As 2014 draws to a close, the U.S. is still experiencing a slow and longer-than-normal recovery. GDP: The GDP growth rate in the third quarter was boosted to 3.9%, up from 3.5%, and well ahead of expectations of 3.3%. A lot of that improvement was
The U.S. dollar is on a roll lately—gaining strength and trouncing currencies like the Euro and the Japanese yen. The dollar index, which compares the greenback’s value with basket of world currencies, is at a four-year high. But is the strengthening dollar and weakening foreign
Recent U.S. economic reports, while not always meeting expectations, suggested more of the slow and unsatisfying growth rates of the past four years. Businesses are looking and feeling more optimistic at a time that both U.S. and international consumers are sitting on their hands. GDP:
As the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals prepare to square off in the World Series, it’s worth mentioning that both team’s players are already winners—at least when it comes to their bank accounts. The teams’ combined payrolls are a whopping $238 million.
The following sequence may make sense for retirees to preserve the tax-saving benefits of tax-sheltered investments for as long as possible. 1) For retirees over age 70 1/2, the first stop for withdrawals are those accounts that carry required minimum distributions, or RMDs, such as
The U.S. market was up 4.19% in August after a modest pullback in July. Some of the drivers of the stock market included monetary policy news from Europe as well a number of generally positive economic news out of the U.S. Europe: The ECB announced
When we’re far from retirement, Social Security seems so simple: You pay your taxes during your working years, and when you stop working, you receive a stream of income. But as you get closer to actually retiring, Social Security begins to look about as simple
Longevity is often cheered as an achievement, but the downside of living well beyond one’s average life expectancy is that it can strain (or worse, completely deplete) an individual’s financial resources. The first step in addressing longevity risk is to evaluate just how great the
The U.S. market declined in July after accumulating some very healthy gains over the past 18 months. A lot of earnings reports from around the world (and especially from Europe) were soft, which didn’t help matters. Other worrying news included the Argentinean bond default, new
Imagine grabbing a cookie from the cookie jar and finding a shockingly large tax bill attached. That, in a nutshell, is what’s happening to far too many wealthy retirees today. These retirees aren’t reaching for cookies, of course—they’re tapping their IRAs to pay for somewhat