Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
After Congress phased out two Social Security claiming strategies that had allowed couples to maximize their benefits, seniors may still opt to defer their Social Security retirement benefits to get the delayed retirement credit, according to Forbes. This means instead of claiming the benefits at 66, seniors will wait until they turn 70. “You get a risk-free 8% annual return for those four years,” says a certified financial planner. Also, spousal and survivor benefits will get a boost since they are based on the other spouse’s claim. Moreover, all of the claiming rules also apply to same-sex couples, courtesy of a Supreme Court ruling last year. The big question, of course, is whether your client can wait to claim Social Security. Not everyone can. If they are in poor health or disabled, they may need to file at 62, the earliest time they can apply. --Forbes
Clients may face a mismatch between their risk tolerance and risk capacity, according to Morningstar. Those who face a high-risk capacity and low-risk tolerance are advised to buy hybrid-type funds to close the gap, or they may consider employing valuation-conscious active stock-fund managers if they have a low risk tolerance but high risk capacity. Risk-averse investors need to adopt disciplined rebalancing and create new positions in their portfolio to help address the mismatch. --Morningstar
Adopting a long-term strategy in stock investing is recommended as the market is expected to increase in value over 20 years or so, according to MarketWatch. To make the most of the increase in funds over time, clients need to put the investing costs to a minimum by seizing opportunities to reduce the fees, commissions and other costs. The best way to lower the costs is to prefer broad-based stock-index funds, such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. --MarketWatch
Clients can expect their Social Security spousal benefits to become survivor benefits after their spouse dies, says an expert. However, their marriage with that spouse would need to have lasted a decade or more for this to happen, the expert notes. “Generally, survivor benefits for a widow or widower are dependent on two factors, the first being the age when the spouse or ex-spouse claimed benefits, and the second is the age at which the survivor claims benefits.” --USA Today
Clients can still experience surprising turns in the golden years even if they have prepared well for retirement, according to Kiplinger. For example, they will discover that their Social Security benefits and retirement withdrawals could be subject to tax but they are entitled to more tax breaks. And despite their Medicare coverage, they will still have out-of-pocket medical expenses; there are other discounts that offer bigger savings than discounted "senior rates:" and they can keep saving for retirement even after they've retired. --Kiplinger
