Medicare is a federal program that provides health insurance to retired individuals, regardless of their medical condition, and certain younger people with disabilities or end-stage renal disease. Here are some basic facts about Medicare that you should know. WHAT DOES MEDICARE COVER? Medicare coverage consists of two main parts: Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) and […]
-
Understanding Defined Benefit Plans
You may be counting on funds from a defined benefit plan to help you achieve a comfortable retirement. Often referred to as traditional pension plans, defined benefit plans promise to pay you a specified amount at retirement. To help you understand the role a defined benefit plan might play in your retirement savings strategy, here’s […]
-
Understanding IRAs
An individual retirement arrangement (IRA) is a personal savings plan that offers specific tax benefits. IRAs are one of the most powerful retirement savings tools available to you. Even if you’re contributing to a 401(k) or other plan at work, you may want to consider investing in an IRA. WHAT TYPES OF IRAs ARE AVAILABLE? […]
-
Is it Time to Review Your IRA Estate Planning Strategies?
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which was passed in December 2019 as part of a larger federal spending package, included a provision that warrants special attention from those who own high-value IRAs. Specifically, the “stretch” IRA provision — which permitted no spouse beneficiaries who inherited IRAs to spread distributions over […]
-
Risk Management and Your Retirement Savings
By investing for retirement, you are helping to manage a critically important financial risk: the chance that you will outlive your money. But choosing to invest is just one step in your financial risk management strategy. You also need to manage risk within your portfolio to help it stay on track. Following are steps to […]