Historically, our staff Certified Tax Cat has handled readers’ questions about taxes, but he took feline early retirement and hung up his oversized eyeglasses. Filling in for him is Laura’s dad, a retired accountant and real live independent tax preparer. Exclusively on Consumerist, Tax Dad answers your questions. [More]
retirement
Outdated Social Security System Puts Some Who Wait To Marry At Greater Risk For Poverty In Retirement
By 2.27.14
Marriage has long been seen as a way to bring stability to a couple’s finances. You earn together, save together, and many decades down the road you may even qualify to receive retirement and survivor income from Social Security thanks to your beloved. But times are changing and the rules that govern these benefits were designed more than 50 years ago when fewer women worked and couples tended to tie the knot earlier. Today’s evolving marriage and work trends are leaving some future retirees vulnerable. [More]
What Is The New MyRA Retirement Savings Plan, And How Is It Different From What We Already Have?
By 1.29.14
Retirement, for many American workers, is so far off in the future and so far behind other, more immediate priorities that their savings are, well, nonexistent. In an age where employer pensions are vanishing every day and Social Security may not provide all the income a retiree needs, individual savings are key to making it through the golden years. Though many folks have 401(k) or IRA accounts, many more don’t. [More]
95-Year-Old Target Worker Retires After Working For The Company Since 1968
By 10.29.13
There’s dedication to your job, and then there’s spending 45 years working for the same company when many people would’ve spent that time enjoying the retirement years. A 95-year-old woman who started working as a cashier at a Target in Minnesota has finally retired on the exact same calendar date that she first began her employment, October 28. [More]
How To Not Suck… At Picking A Retirement Plan
By 10.29.13
Taxes now or taxes later? Unfortunately, “No taxes at all” isn’t an option. But when it comes to your retirement savings, you do have some control over when you pay Uncle Sam. [More]
Americans Racking Up Debt Faster Than We Save For Retirement
By 10.24.13
This seems to be the week for sad news about Americans and our retirement-saving behavior. A new study shows that while we might be sticking money in our 401(k) plan like dutiful money squirrels, in general, Americans aren’t doing ourselves any favors for retirement as we rack up debt at a higher rate than we sock away money. [More]
Today’s College Grads Can Expect To Retire When They Are 73
By 10.23.13
Dear college seniors, if you’re planning on living out a long, comfortable retirement, you need to start saving now… or hope that medical science figures out how to extend life even further, because it looks like the average millennial will have a few years of retirement time before they kick off to a higher plane of existence. [More]
10 Reasons Why You Should Watch Tonight’s Frontline On Assisted Living
By 7.30.13
Once upon a time, assisted living facilities were created as a happy medium between simple retirement communities and skilled nursing homes. Elderly residents would live largely independent existences but would, as the name implies, receive largely non-medical assistance for things they could no longer do on their own. But that has all changed, as more Americans lived longer and assisted living operators realized they had a virtually unregulated goldmine on their hands. [More]
88-Year-Old McDonald’s Worker Not Ready To Retire Because Sitting At Home Is Boring
By 7.9.13
At the end of the workday, your slippered feet up on the ottoman, fuzzy bathrobe in place and TV remote in hand, you might think — “I’ll do this all the time, once I retire.” Not so for one of McDonald’s oldest workers, who at 88 says he’s not ready to retire from the fast food world and instead, will “carry on until I drop.” [More]
Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Before You Retire?
By 4.23.13
Considering that the average retirement age is approaching 282 and a large number of people have taken out second mortgages or equity lines of credit in recent years, not everyone who is nearing retirement has the option or ability to get rid of that home loan early. But for those that do, there are some things to consider. [More]
Downsizing Your Home Might Not Make Retirement Any Easier
By 12.10.12
If you’re at or nearing retirement age and living in a house with rooms you don’t use, it would seem to make sense that you could save by downsizing to a smaller abode. But unless you have significant equity on your home and are willing to make big changes, that might not be the case. [More]
Longest-Serving Macy's Employee Retires After 73-Year Career
By 9.7.12
Rose Syracuse went to work at Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square when she was nineteen years old, and she stayed there until she retired. That’s unusual enough to us today, but that’s before you learn how long she worked there. She began work at the department store in 1939. She retired earlier this week at age 92 after a 73-year career behind the scenes. [More]
Advocates: Now Is The Time To Reform Reverse Mortgages
By 9.4.12
A large chunk of the U.S. population is heading into what are supposed to be their golden years. But between financial hardship and shortsighted financial planning, many of these people are not able to retire comfortably, if at all. A reverse mortgage that allows homeowners who are at least 62 years old to borrow against the equity of their property may seem like a more appealing alternative to working into one’s 80s, but there are pitfalls involved — some of which can be fixed by a bit of reform. [More]
Thinking Of A Reverse Mortgage? Here Are Things To Watch Out For And Some Alternatives
By 6.27.12
With a large group of Americans at or nearing retirement age — and with many of them having inadequate savings to last them through retirement — so-called “reverse mortgages,” wherein a lender converts the equity on a home into monthly payments to the homeowner, are being marketed as a financial cure-all to people wondering how they will be able to afford their golden years. But before anyone dives into the reverse mortgage pool, there are some thing worth pointing out. [More]
Retired Couples Need $240,000 Just To Cover Health Care Costs
By 5.10.12
If you and your loved one are looking down the road toward living out your golden years together, be prepared to have a pile of cash stashed away to cover your medical bills. [More]
Your 401(k) May Actually Be Worth Something Again
By 5.1.12
We know a lot of people simply stopped looking at their quarterly 401(k) account statements a few years ago, hoping and praying the market would eventually recover and they would someday see all that money lost when the economy went SPLLLAATTT!!. Well, it may be time to take a peek at your next statement, as the latest numbers show very positive signs of recovery. [More]
Making An Early Retirement Work
By 4.13.12
Some people are so obsessed with their work that they can never envision chucking everything to begin a life of leisure, while others have spent most of their work lives counting the days until they no longer have to clock in. If you opt to jump the gun and call it a career before you hit your golden years, you’re taking a calculated risk, hoping to make your savings stretch out longer rather than spending more time to build it up before you take the plunge. [More]
Leave The Workforce Without Sacrificing Your Retirement
By 3.9.12
If you need to step away from your career for a while to stay at home with your kids or care for an elderly or incapacitated loved one, your automatic systems for saving for retirement will probably shut down. In order to make sure you don’t jeopardize your nest egg, you’ll need to make adjustments to account for your decreased savings power. [More]
