Published on April 13th, 2021 A recent survey found that about 50% of couples do not agree on how much money they should have saved by retirement.¹ However, new research shows that couples who engage in financial planning together tend to be happier and more successful during retirement. Interestingly,…

Published on April 6th, 2021 Municipal bonds are popular among retirees and near-retirees as they seek to reduce market risk and position assets for a lower tax bill. One way to diversify across this sector is to invest in municipal bond mutual and exchange-traded funds. In 2021 alone, that’s…

Published on March 30th, 2021 In general, retirement rates have increased during the pandemic. Before COVID-19, the retired population grew by about 1 million retirees per year. But during 2020 and 2021, 3.5 million more people retired.1   As it turns out, part of the “Great Resignation” that we’ve…

Published on March 23rd, 2021 In recent months, Procter & Gamble has raised prices for its Tide, Gain, Downy and Bounce product portfolio. It recently announced that this spring, consumers also will start paying more for many of its personal health care brands. The company is hardly alone. Nestle,…

Published on March 16th, 2021 This year, the official start date for filing 2021 income tax returns was Jan. 24, and the season ends on April 18 for most filers. According to the IRS, the typical period for refunds is three weeks or less. Be aware that you can…

Published on March 9th, 2021 Americans have largely been on one of two tracks since the beginning of the pandemic: Those who suffered income and net worth losses and those who gained wealth. A good example of this was the result of relief checks mailed out by the federal…

Published on March 2nd, 2021 The pandemic that started in 2020 accelerated a popular work trend that had not been widely embraced by employers before then: working from home (WFH). According to a recent survey by SmallBizGenius, 4.3 million remote workers in the U.S. have an arrangement where they…

Published on February 23rd, 2021 The pandemic has become a new variable in deciding when to retire. Some near-retirees lost their jobs and decided to go ahead and turn in the towel. Others were focused on the health risk and determined it was better to retire while they were…

Published on February 16th, 2021 The last month of 2021 was filled with lots of new information — the new omicron variant of the coronavirus first hit U.S. shores, along with cautions that its level of vaccine resistance is best mitigated by a booster shot.1   As to be…

Published on February 9th, 2021 It seems that millions of taxpayers still have not received their tax refunds from 2020 and even 2019.1 A major reason is due to the defunding of the IRS. Between 2010 and 2019, the department’s funding was cut by 20% in inflation-adjusted dollars, which…