Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
For years, near-retirees were told that the smartest move was to grit their teeth, work or live off savings a little longer, and wait until age 70 so their Social Security checks could reach 124% of their full benefit. Then a quiet deadline tied to an obscure 2015 law arrived, and thousands who had built…
Higher-income retirees could see their Social Security checks shrink by roughly $460 a month in 2026, as rising Medicare premiums and income-based surcharges eat through a modest cost-of-living increase. Federal data from CMS and the Social Security Administration show that while benefits will rise, much of that gain will be clawed back through higher Part…
Federal data offer one of the clearest windows into how Americans build income and wealth over time, including what they set aside for retirement. A close look at the Survey of Income and Program Participation highlights how official statistics can be used to examine retirement preparedness without relying solely on private bank or brokerage surveys….
You lose your job, the bills pile up, and suddenly that five-figure balance in your old 401(k) looks like the easiest way to get breathing room. The plan offers to cut you a check in your name, and you tell yourself you will put it back once things calm down. That single decision to take…
Retirees who want to avoid outliving their nest egg increasingly look west, where a handful of states combine relatively low taxes, manageable housing costs, and solid quality of life. I focus here on the 8 Western states where recent research finds retirees are least likely to run out of money, and I explain what makes…
Picture sitting at your kitchen table at 64, watching your retirement account swing thousands of dollars in a week. The paycheck is almost gone, Social Security is near, and suddenly the market’s mood feels a lot more personal. By 65, the math changes: Vanguard’s target-date glide path aims for roughly a 50% equity allocation at…
Gen X savers are suddenly flocking to Roth IRA conversions, with Fidelity reporting a sharp year-over-year jump in early 2024 as people in their 40s and 50s try to lock in tax-free income later. Those between 44 and 59 sit in a tricky middle ground: often at peak earnings, close enough to retirement to feel…
Many retirees built their plans around 4 percent bond yields and dependable dividends, only to find that traditional fixed income has struggled to keep pace with inflation and market swings. One response has been a move toward option-based income funds that turn market volatility into cash flow. Among the most prominent is JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity…
Semi retirement is no longer a fringe idea. More workers are delaying full Social Security claiming to age 70 to capture the 8 percent annual delayed retirement credit, then pairing those higher future benefits with part-time income after 65. Semi retirement in this sense means easing out of a full-time role while still earning paychecks,…
Picture opening your quarterly 401(k) statement and discovering an unexpected tax bill on contributions you thought were sheltered—this scenario is becoming reality for millions of workers as the IRS quietly implemented a major change to retirement catch-up contributions. The agency finalized regulations in September 2024 that will force approximately 9 million eligible workers earning above…