On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. Since then, the U.S. Treasury Department has issued guidance to clarify and, in some cases, expand the provisions of the CARES Act dealing with retirement accounts and the relief offered to retirement account owners and/or beneficiaries.
What do you get when you assemble a dozen or so of nuclear science’s greatest minds, give them access to the world’s first electronic general-purpose digital computer, and spend $2 billion during the height of World War II? An atomic bomb of course, and a sophisticated simulation technique code-named Monte Carlo.
For many, correctly answering the question, “When should I begin to take my Social Security benefits?” is a critical step toward making sure their retirement income and savings last at least as long as they do.
Cultivating an “abundance mindset” might be far down your list of what needs attention today. In times such as these, you might even believe that the thing most in abundance right now is a mounting variety of very real financial stressors. That’s a fair point to make, and you most certainly would not be alone. In fact, events over the past few months likely have only served to highlight the relationship between money and stress, between financial wellbeing and emotional wellbeing.
During this pandemic, you may have family or friends whose health has been directly affected by COVID-19. And the longer you live, the more people you know will face significant health concerns. Making sure you and your family are prepared for these situations – now and in the future – is an act of kindness.
Maximizing returns” is a phrase that you’ll hear bandied about ad nauseam on both Wall Street and Main Street.
As in, “My goal is to maximize my returns.”
Is it though? Is that really the goal?
Bronnie Ware would beg to differ. More on her in a moment.
With so much financial information coming at us each day, and at a time when everything seems to be changing, trying to stay on top of the terminology can be overwhelming. It can be a daunting task even to begin figuring out whether you, personally, need to pay attention to any of it. One topic that seems to surface a lot – maybe because it sounds so ominous – is “bracket creep.” We have had many investors ask us what in the world this is and, when they hear the details, what they can do about it.
We all know that legal documents, at least for those of us who aren’t attorneys, can be complex and often overwhelming to digest. Your estate planning documents, for example, likely contain dozens of pages of unfamiliar jargon and language we simply seldom encounter – or would ever use ourselves – in day-to-day life. But these documents also happen to be something that just about everyone will need.
Few things in our lives have been so dramatically altered throughout the COVID-19 crisis as school and education. From online coursework to cancelled proms to a March devoid of Madness but full of uncertainty about whether or not college campuses would even reopen for the fall semester, there seem to be even more questions than answers.
Contrary to the popular saying, money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it in the right way. Behavioral economists and social psychologists have studied this topic – the intersection between money and happiness – quite a bit in recent years, and we can all benefit from their findings.
The coronavirus is dominating our attention so pervasively in the present moment that the notion of retirement seems even more distant for savers. That’s understandable—natural, even. But it’s precisely our fixation on the present that causes us to struggle to follow through on our intentions to secure our future. Let me show you why.
Financial elder abuse – defined by the National Committee for the Prevention of Financial Elder Abuse as the illegal or improper use of an elder person’s funds, property or resources – can take numerous forms and will cost seniors billions of dollars each year. Its impact on an elder person’s emotional, physical and financial health – and thus longevity – can be significant and long-lasting. To help protect an aging loved in your life, consider starting on the following six steps.
