Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
Lawmakers and policymakers should make retirement savings plans universally available if they want to help Americans secure their golden years, according to this article on The Wall Street Journal. Converting retirement savings into regular income should also be made easier for seniors, more products should be offered to make retirement income last beyond the age of 65, and retirement savings plans should be made portable, according to the article.. Employers should also be allowed to establish rainy-day savings plan for their employees to prevent workers from tapping their retirement funds.
Clients who want to cover their medical expenses using retirement money have the option of doing a one-time rollover of tax-deferred assets from a traditional IRA to a health savings account, according to this article from Kiplinger. The fund transfer will be tax-free if the funds are used for qualified expenses and allowed if their high-deductible health plan is in effect. Clients with single insurance coverage can move as much as $3,500 from an IRA to an HSA this year, while those with family coverage can roll over up to $7,000, with an extra $1,000 for workers aged 55 and older.
Giving paid family leave to workers will not only allow female employees to take care of their loved ones; it will also help them achieve retirement security, writes an expert on MarketWatch. Most women are compelled to leave the workforce temporarily or permanently to look after their babies and family members, usually at a time they start building a career, writes the expert, citing a director of income security at the National women’s Law Center. “Such a move could cut their potential earnings growth drastically.”
Not making an accurate estimate of expenses is one of the mistakes that clients should avoid to live comfortably in the golden years, according to this article on personal finance website Motley Fool. Clients should also determine how much income they can derive from their retirement portfolio after deducting taxes and other costs. Another mistake that many seniors make is deciding on when to claim their Social Security benefits without considering their financial circumstances.
