Our increased longevity poses a retirement planning challenge. Some of us may retire at 65 and live to 100 or 105. Advances in health care may make this a strong possibility. The corresponding question is: will we outlive our money? More people are spending more of their lives in retirement. According to the actuaries at Social Security, today’s 65-year-olds have roughly a 25% chance of living into their nineties, and about one in ten will live to 100 or longer. Clearly, this puts a strain on Social Security. When it first sent out retirement benefits in 1940, the average life expectancy for a 65-year-old was 79. It was not designed to fund 30-year retirements.1,2 Social Security aside, many
What should you keep in mind as you donate? Are you making charitable donations this holiday season? If so, you should know about some of the financial “fine print” involved, as the right moves could potentially bring more of a benefit to the charity and to you. To deduct charitable donations, you must itemize them on I.R.S. Schedule A. So, you need to document each donation you make. Ideally, the charity uses a form it has on hand to provide you with proof of your contribution. If the charity does not have such a form handy (and some charities do not), then a receipt, a credit or debit card statement, a bank statement, or a cancelled check will have to suffice. The I.R.S. needs to know thre
The notion that we separate from work in our sixties may have to go. An executive transitions into a consulting role at age 62 and stops working altogether at 65; then, he becomes a buyer for a church network at 69. A corporate IT professional decides to conclude her career at age 58; she serves as a city council member in her sixties, then opens an art studio at 70. Are these people retired? Not by the old definition of the word. Our definition of “retirement” is changing. Retirement is now a time of activity and opportunity. Generations ago, Americans never retired – at least not voluntarily. American life was either agrarian or industrialized, and people toiled until they died or physical
Good news for those apprehensive about the premiums – and the process. According to a new study, 41% of Americans lack life insurance coverage. The 2017 Insurance Barometer Study, conducted by the non-profit organizations LIMRA and Life Happens, also discovered that while 84% of Americans felt life insurance was appropriate for most people, just 70% thought it was a good idea for them.1 What is preventing so many people from insuring themselves? Perhaps outdated perceptions about the cost of the coverage and the process of securing it. Most people think life insurance is more expensive than it really is and assume there will be a long, drawn-out path to obtaining a policy. The reality is dif