Retirement planning

"There are certain business models that will be significantly disrupted," Orion Advisor Service CEO Eric Clarke said in anticipation of a new Donald Trump administration.

Now may be the best time for retirees to make charitable donations, do a Roth conversion, and incur more qualified medical expenses to meet the threshold and qualify for a tax deduction.

Investors should take market volatility as an opportunity to engage in year-end tax planning that includes strategies such as tax-loss harvesting.

Here are key takeaways from a Department of Labor fact sheet.

A Yale Law School professor proposes raising the full retirement age to 76 and imposing a steep 80% penalty for the highest earners who opt to claim their benefits early.

We have the most expensive and fragmented health care in the world, so now what?

Tell clients in this situation to make sure they know key dates and review their statements to confirm the amounts are accurate.

How some firms bypass traditional methods and offer points and rewards programs.

Investments in certain closed-end funds or preferred shares are strategies clients should consider to make their savings last, an industry expert says.

Near retirees can mitigate the impact of inflation by shortening the duration of bond portfolios so that re-investment at higher rates can be done in the future.

A combination of slightly higher FICA taxes, plus further increases in the earnings cap, could fix the program for the next 75 years.

Those with the option of taking loans from their plans should consider tax implications and the possibility of missing out on the growth of the money that was borrowed.

Shock and awe: When actual retirement health care costs soar beyond what a client had anticipated for their later years.

An analysis shows low-income clients get more back from the benefit program than the payroll taxes they paid, while high-earning workers get less.

Present information in manageable doses and start with demystifying the three most common costs for retirees on standard Medicare insurance.

Retirement investors should learn how to balance the different risks to their portfolio instead of avoiding them altogether.

Such a portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 in an analysis covering 1928 to 2015.

The new rule will lead to lower built-in commissions, enhanced agent/advisor education, and increased regulation of indexed annuities.

Clients who borrow from their company retirement plans can often get a good rate with no hassle. But if they miss payments, they might face nasty tax charges.