Our 13 Most Popular Retirement Articles From 2020
No images? Click here By Brian Hershberg | Jan. 3, 2021 Barron’s Retirement went into 2020 with some ambitious goals and ideas we hoped to pursue, but as with so much this past year, the pandemic forced us to adjust. Rather than focusing on how retirement savers and retirees could adjust to new rules in the Secure Act—that retirement legislation that became law in December 2019—we pivoted to how to help readers understand how the pandemic and the Cares Act would change retirement plans and how to adjust accordingly. The Cares Act superseded a key Secure Act provision that would have required attention in 2020—namely a change to the age for taking required minimum distributions—as the coronavirus relief bill allowed many retirees to forgo their RMDs. The Cares Act also allowed easier access to retirement savings for workers who suffered a financial hit from the coronavirus. In both cases, Barron’s Retirement aimed to keep readers apprised of developments as rules were clarified and deadlines approached. Here are some of our most-read pieces from this past year: Getting Ready to Retire? Here’s a Planning Guide for the 5 Years Before Your Last Day. The five years ahead of quitting work are crucial for enabling a smooth transition to your post-working career. Here is a year-by-year checklist to help you along. $$$ The Stretch IRA Strategy Is Largely Gone. Here Are 5 Alternatives. An investor’s course of action to replace stretch-IRA strategies depends on factors such as the size of the IRA, the size of the estate, current tax rates, future expected tax rates, and more. $$$ He Retired the Week the Dow Slid 13%. Consider It a Wake-Up Call to Check Your Portfolio. After an 11-year bull run, many savers’ portfolios have gotten out of whack. The coronavirus-induced volatility offers an opening to fix that. $$$ Since You’re Retired and Holed Up at Home, Here’s How to Downsize With the coronavirus pandemic forcing millions of Americans to hole up in their homes, many who are suddenly confronting their own mortality are also confronted with a growing problem: What to do with a lifetime of accumulation. Barron’s Retirement has some tips. $$$ The Retire-Early Movement Is Thriving During the Crisis. Here’s How. The coronavirus crisis is a big test for the “financial independence, retire early” philosophy, with some observers wondering if the crisis will knock devotees off track—or even extinguish the FIRE flame. Adherents, however, remain largely unbowed and the strategy is winning new fans. $$$ To Retire or Return to Work? That’s the Question Many Are Asking Amid the Pandemic. Here are some tips to help navigate an unexpected retirement or choose whether to return to work. $$$ Retirees, Beware These Tax Traps on Social Security and Medicare Seniors face multiple income traps, and it’s not just the rich. For instance, lower- and middle-income retirees get hit by the so-called tax torpedo as rising income causes their Social Security benefits to be taxed. $$$ Single and Planning for Retirement? Here Are 4 Key Things to Do. Without the buffer of another person contributing to household finances for this life stage, people who were never married, or are widowed or divorced, need to be vigilant. $$$ The New Playbook to Shore Up Your Retirement for the Pandemic Era The rapid return to record levels in major stock benchmarks opens the door for savers to review their strategies, recalibrate their portfolios, and rethink their risks. $$$ Five Assets Retirement Portfolios Should Hold to Hedge Against Inflation Risks Financial pros recommend adding some mid-caps, international stocks, maybe some gold among the assets to hedge retirement savings against inflation. And they say now, before inflation is a problem, is the time to adjust. $$$ No Pension? No Problem. Here Are 3 Steps to Replicate a Retirement Paycheck. The approach of building a synthetic pension makes sense, says Wade Pfau, a professor of retirement income at the American College of Financial Services: “You build a floor of your income, and you spend a percentage of what is left.” $$$ Is Your 401(k) Too Conservative? Too Aggressive? Here’s How to Tell and Fix. A retirement portfolio with too conservative a mix won’t grow fast enough to outpace inflation and taxes. A portfolio that’s too aggressive is subject to significant volatility that may make it difficult to recoup losses at critical times. Either extreme puts investors at risk of not meeting their retirement goals. $$$ Not Everyone Needs Long-Term Care Insurance. Here Are Some Considerations. “If you’re in long-term care for a month, three months, even six months, that will cost a lot, but it’s not ruinous,” says Steve Weisbart, chief economist for Insurance Information Institute. “The ruinous thing is if you need seven years of long-term care.” Seniors Can Stay Fit During the Pandemic With Some Basic Weight Training. Here's How.The health crisis upended a world of fancy gyms and personal trainers. Fear of infection keeps millions of Americans at home, and it will be many months until enough people are vaccinated to quell the pandemic. The good news is you can remain reasonably fit without a gym full of shiny equipment. Here's How to Prepare Your Portfolio for 2021, According to Charles Schwab's Liz Ann SondersLiz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist and economist for Charles Schwab, discusses the surprising reasons the market was up, why inflation isn’t a worry, and how to maneuver your portfolio now. The Return of RMDs and Other Retirement Considerations for 2021The Cares Act’s exemption on required minimum distributions hasn’t been extended, meaning people who are 72 or older in 2021 must take them by year-end or face a penalty. Whole Life Insurance Can Bolster Your Retirement Portfolio. Here's How to Use It.A growing number of researchers say whole life insurance, a form of permanent life insurance that builds cash value, can buttress investment portfolios and even boost retirement income if used correctly. There Are 5 Types of Retirement Savers, New Research Says. Which One Are You?Almost half of all Americans who have yet to retire are anxious that they won’t have enough savings to live comfortably in retirement, and that fear is most common among “uncertain strugglers,” one of five types of retirement savers identified in a new research paper. - Does Your Retirement Plan Guard Against the 'Survivor Trap' (Kiplinger) - The Best Income Investments for 2021 (Barron's) This mailing was sent to [email address suppressed], . |
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