Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
May 20, 2026 -- Frequent visitors to this site might remember one of your Editor's top regrets in retirement - failing to put more money into Roth IRA's and 401(k) Roths. By putting more of my contributions into regular (non Roth) retirement accounts, I set myself up for having to take sizable Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), all taxable income, starting in my 70's. Those pushed up my tax bracket, along with much higher Medicare Part B premiums.
Fidelity recently put out a very helpful primer on Roth conversions - 4 Back Doors to a Roth Conversion.
The problem for higher income taxpayers is that are limits that shut them out of contributing to Roths. Married couples filing jointly with a modified adjusted gross income of $252,000 or more cannot direct contributions. But Fidelity's suggestions can help overcome that.
The Roth Advantage
Regular IRAs and 401(k)s have an immediate tax advantage; contributions to those accounts reduce your taxable income in the year you make them. But you must take RMDs once you hit the age of 73. Then all of the deposits and your investment returns count as ordinary income. Funds in your Roth accounts, on the other hand, can be withdrawn (after retirement age) with no impact on taxes. That includes all the investment increases you might have had over the life of your account - 50 or more years for some people. Your heirs share this advantage too - they will be subject to RMDs, but none of that money is taxable.
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Published on May 21, 2026
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Category: Life Care or CCRC
By Jeff Alden
May 18, 2026 --Yesterday Paulette and I drove out to visit The Woodlands again. We’d been on thewaiting list since 2018, when we moved to Greenville, S.C. from Minneapolis. We were almostten years younger then. The Woodlands at Furman (the small university it’s loosely connectedto) is billed as a “Life Care Community,” designed to take you from independent-living throughto the end. At the time, the idea of moving to such a place, otherwise called a CCCR orcontinuum of care retirement community, seemed to us remote and undesirable at best.
We were still both in pretty good health. But now Paulette had just turned 79 and I was 76. We didn’t have children and both my brothers lived on the West Coast. We’d witnessed our parents decline and die, so who exactly was going to give us the kind of care we’d given to them as they aged over many difficult years.
Still, we didn’t want to move to The Woodlands. We loved our Greenville home, ourneighbors and neighborhood, the short walks to Main Street in “happening” downtownGreenville or the beautiful Cleveland Park, where we walked (tallying our steps) nearly everyday.
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Published on May 18, 2026
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Category: Family and Retirement
Note: We published this story on our Substack on Mother's Day. It's a tribute to my mom, but we hope it stirs up good memories of your mother too. Feel free to add your own stories
Unconditional Love
Mom, stirring her ersatz version of goulash, paused. In our Pennsylvania kitchen my older brother Bob was recounting what he had heard at school about was going on behind Russia’s Iron Curtain: “Those kids have to report their parents to the police if they say something bad about the government.” Listening, Mom turned to us from the stove: “They could put me in this frying pan before I turned in any of you.”
The image of our mother squeezed into a pan, naked, seared into our young brains. We were stunned, and proud. Wow, she would do anything to protect us.
Both our mom and our dad were children of the Depression, with the emotional scars to prove it. Whereas Dad was a champion kidder, our mom’s personality had square corners. There wasn’t always a middle ground.
She always wanted the best for us. I think she only stopped begging me to “take a math class” after I graduated from college. But if someone outside the family said something bad about one of her chicks, look out!
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Published on May 13, 2026
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
What are the best millennial retirement planning tips?
The best millennial retirement planning tips focus on starting early, maximizing tax-advantaged accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs, controlling spending, building multiple income streams, and planning for healthcare, housing, and lifestyle in retirement.
Why retirement planning matters for millennials
If you’re a millennial, retirement might feel far off—but it’s closer than you think. The oldest millennials are already in their mid-40s, meaning retirement planning is no longer optional.
Gen Z and Millennials are often more engaged with investing, financial independence, and long-term planning than older generations like baby boomers and those in Gen X. But challenges like rising living costs, the disappearance of fixed pensions, uncertain Social Security benefits, and longer lifespans make smart planning essential. In case you are as confused as I am by this alphabet soup: baby boomers were born 1946-1964, Gen X 1965-1980, Millennials (Gen Y, 1981-1996), and Gen Z 1997-2012.
When The New York Times asked readers for their best retirement advice, hundreds responded. Here are what we think are the most valuable insights—combined with wisdom from TopRetirements's Members.
1. Start saving early to maximize compound growth
The earlier you start saving, the more time your money has to grow, thanks to the power of compounding. Even small contributions today can turn into significant wealth over time. Set a percentage of your income as a goal, and stick with it. FInd more retirement fnancial and tax tips in our Blog.
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Published on May 8, 2026
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
Would you choose a healthy body or a healthy mind? If forced to choose, most people say they’d rather deal with physical illness than lose their cognitive abilities. After all, even with a failing body, you can still connect with loved ones. But with dementia, that connection can fade. Here’s…
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Published on April 28, 2026
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Category: Uncategorized
April 22, 2026- Maybe you weren’t ready to retire, but had to. Or you did, and found out you needed more… challenge, money, whatever. In that case, the Census Bureau is here to help. The Bureau recently sent out emails advertising many job openings. From Government Information Specialist ($121k per…
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Published on April 22, 2026
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
Forget Yankees vs. Red Sox—one of the liveliest rivalries these days is pickleball vs. tennis. April 21, 2026 – Tennis players bristle when courts are converted for pickleball. Pickleball fans, meanwhile, will gladly point out an empty tennis court as proof their sport is winning. Add in the distinctive “whack”…
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Published on April 21, 2026
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Category: Bucket Lists
March 27, 2026 -- People have many different reasons for choosing where they go on their retirement bucket list trips. But if outdoor adventures and amazing scenery make it to the top on your list, start planning your trip to New Zealand!
Topretirements just completed our long anticipated trip to the land of kiwis …and it was great!
New Zealand, Aotearoa in Maori, consists of three islands. The North and South Islands are by far the largest, with the much smaller Stewart Island to their south. New Zealand is very young when it comes to human habitation. It is considered to be the last land mass on earth to be discovered. Polynesians ventured west to settle here in the 1200 or 1300s. Europeans followed after Captain Cook's "discovery" of the islands in 1769.
The country has tons of fun places to visit, with the the south having the more amazing scenic wonders. We started our trip in the North, landing in Auckland after a 15 hour flight from Dallas. Yes, it’s a long way to get there, but it’s worth it.
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Published on March 27, 2026
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Category: Medicare
Feb. 28, 2026 –The Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A) trust fund is now projected to be depleted by 2040, 12 years earlier than the Congressional Budget Office projected just last year. Experts at KFF says that the tax cuts in the “Big Beautiful Bill” are behind this giant change. This…
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Published on February 27, 2026
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Category: Baby Boomer Retirement Issues
April, 2026 — If someone asked me last year if I was going to be writing a memoir I would have chuckled. What have I ever done that was that interesting. Memoirs are for luminaries like movie stars, inventors, military heroes, and athletes. That all changed after I received an…
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Published on February 20, 2026
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