Posts by Mike Obel
Retirement
This Lucrative Retirement Tactic Dodged Biden’s Axe
President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022. This is a trimmed-down version of the Build Back Better Act, a $1.75 trillion social spending initiative that had struggled to get votes in Congress. The expanded bill… Read more…
Financial Advisor
Martin Luther King Jr. As Financial Advisor: Here’s What He’d Recommend
While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for his pioneering fight for civil rights and racial equality, he also promoted valuable practical wisdom about how to handle your money. Financial planning firm Facet has collected five of his top… Read more…
Retirement
Your Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) Have Officially Been Pushed Back
The SECURE 2.0 Act, signed by President Biden in December 2022, includes dozens of changes to provisions related to tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Among the most important changes is a provision, which took effect Jan. 1 of this year, that delays… Read more…
Investing
Morningstar’s Financial To-Do List for 2023
New financial challenges and opportunities confront investors each year, but what’s not new is the optimal time to jump on many of these challenges and opportunities. Financial services firm Morningstar released a month-by-month guide of specific financial tasks to tackle… Read more…
Investing
Fidelity Breaks Down 3 Reasons Your Portfolio Is Underperforming: Here Are the Solutions
It’s no secret that equities and bonds took a shellacking in 2022. The downdraft from the highest inflation in four decades, sharply rising interest rates and persistent supply chain disruptions combined to hammer the S&P 500 some 25% by midyear.… Read more…
Retirement
Don’t Let Your Old 401(k) Become an Orphan: Here’s What to Do
U.S. workers have left more than $1 trillion in 401(k)s with former employers. That might not be all bad, especially if those plans are doing well. However, sometimes they aren’t, and these tax-advantaged accounts are neglected by their owners. Before… Read more…
Investing
You’d Never Guess You Can Use Tax-Loss Harvesting On This Asset
Bonds have taken a beating in 2022, but the damage to your portfolio may be less than meets that eye, provided you handle those losses in a tax-smart way. That’s because a technique more commonly associated with equities can ease… Read more…
Retirement
41% of Americans Think They Pay Nothing in 401(k) Fees (They’re Wrong)
Fees are eating away at Americans’ retirement savings. And they’re woefully ignorant about this occurrence. That’s according to a study from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which found that nearly 40% of 401(k) plan participants don’t understand the fees they… Read more…
Retirement
T. Rowe Price Says Saving 15 Years Earlier Can Earn You Over $1 Million More in Retirement
A study by T. Rowe Price has found that the age at which you start saving for retirement can make a huge difference in the amount you will have accumulated by the time you retire. The study compares the effect… Read more…
Retirement
Why 2022 Medicare Part B Premiums Soared
The surprisingly big jump in Medicare Part B premiums for 2022 reflects the sky-high cost of a controversial Alzheimer’s disease drug. The premium hike will put more than a dent in the newly increased Social Security cost-of-living allowance, which worked out… Read more…