A lesson for retirees from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
What happened to Silicon Valley Bank Silicon Valley Bank, as the name suggests, serves the San Francisco area, and particularly the startup ecosystem and the resulting wealthy individuals in that space. The amount of money deposited at the bank grew rapidly during the pandemic. Banks make money by taking depositors’ cash and lending it out. […]
How to choose a financial advisor
A great financial advisor can make or break your retirement. You need someone you can trust, who will give you proper guidance, and who is available when you need them. Asking the following questions can help you find the right advisor. 1. Are you a fiduciary? A fiduciary is someone who has a legal obligation […]
SECURE ACT 2.0 Retirement Planning Changes
Congress passed a bill at the end of 2022 that has many effects on retirement planning. See below for a list of the largest changes. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from Traditional Retirement Accounts have been pushed back. If you were born in 1950 or earlier, no changes to your RMDs. You either are currently taking […]
Is a charitable gift annuity a good idea?
It all depends on what your goals are. If you are looking primarily to make a charitable gift, and getting a benefit is a nice secondary objective, then a charitable gift annuity could be a good idea. If you are looking to maximize the income you receive from an annuity, then a charitable gift annuity […]
How to choose between keeping your pension or taking a lump sum
Deciding whether to keep a pension or take the lump sum option is usually one of the biggest financial decisions someone makes in their life. Since this usually represents a significant part of their wealth, the stakes are huge! Nobody wants to look back 5 or 10 years down the road and kick themselves for […]
The 4 percent rule makes tax planning difficult
This is part 2 of the hiccups that come with trying to use the 4 percent rule. The 4 percent rule is a rule of thumb that says a person can spend 4% of the initial value of their portfolio each year, increasing the amount by inflation each year, and not run out of money […]
What’s the 4 percent rule
The 4 percent rule is a rule of thumb that tries to answer the classic question, “How much can I spend each year in retirement without running out of money?” How long does the 4 percent rule last? Following the 4 percent rule would allow someone to not run out of money for 30 years […]
Is a Roth conversion the same as a backdoor Roth?
Maybe. A backdoor Roth is a tax-free Roth conversion executed under certain circumstances. All backdoor Roth’s are considered Roth conversions but not all Roth conversions are considered backdoor Roths. A backdoor Roth conversion is typically executed to help reduce lifetime taxes by reducing taxes on investment growth. Tennis analogy To make sense of this let’s […]
When will the Social Security fund run out of money?
Many people hear that Social Security will run out of money in the next decade, and Social Security benefits will cease. This is not true. The Social Security trust fund will likely run out of money in the 2030’s, but ongoing taxes will support about 75% of current Social Security retirement benefits. In other words, […]
How Rising Interest Rates Help Retirees
The 10-year US treasury is bouncing around 3%. Retirees should view this as good news because it means they will likely receive more interest income from bonds over their retirement if rates hold. Even factoring in the decrease in value of bonds, the rise in interest rates will more than make up for the decline […]
