Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
Clients may want to wait until the age of 59 1/2 to withdraw from their 401(k) and traditional IRA without owing the early withdrawal penalty, according to this article on Motley Fool. The penalty, however, is waived if the withdrawal is used to buy a new house or pay for qualified medical expenses and health insurance premiums. IRA investors can also draw funds from their accounts tax-free if the money will be used to fund college tuition and other related costs.
Medical advances prove to extend people's life expectancies, suggesting that clients would be needing a bigger nest egg to fund a longer retirement horizon, writes an expert on USA Today. "According to Fidelity, the ranks of 401(k) millionaires keep hitting highs. But even that, amortized, in all bonds renders a relatively minimalistic 30-year retirement," writes the expert. "If you have got a smaller 401(k) you must build it bigger or suffer. Even at age 65. Even well past retirement."
401(k) participants are subject to annual contribution limits, and hitting the threshold earlier would mean missing out on employer's matching contributions, writes a certified financial planner on MarketWatch. To avoid this, "divide the maximum dollar contribution of $18,500 by your annual salary and contribute the resulting percentage of your pay," explains the expert. "So, in the example above, you would set up your contribution amount at 12.33% ($18,500 divided by $150,000 = 0.1233 or 12.33%). Contributing 12.33% of your pay for 12 months will earn you $1,250 more employer match than contributing 15% of your pay will for 10 months."
A 64-year-old retiree will be better off filing for a Social Security widow's benefit on her deceased husband's record if the benefit will be higher than her own retirement benefit, according to this article on Forbes. Her retirement benefit will be reduced as she will claim before reaching her full retirement age. She should consider filing for her own retirement benefit if it will be higher than her widow's benefit, which will be about 90.5% of her husband's retirement benefit at FRA.
An expert says a mother with limited income may want to amend her previous tax returns to claim the retirement savings contributions tax credit for those years she socked money away into her 401(k), according to this article on Money. She should also streamline her retirement portfolio, maximize her Social Security benefit by working longer, and ensure that her finances are in good shape, says the expert. “You can’t get a loan for retirement."
