How IRAs are taxed depends on whether the IRA is a traditional or a Roth IRA. Traditional IRAs involve making tax-free contributions, meaning you contribute to your IRA before taxes are taken out. This may reduce your taxable income for the year in which you’ve contributed to your IRA, therefore reducing the amount of tax … Read more
Hey there! You’re not the only one who is wondering if the pension check they are getting (or will soon get) will be taxed. I’ve helped a lot of retirees figure this stuff out, and that’s one of the questions I hear the most. The short answer is that most pension income is taxed, but … Read more
Many Americans dream of retiring with a million-dollar nest egg —Americans in general think you need about $1. 5 million to retire—but the reality is starkly different. Using figures from the U. S. Federal Reserves Survey of Consumer Finances (updated to 2022 but released in 2025), only about 2. 5% of all Americans actually have … Read more
A Roth IRA or a Traditional IRA? That is an important choice to make as you build a retirement plan that works for you. Have you ever looked at your retirement options and felt like you were trying to figure out a language you didn’t know? It’s easy to get confused about the “Roth IRA … Read more
A qualified retirement plan is an investment plan offered by an employer that qualifies for tax breaks under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and ERISA guidelines. Because an individual retirement account (IRA) is not offered by employers, a traditional or Roth IRA is not considered a qualified plan, although they feature many of the same … Read more
Are you constantly daydreaming about life beyond the office walls? Do you find yourself counting down the days until Friday even on Monday morning? Well, my friend, these might be subtle hints that retirement is beckoning! But how do you really know it’s time to retire? I’ve been researching this question extensively, and let’s face … Read more
Estate plans are designed to distribute assets according to the wishes of the deceased. However, complications arise when a named beneficiary dies before receiving their inheritance. Depending on the terms of the will, the existence of a contingent beneficiary, and state probate laws, the inheritance may be reassigned, redirected, or absorbed back into the estate. … Read more
If someone you care about dies, selling their house and things might be the last thing on your mind. But if you’ve been appointed the executor of an estate, the task of distributing the deceased persons assets according to their will falls to you. As executor, one of your jobs may be to sell the … Read more
Figuring out the right amount of money needed for retirement feels like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces. As someone who’s spent countless hours researching this topic I can tell you there’s no “one-size-fits-all” answer. But don’t worry—I’m gonna break it down into manageable chunks that’ll help you determine what net worth you’ll … Read more
Alden and Dena Swartz draw nearly $4,000 a month from Social Security, the government program designed to support Americans in retirement. And they are struggling. Gail Randle and her partner, Mike DellaVolpe, collect only $2,400 a month in Social Security benefits: Not quite $30,000 a year. And they are doing all right. “We are frugal … Read more