Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
December 19, 2017 — The imminent passage of the Republican tax bill makes us wonder how our audience - retirees and people about to retire - will be affected by it. We will attempt to answer that question here, recognizing that everyone’s situation is unique and might be affected differently. We are not tax experts, but have tried to digest various media reports to provide this overview.
The bill will have direct effects on retirees in 2018, as well as some possible indirect effects down the road. Let's look at each of those in turn.
Direct effects on retirees
1. Lower tax payments. With the exception of the people described in #4 below, almost everyone will pay lower federal taxes in 2018 than they do now. However, those cuts will expire in 2025.
Effect: Good news for retirees who pay taxes, except in those who live in high tax states. Who wouldn't want to pay lower taxes!
2. The standard deduction is now much higher, at $12,000 per person vs. the current $6500. This means that far fewer people will have enough deductions to itemize, and filing will be simplified. On the other hand the current personal deduction of $4500 has been eliminated, so the net effect in the increase in the standard exemption
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Published on December 18, 2017
Comments 65
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 13, 2017 -- How about this for a rhetorical question: would you like to retire in a boring place? Of course not, why would anyone choose an uninteresting place to retire. Unfortunately, many people are lazy about their decision about where to retire. The result: they end up living in a place with a lot less day to day zip than they could have had. This article will give you our ideas on the 8 most interesting places to retire in the USA, by region. We hope you will contribute your suggestions in the Comments section at the end of the article.
What makes an interesting place to retire?
Everyone probably has a different idea about what makes a town or city interesting. While a beautiful town is a great attribute in a place to retire, that is only one thing that might make it interesting. Here are some of our possibilities for what make might make
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Published on December 12, 2017
Comments 29
Category: Active adult communities
December 6, 2017 -- Which is the smarter option: buy a home in a new 55+ or active adult community, or
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Published on December 5, 2017
Comments 4
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Part One: A Tale of Some (Very Different) Cities at Tahoe
By Flo Williamson
Beautiful Lake Tahoe is a wonderful retirement destination for well-heeled retirees who love all things outdoors. Nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains about 50 miles south of Reno, NV, this famous vacation resort area offers recreational activities and more. Lake Tahoe is about 11 miles wide and 21 miles long running north to south. The eastern third is in Nevada, with the western two thirds in California. Starting at the upper eastern portion of the lake in Nevada, we’ll take a look at the
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Published on December 2, 2017
Comments 4
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
November 28, 2017 — As if there wasn’t enough bad news to go around, your Social Security retirement check is in trouble. If Congress doesn’t act soon, retirement benefits will probably have to be cut by 23% in 2034 – when someone who is 66 years old now will be…
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Published on November 27, 2017
Comments 29
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Update Dec 2, 2017: The Senate passed their tax proposal early this morning. It is anticipated that the reconciliation between the Senate and House versions of the bill will go smoothly and it will be signed by the President soon. As soon as the final details emerge we will either update this article or create a new one, so that you can see how tax reform might affect your retirement.
November 23, 2017 -- Recently we had some Comments made to other posts that touched on how the proposed tax bills approved by the House and being considered by the Senate might affect retirees. While the bills and different how they might be reconciled in the end is very fluid, it is worth considering how they impact your retirement. Just about everyone agrees that the concept of simplifying our overly complex tax code is a good thing in principle. But it also certain that any tax reform always produces winners and losers. In this article we will give our opinions on how different groups of retirees would fare on tax reform. Let us hope for your sake you are among the winners!
Tax Reform and Roth Conversions
Here is the Comment by Peder: "If the tax reform/cut/whatever gets through and they raise the 25% bracket all the way to $200K, I’m seriously going to consider converting
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Published on November 23, 2017
Comments 37
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
November 21, 2017 -- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the 2018 premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs. Note that the Medicare Open Enrollment period ends Dec. 7 - make sure your choices are up to date.
Medicare Part B Premiums/Deductibles
The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $134 for 2018, the same amount as in 2017. Some beneficiaries who were held harmless against Part B premium increases in prior years will have a Part B premium increase in 2018, but the premium increase will be offset by the increase (COLA) in their Social Security benefits next year. Individuals with income over $85,000 or couples earning more than $170,000 pay more for Part B, and those premiums will increase about 5% in 2018. Medicare Part B covers physician services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment, and other items.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma commented: “Next year, no beneficiary protected by the hold-harmless provision will see a Part B premium increase that is greater than the increase in their Social Security benefits. We encourage Medicare beneficiaries to explore
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Published on November 21, 2017
Comments 4
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
November 20, 2017 — Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 66 million Americans will increase 2.0 percent in 2018. The 2.0 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 61 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2018. Increased payments to…
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Published on November 20, 2017
Comments 12
Category: Retirement Planning
November 18, 2017 -- Anybody who has spent any time preparing for their retirement quickly realizes that it isn't that easy. Sure, you can retire one day and just float along, but it probably won't work out too well. For one thing, you might not realize until too late that you can't afford to retire. Or you retire somewhere, not knowing that there is actually a much better place for you to retire. And even if you are wealthy, you might retire unhappily, woefully unprepared for how to stay busy and fulfilled.
In this article we have assembled our top 10 retirement tools for your consideration. They are tools we have used and know to be helpful. We have grouped them into categories for your convenience. As always, please share
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Published on November 18, 2017
Comments 24
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
November , 2017 — This installment on Medigap (supplemental) insurance is the latest in our 5 Part Medicare series, which has important implications for everyone as they reach age 65. Don't miss Part 1: So You're Turning 65: Here Is Your Guide to Medicare 101, and Part 2: Which Is Better, Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage (Links to Parts 3 and 4 at end of article).
In this article we will first explain what Medigap insurance is, and then how to find, compare, and buy a plan. Then we will reprint many of the Medigap comments that Members have posted to our other Medicare articles. We think you will find their collective wisdom useful.
Medicare Basics As a refresher, original Medicare includes Part A (hospital coverage) and Part B (doctor services). Almost everyone eligible for Medicare
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Published on November 13, 2017
Comments 9
