By Kimberly Lankford; Kiplinger ~ Dec 18, 2015
The President will sign legislation that okays a tax-free transfer of up to $100,000.
I want to give my IRA required minimum distribution to charity, like I did last year, but I’ve been waiting for Congress to extend the law permitting the tax-free transfer for 2015. Has Congress passed the law, or does it look as if it will act soon?
By John F. Wasik; The New York Times ~ Dec 18, 2015
Insuring for long-term care is a lot like trying to cover the future financial impact of climate change. It’s a universal problem that looms large, is hard to predict and will be costly to mitigate.
Few have prepared for this gathering storm. Private long-term care insurance is available, of course, to help pay for expensive services if you are mentally or physically incapacitated late in life.
From Robert Laura; Forbes ~ Dec 17, 2015
Life is full of secrets and retirement is no different. Whether it’s disguising one’s physical abilities, bad habits, personal schedule, or financial status, retirement may be masking a variety of things during new and existing retirees’ golden years, including:
1) Driving Capacity
From Annamaria Lusardi; Forbes ~ Dec 16, 2015
Pundits keep a close watch on the U.S. Federal Reserve as it meets to raise interest rates after seven years of effectively zero rates. Yet the reality is that many Americans know little about interest rates, and much less about the implications of a rate hike for their finances! This was one key finding from the recently released S&P Global FinLit Survey, gathered with the support of McGraw Hill Financial.
By Russell Grantham; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ~ Dec 16, 2015
Georgia retirees and bankers stand to gain from the Fed rate hike announced Wednesday.
Homebuyers and shoppers who run credit card balances may find their purchases a little more expensive because of it.
For a lot of other people, including stock market investors, the effect is hard to predict.
Steven Stenberg, U.S. News & World Report – Dec 16, 2015
Medicare announced Wednesday that it will provide complete, national physician-level data to a San Francisco-based start-up whose goal is to help millions of consumers nationwide make “more informed health care decisions, starting with the doctors they choose.”
The firm, called Amino, launched in October. It is the second national organization – and the first for-profit company – to achieve special Medicare “qualified entity” status that bestows access to the full range of Medicare data for physicians and other healthcare providers.
By Mark Miller, Reuters – Dec 16, 2015
The interest rate hike announced today by the Federal Reserve is a major milestone for retirees, who have been caught between a rock and hard place ever since the Great Recession, with zero interest rates and higher-than-average inflation.
The Fed’s quarter-point hike in the benchmark federal funds rate is the first in nearly a decade, and it could mark the start of something good for retirees, who rely on bonds, certificates of deposit and money market funds to generate income.
By Dan Jones; Light Reading ~ Dec 15, 2015
AT&T’s new NumberSync service shows the flexibility of 4G LTE networks to enable attractive new services for users, but also just how long it can take to make new offerings available to the public.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) first announced the NumberSync service in October. It is intended to link your phone — via the network — to your other devices and wearables. You can get an alert, text or call on any device that is associated with you, even if your phone is switched off, as long as the other devices have 3G or 4G connectivity.
By Meaghan Kilroy; Pensions & Investments ~ Dec 15, 2015
Defined contribution plans consistently underperform defined benefit plans, most likely due to higher investment fees, said a new research brief issued Tuesday by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
Even after factoring in plan size and asset allocation, defined benefit plans outperformed defined contribution plans by an average of 70 basis points per year between 1990 and 2012, the report found.
By Timothy W. Martin; The Wall Street Journal ~ Dec 15, 2015
Whoever said choice was a good thing?
Workers who still have a guaranteed pension are getting better returns than employees who have to make their own choices about retirement.
Private-sector pension funds produced annual returns that were 0.7% higher than employees’ 401(k) plans from 2000 to 2012, according to a new analysis by Boston College researchers.