Retirement Income Center

I recently did a Google search, “How much do I need to retire?” This is obviously a popular query since it returned 19,600,000 results. After scrolling past the ads, I began clicking on the responses. Excluding retirement calculators, here’s a summary of the top five answers: Yahoo Answers – Best Answer: $750,000 Fidelity: Save at […] The post Do You Have Enough After-Tax Income to Retire? appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

Although 401(k) and pension plans are retirement plans, only a pension plan is designed to provide a known monthly income stream which is generally payable for life. The post A 401(k) Plan Isn’t a Pension Plan appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

Investment in a volatility ETF is a market timing play that's unsuitable as an investment strategy for most individuals planning for retirement or who are already retired. The post Volatility ETFs are Too Volatile appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

If you rely on life expectancy as the basis for all of your retirement planning decisions, there's a 50% chance that you're projected to outlive your assets. The post Life Expectancy: Err on the Optimistic Side appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

Generally speaking, your retirement age shouldn’t be dictated by any single financial or nonfinancial variable. This includes your Social Security full retirement age which is but one cog in the ever-turning wheel of retirement planning. The post Should Your Retirement Age be Dictated by Your Social Security Full Retirement Age? appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

If you have a sustainable income need and it isn't immediate, one or more nonqualified deferred income annuities can provide a unique tax-favored solution. The post Are You Using This Tax-Favored Sustainable Income Strategy? appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

There are six deficiencies of 401(k) plans compared to defined benefit pension plans that transfer the retirement accumulation and retirement income planning responsibilities from employers to employees. The post 6 Deficiencies of 401(k) Plans appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

Now that the 2016 income tax filing season is behind us, we can focus on 2017 tax planning. Although the stock market is down about 3% from record highs, there are a lot of investors with significant unrealized capital gains in nonretirement investment accounts. The dilemma for these individuals is how to sell their appreciated […] The post Avoid Income Tax on Stock Sales with Donor Advised Funds appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

Fixed income annuities can be purchased in retirement plans to provide sustainable lifetime income that can better meet one's retirement needs than unpredictable and fluctuating required minimum distributions, or RMDs. The post Replace Unpredictable RMDs with Secure Lifetime Income appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

As my clients and those of you who have read my MarketWatch RetireMentors articles and Retirement Visions blog posts know, I’m a huge fan of Roth IRA conversions. One caveat:  they must be timely. There are two types of timely Roth IRA conversions: Strategic Market-sensitive Strategic Roth IRA Conversion The goal of a strategic Roth […] The post Strategic Roth IRA Conversions Still Make Sense appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

I was recently looking at the results of one of the key word searches that I routinely perform, “retirement survey.” The first two, both of which are headlines of articles in widely-read publications, are as follows: Younger Americans are the Most Optimistic About Retirement, Study Shows Older Workers Feel on Track for Retirement. Are They? […] The post Read Between the Retirement Survey Headlines appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

The basic purpose of a retirement income plan is to develop tax-efficient strategies that are designed to provide predictable income streams to meet an individual’s or family’s financial needs during different stages of retirement. A comprehensive plan should also include provisions for addressing potential life-changing experiences. One such event that’s generally associated with the latter […] The post Is Cognitive Impairment Part of Your Retirement Income Plan? appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) crossing the elusive 20,000 barrier last Wednesday for the first time, a lot of people are excited about investing in the stock market. Never mind the fact that the DJIA has tripled in price from its low of 6,470 on March 6, 2009, increasing at a mind-boggling average […] The post Income-Proof Your Aggressive Portfolio appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

I’m not a big fan of rules of thumb when it comes to retirement income planning. The wage replacement ratio is no exception. Rationale for Wage Replacement Ratio What is the wage replacement ratio? It is the percentage of pre-retirement income needed in retirement.  70% to 80% is the general rule of thumb. As an […] The post Wage Replacement Ratio – Flawed Retirement Planning Tool appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

When you retire, how would you like to receive monthly income that provides the following eight advantages:? Lifetime payment Annual increase of 8% for each year that you wait to receive it up to 32% if you wait four years Potential annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) 15%, and possibly 50% or 100%, federal income tax […] The post Bulk Up Your Sustainable Lifetime Income appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

I recently came across the following comment by a reader of an article in an online publication discussing planning strategies that you can use to help you determine if you’re ready to retire: These points are fine. But I’m retired, and I know plenty (of) other retirees. Retirement planning is not all that difficult. Control […] The post Sometimes You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know Until It’s Too Late appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

Phil Collins, best known as the drummer and lead singer of Genesis after Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975, recently announced that his comeback tour, Not Dead Yet, will take place next summer. This follows the pop icon’s announcement a year ago in a Rolling Stone article that he was no longer retired after […] The post Get It Right the First Time – You Probably Won’t Be Able to Unretire Like Phil Collins appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

Elimination of income testing for traditional and Roth IRAs and creation of a universal 401(k)/IRA contribution limit is needed to enable all individuals who aren't participants in 401(k) plans to (a) contribute to an IRA of their choice and (b) accumulate a nest egg in a retirement plan comparable to what's possible with a 401(k). The post It’s Time for IRA – 401(k) Contribution Parity appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

We all need to create a long-term-care plan while we're fully coherent and have all of our faculties. The post Make sure you have a long-term-care plan in place before it’s too late appeared first on Retirement Income Center.

Social Security is a beautiful thing. What other lifetime fixed income annuity allows you to choose a starting age anywhere between 62 and 70, increases your lifetime income by 6% per year for each year that you defer your start date between 62 and full retirement age, or FRA, (66 to 67 depending upon year […] The post Optimize Retirement Cash Flow, Not Social Security appeared first on Retirement Income Center.