Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
Visualization can help clients address imminent risks to their retirement by allowing them to answer questions that contribute greatly to making sound financial decisions affecting their golden years, writes Peter Dunn, an author and radio host. "Visualizing what our lives will be like five years into retirement, walking our minds backward, and asking questions all along the way can help ensure that the secondary and tertiary aspects of retirement don't ruin our retirement," Dunn writes. "It's quite possible your biggest retirement threat has nothing to do with your investments." –USA Today
Many clients need a lot of catching up to do to secure their finances in retirement, and the first step they have to take is max out their contributions to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, according to this article on CNBC. They are also advised to open a health savings account, invest their bonuses and other windfall money and put their retirement budget to a test. They also have to upgrade their homes while they are still working, increase their savings by opening an IRA and a solo 401(k) or SEP IRA and save on travel costs by going on trips during off-peak seasons and signing up for a home exchange program. –CNBC
As the news points to no cost-of-living adjustment in Social Security benefits next year, the benefits could be increased if the computation was based on CPI-E, the consumer price index developed by the Labor Department for people 62 years of age and older, according to this article on MarketWatch. Unlike the CPI-W, the inflation measure for working Americans, the CPI-E increased 0.6% during the third quarter. This means that Social Security beneficiaries deserve $44 more each month. –MarketWatch
Retirees, particularly those with higher incomes, may need less than 80% of their pre-retirement income to maintain their lifestyle before retired, according to Michael Finke, a professor at Texas Tech University. This is because the 80% rule doesn't accurately indicate the growth of an individual’s income during the working years nor even reflect the changes to his or her expenses after retirement, Finke says. “The 80% rule is wrong because it’s too simplistic. Most of us don’t want to replace our gross income. We want to replace our paycheck. –The Wall Street Journal
Workers are advised to make their 401(k) plan their primary retirement savings vehicle and max out their contributions to take full advantage of its benefits, according to this article on Kiplinger. 401(k) participants can receive an effective “return” of up to 46% simply by maxing out their contributions to get their employer match contribution. By contributing the maximum amount of $18,000 in a year, clients can turn their taxable savings into tax-free savings in a 401(k) plan. –Kiplinger
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