Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
Legislation introduced by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, includes provisions that would give retirement savers more options to secure their golden years, according to this article from Forbes. One of the major provisions would require 401(k) plans to offer annuities so that participants can create new income streams. The bill would also require small companies to band together to offer multi-employer retirement plans to their workers.
Experts may not agree as to what age people should file for Social Security to maximize their benefits, as they may have different assumptions, according to this article on MarketWatch. While conventional wisdom dictates that clients should delay the benefits until age 70, others argue that people will be better off filing at full retirement age. "But the existence of such disagreements between reasonable people just reinforces my broader point: The question of when to begin receiving Social Security is not as settled as many assume it to be."
Morningstar's Christine Benz says that seniors who have to take required minimum distributions have the option of rolling up all the amounts from their multiple traditional retirement accounts and drawing the total RMD amount from a single account. Taking an RMD is also a chance to enhance their portfolio, adds the expert. "I like the idea of taking a step back and looking at your portfolio and potentially pruning from holdings that were problematic for one reason or another."
Clients need to take a number of steps if they want to retire earlier than expected, according to this article on TheStreet. For example, they need to set a realistic goal, develop a comprehensive plan, and know how to address the challenges, such as rising healthcare costs, Social Security and taxes. "You will have to pay taxes on any profits not in a tax-advantaged account of some kind, as well as on your withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts."
