A Tax Deduction That’s Often Overlooked
By Anne Tergesen; The Wall Street Journal ~ Nov 01, 2015
If you are withdrawing funds from an inherited retirement account, you might be overlooking a sizable income-tax deduction.
Officially called the estate-tax deduction, but better known as the IRD deduction (which stands for income in respect of a decedent), it is available to those who have inherited certain financial assets, including a traditional individual retirement account or a 401(k) account, from someone with an estate large enough to have paid a federal estate tax.
Millions of Americans just lost a key Social Security strategy
By Robert Powell; MarketWatch ~ Oct 31, 2015
Millions lose out on benefits from popular claiming tactic
It was good while it lasted. But all good things — especially those which lawmakers regard as an unintended loophole — must come to an end.
Congress has agreed to, and the president is expected to sign into law, a bill that 1) averts a government shutdown and 2) shuts down two popular Social Security claiming tactics: the-file-and-suspend and the restricted-application Social Security strategies.
A Look At The Federal Budget And Why We May Be Headed For Trouble
From Mike Patton; Forbes ~ Oct 31, 2015
Today’s federal government is a massive and out of control entity. Its annual spending, which is quickly approaching $3.7 trillion, is all the proof we need. Where is all this money going? In this article, we will look at the federal budget and discuss why there may be trouble ahead.
What Congress Just Did To Social Security
By Luke Delorme; ValueWalk ~ Oct 30, 2015
The U.S. budget deal includes a provision that seeks to end the file-and-suspend and restricted claiming strategies. I explained these strategies in recent blogs as a way to bring couples upwards of $60,000 more in total Social Security benefits.
The section of the bill is titled “Closure of Unintended Loopholes.” Let’s take a look at the details of the proposal, who it will affect, and what you can do now.
No Medicare Premium Spike … For Now
By Joseph Antos, U.S. News and World Report – Oct 29, 2015
The fix is in, but seniors have little reason to celebrate. About 16 million Medicare beneficiaries were facing an unprecedented 52 percent increase next year in their premiums for Part B, which pays for physician services. The budget deal worked out by the White House and Congress held that to a more manageable 15 percent increase. But this kicks the cost down the road, leaving an even bigger problem for seniors in future years.
Column: Still the third rail? Social Security, Medicare mostly unharmed in budget deal
By Michael Hiltzik, Los Angles Times – Oct 28, 2015
Social Security has long earned its status as “the third rail of American politics”–touch it, and your political career gets electrocuted.
But its immunity had seemed threatened during the Congressional negotiations over the federal budget deal reached Monday night. Leaks from the party caucuses and negotiations suggested that the agreement to raise the federal debt ceiling and remove some sequester caps would be paid for by cuts to Social Security disability benefits and Medicare.
Reauthorize the Older Americans Act
By former HUD Secy. Henry Cisneros &d former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) ; The Hill ~ Oct 28, 2015
Enhancing the ability of our nation’s seniors to “age in place” in their own homes and communities has the potential to improve health outcomes and quality of life. It can also reduce preventable healthcare costs and delay the decision by seniors to receive more expensive care in a nursing home or other institutionalized setting.
Drug prices top Americans’ list of health care concerns
By Matthew Perrone; The Associated Press ~ Oct 28, 2015
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans from across the political spectrum are worried about the cost of prescription drugs for serious diseases, following weeks of news coverage about companies hiking prices for critical medicines.
Keeping drugs for cancer, hepatitis, HIV and other conditions affordable is the top health priority for Democrats, Republicans and independents, according to a poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
