Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady, R-Texas, unveiled legislation that would make changes to the IRS and rules on retirement savings, according to this article on MarketWatch. The bill includes provisions that would allow retirees to continue contributing to their IRAs past the age of 70 1/2, but would still require them to take mandatory distributions as soon as they reach that age. The legislation would also ease the rules for business owners in setting up multiple employer plans and in offering annuity options to their employees.
People get easily struck with anxiety as they approach retirement even if they have been saving and preparing for their golden years, writes a CFP for Kiplinger. To address their fears about retirement, they should write down all the things that bother them, assess the possibility of happening and determine their level of control over these things, writes the expert. "Sometimes knowing you have no control over a circumstance gives us the freedoms to see it clearly. For example, we have no control over a stock market decline, but we can prepare for it and respond appropriately."
An expert with Vanguard Center for Investor Research says that when preparing for the rising health care costs in retirement, clients should think of the big out-of-pocket expenses, including health insurance premiums, according to this Q&A article on Morningstar. Clients should also prepare for long-term care costs, says the expert. "Your financial wealth at retirement has to cover a lot of things. One of which it could be long-term care."
Although the average 401(k) and IRA balances increased in the third quarter based on data from Fidelity, the amounts would not guarantee a secure retirement, according to this article on personal finance website Motley Fool. This is true especially if clients with an average retirement account balance are close to retirement. For example, a 32-year-old client who has $106,500 in retirement plan balance faces better prospects that a senior who is expected to retire in a few years.
