There is a provision in the Social Security system that many people don’t know much about – the spousal benefit. This benefit is applicable when one spouse has had little or no working history, such as a stay at home mom or dad, and the other spouse has had a working career that has provided [...]
Posts from ‘January, 2010’
Where to Get Your Annual Credit Report
As a smart consumer, you have likely heard that it’s a good idea to get your credit report every year from all three services: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. You’ve probably also seen the ever-present “Free Credit Report” commercials on the television (unless you TiVo everything and skip past the commercials!) – so you may be [...]
Roth Conversion Timing Where After-Tax Contributions Are Involved
Yet another point that you need to keep in mind as you plan your Roth IRA conversion strategy is the timing of the activities. This is especially true when you have after-tax contributions to your IRAs in addition to the growth on those contributions and the typical deductible contributions. As you’ll see below, in some [...]
Calculating the Social Security Retirement Benefit
There are three factors that go into determining the Social Security retirement benefit amount – your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), your FRA (Full Retirement Age), and the age you are when you start receiving benefits. We talked about the PIA here; then we talked about the FRA here. Having these two numbers, we need to [...]
Things to Consider as You Set Up a SOSEPP
So, you’ve decided that you’d like to begin taking distributions from your IRA funds – and you’re under age 59½, so you need to structure your distributions as a Series of Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (SOSEPP). (For more background information on the SOSEPP, see this article.) It is important to do this right, because once [...]
First Time Homebuyers: No (eFile) Soup For You!
If you’re planning to take advantage of the First-Time Homebuyer’s tax credit or the more recently announced “long-time homeowner new purchaser” credit – you will not be eligible to eFile your tax return when you claim the credit. To find out more about these credits, see the article at this link.
In a move to reduce [...]
Social Security Bend Points Explained
Okay, you’ve probably already guessed that this has nothing to do with deep-sea diving, but I’m pretty sure I would have disappointed my seven loyal fans readers (okay, it’s really more like two or three – Hi, Mom!) if I hadn’t made the pun. Bend points are the portions of your average income (Average Indexed [...]
Social Security’s PIA – What is this?
If you’ve ever looked at the information about Social Security retirement benefits, you’ve likely come across a figure called the Primary Insurance Amount, or PIA. So just what is PIA? I mean, besides the airport designation for the General Wayne A. Downing Peoria (IL) International Airport?
Primary Insurance Amount
The Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) is the projected [...]
The Dreaded “Double Tax” on IRAs
Chances are, if you hold a significant amount of money in your IRA accounts, you may have been approached by a financial professional who tells you about the “double tax” that may be a part of your account’s future. Here’s a brief explanation: when the owner of an IRA dies, assuming that the size of [...]
Bonds and Bond Funds
There is a question that often comes up when discussing investment strategies, especially for an astute investor who has done some research on various kinds of investments. Specifically the question often is: why would we choose a bond fund or a bond index fund versus purchasing a specific bond (or several bonds)?
Bonds in General
To answer [...]
