In Tax Strategies For Seniors (and everyone else) – Chapter 1, we introduced the US Government graduated tax system and talked about some tax savings strategies. While the US (and state and local governments) need to collect taxes to provide services, none of us enjoy writing that tax check. We need to pay our fair […]
Tax Strategies for Seniors (and everyone else) – Chapter 2 Read More »
Thanks to Tony for suggesting this topic. It’s February and it’s cold so there’s not much else to do but sit at home, watch the snow and worry about how much of our retirement savings – or earnings – Uncle Sam is going to take from us. Taxes I’ve written about our growing national debt
Tax Strategies For Seniors (and everyone else) – Chapter 1 Read More »
I wrote a post a few month’s back making the case for taking social security at age 62. Read here. The post details all the choices and projections, but here’s the quick summary. I am convinced that if I take my benefits at 62, invest each payment in a nice low-cost S&P 500 fund, I
Social Security at 62 Read More »
Most people that I talk to who are nearing retirement struggle with the question “What will I do”. Even when they have the finances worked out, they’re concerned about how they’ll spend their days. I get it. Within 3 weeks of retiring, I had a new part-time job. More about this in a minute, but
What Will I Do In Retirement? Read More »
Regular readers know that I have a bit of a pet peeve about the word invest. It drives me nuts when a salesman says “wouldn’t you like to protect your investment?” And then comes the hard sell for an extended warranty. I have nothing against extended warranties on something we could not afford to repair
Invest In Your Health Read More »
The 4% Rule is the creation of an advisor named Bill Bengen, You can read more here. Basically, the rule was established to help those considering retirement and wondering how much of their nest egg they could take out each year for spending. “I have $500,000. Sounds like a lot, but is it enough?” Many
The 4% Rule – We Can Do Better Read More »
I wrote about this a few months ago, here, but I’ve been thinking about how to quantify why this makes sense. I turned 62 in May. 3 months before, in February, I gleefully logged in to the social security website and submitted my claim. Considerations For many of us, social security payments will be an
The Case for Taking Social Security at 62 Read More »
I was at a retirement party yesterday and there was a lot of talk about social security – it’s fun to hang with old folks like me. The general sentiment was a feeling that social security is my money. My employer and I both paid in through payroll taxes throughout my career so it’s mine.
You Can’t Take My Social Security – Round 2 Read More »
I’ve written quite a few posts about the economics of retiring. Today we’re talking about the mechanics. What will I do with all that time? I was at a retirement party today and the guest of honor, who had just retired was asking me what I do with my days. He’s worked for years, what
How to Retire – A Beginner’s Guide Read More »
Welcome to retirement. We’ve spent 40 years of our life socking away money and now it’s time to start spending the money we’ve saved. This should be easy, right? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as we might have hoped. And the potential impacts of taxes could cost us. Let’s take a look. Account Types If
Taxes in Retirement – Which Account Should I Use First? Read More »