I'm sure you've heard of downsizing in retirement, but have you ever considered using retirement as the time to finally get into the home of your dreams? Some would say that you would need to sell your home in California and move to a much less expensive location in order to accomplish this without having a mortgage payment. In actuality, upsizing may be possible in the same neighborhood that you actually live in right now. You may have seen the previous article about using the HECM for … [Read more...]

In the past, Allianz has been a company that I have gone to time and time again for income annuities. In particular, they have the strength for income annuities that have increasing income over the years. Recently, Allianz caught my eye again for a different tool they have rolled out. This investment does not have any income benefits, rather it is used for growth only. What I like about the tool is that it has four investment options that can be mixed and matched depending on the level of … [Read more...]

It's not uncommon during the early years of retirement to be in a low income tax bracket. There is little to no work income and much of your Social Security benefits may only be partially taxable. This creates a unique opportunity to use Roth IRA conversions. Money that is converted from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA is taxable in the year of conversion. But if you are in a low income tax bracket for that year, you may be able to pay extremely low historical rates on these Roth conversions. … [Read more...]

I've written a previous article on Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) in terms of what they are and how to calculate them. In this article I want to talk about the one-time exception to the first year RMD. The IRS allows individuals to postpone their first year RMD to the April 15 tax deadline of the year following the year they turn 70 1/2. This extension applies only to the first year. (As a reminder, any other years that you do not take your RMD by the end of the calendar year, the … [Read more...]

Most of my clients contributed a majority of their savings during their accumulation years to company retirement plans using pre-tax dollars. They now have large 401(k) and IRA account balances. They also have large tax liabilities and onerous required minimum distributions. I think if you asked each of them if they would go back and make a different decision about using pre-tax dollars into a company retirement plan versus after-tax dollars into a Roth or Roth-like option, they probably … [Read more...]