#retirement-planning

#retirement-planning

Baby boomers are navigating an uncertain global market and looking for investments that can generate steady passive income. They're looking for income-generating assets and capital preservation. But this doesn't have to mean a high-risk investment that generates a minimal payout.

You can't put $2,500 away right now because you got 86,000 freaking dollars in debt sucking the bone marrow out of your life. The key phrase is 'focused investing.' That only happens after the debt is gone. $2,500 per month represents exactly 15% of a $200,000 annual income. Right now, that $2,500 is not available because it's already being consumed by debt service.

I knew I was inching toward simultaneously caring for my young kids and aging parents. Suddenly, I was squarely in the sandwich generation. I now had to deal with the terrifying reality that my parents did not have a plan for how to spend their retirement years - especially where they plan to live.

Many recent retirees told us they wish they had saved differently, highlighting a critical truth: retirement planning isn't just about setting a number-it's about building a strategy that anticipates life's changes and regularly revisiting that plan as life happens.

Aggressively invest in high-yielding stocks and reinvest the dividends continuously until you consider retirement. After all, each reinvested dividend payout buys you more income-producing shares without any out-of-pocket expenses. Better, by doing so, you're compounding the earnings and expediting the growth of your portfolio.

My administration will give these oft-forgotten American workers, great people, the people that built our country, access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker. We will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year.

A 65-year-old man today can expect to live to 84 years old, while a 65-year-old woman can expect to live until 86. For plan sponsors and advisers, that translates into a potential distribution horizon of at least 20 to 30 years. Without incorporating realistic longevity assumptions into glide path design, withdrawal strategies and income solutions, participants face a heightened risk of outliving their savings.

Neither state will collect state income tax, which means any 401(k) withdrawals, IRA distributions, pension payouts, and Social Security benefits are all untouched at the state level. The advantage shared by both states is also what makes this comparison all the more interesting. If neither state takes a cut of your retirement income, then the real question isn't about your 401(k) at all.

Once you withdraw from your 401(k) early, taxes (24 percent federal, plus applicable state taxes) and the 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty will take a big chunk of that $80,000. Your remaining funds-about $50,000-might still take you far, but also might go faster than you think.

In 2023, my dad called to tell me he'd dropped down to four days a week at work. He'd had a long career as an insurance underwriter, though it didn't define him. At one point, he even left the profession to become a plasterer for a decade to better balance out his schedule. Still, it served him well enough. "You really are getting old, then," I joked. Dad laughed - he was only in his 50s.