Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
Seniors who have no need for required minimum distributions from their retirement accounts may re-invest the funds so the money can start generating an income again, according to this article on CNBC. Municipal bonds and municipal bond funds are a good candidate in which to invest the RMD money, since these investments are not subject to federal and, possibly state and local taxes. Other recommended options are stocks that offer qualified dividends and those they want to hold for more than a year. –CNBC
Many seniors lose their hard-earned retirement money because they fail to look for best-priced Medicare supplemental policies and they dine out almost every day, according to this article in U.S. News & World Report. Many retirees also hold excessive insurance coverage, live in homes bigger than they need and pay too much on communication, cable and other bills, draining their retirement savings more than they should. Seniors also waste their retirement funds by buying a new car and continue using their credit cards. –Yahoo Finance
Although the new bipartisan budget act has phased out the file-and-suspend and restricted application as Social Security retirement strategies, these options remain open to couples who are already using one or both of these approaches, according to this article in The Wall Street Journal. The file-and-suspend strategy is still available to retired couples until May if one of them reaches full retirement age while those who have reached their FRA are still eligible to use a restricted application. Married couples as well as divorced individuals who reach the age of 62 before the year ends also will still be eligible to file a restricted application at their FRA. –The Wall Street Journal
A survey commissioned by Schwab Retirement Plan Services found that 44% of millennials have limited retirement savings because they “treat themselves to things like occasional dinners out and vacations,” according to this Forbes article. The same claim was made by 34% of Gen Xers and 29% of Baby boomers. The study also found that student loan payments prevented 37% of millennials from saving for retirement, with 49% of the millennial respondents saying they “don’t know what their best investment options are.” –Forbes
Claiming Social Security retirement benefits early and investing the money is not a smart move for retired couples, according to this article on MarketWatch. This is because delaying retirement benefits beyond their full retirement age yields a better rate of return compared with collecting the benefits early and use it in investing. –MarketWatch
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