6 Ways to Lower Your Michigan State Taxes in Retirement
New Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer promised that she would eliminate the Michigan retiree pension tax on the campaign trail. This would be fantastic for Michigan retirees. However, we all know that many promises on the campaign trail don’t always equate to more money in our pockets. For a recap on Michigan state taxes in retirement, read my post here. There are ways to reduce, or … Continue reading 6 Ways to Lower Your Michigan State Taxes in Retirement
5 Things You Should Never Do When The Stock Market Goes Down
“As soon as the stock market has another dip, I will be ready to get more aggressive”. I hear this from almost every investor during the good times when the market is heading higher. Then, we get the downfall and…crickets. Sure, everyone knows it is better to buy low and sell high. However, in theory this is a little more difficult. “What do you mean … Continue reading 5 Things You Should Never Do When The Stock Market Goes Down
Why You Should Never Listen to Stock Market Forecasts
Last year at Christmas, my aunt told me how she had made significant money on Bitcoin. On a boat ride her son’s friend told her about the cryptocurrency, and she bought some immediately. Now, she was up nearly 400% and this represented a big chunk of her retirement assets. There at the family Christmas party, I begged her to sell it. Sell three quarters, sell … Continue reading Why You Should Never Listen to Stock Market Forecasts
Using BulletShares to Create an Easy Bond Ladder for Retirees
10 years ago if you wanted to create a bond ladder you needed a lot of money. To buy many different bonds at differing maturities you had to have at least $500,000 or so, just to make sure you got proper diversification without extraordinary commissions and spreads. This was just the beginning though, as researching and picking individual bonds for a bond ladder is not … Continue reading Using BulletShares to Create an Easy Bond Ladder for Retirees
Starting Medicare After Age-65? Don’t Forget This Form
In an ideal world, you would only own health insurance when you need it. Forego health insurance all those years in which you were healthy and never visited a doctor. Those years in which you constantly seemed to have something go wrong, and the medical bills were adding up. Buy the best insurance policy you can find. Not surprising, insurance companies also know this, and … Continue reading Starting Medicare After Age-65? Don’t Forget This Form
Canadian Living in the U.S.? Taxation of Your RRSP, RRIF, CPP and OAS
Many retirement accounts, different country pensions, exchange rates, and multiple tax rates. Working both in the U.S and Canada sure does make things complicated. However, if you are retiring here in the U.S., your tax situation is much more favorable than retiring in Canada. Here, I want to summarize the taxation of all of the different retirement accounts (RRSP, RRIF, and TFSA) as well as … Continue reading Canadian Living in the U.S.? Taxation of Your RRSP, RRIF, CPP and OAS
Using a CD Ladder as a Social Security Replacement Strategy
For a lot of people, delaying and starting social security later makes sense. I typically find that about 50% of my clients need to delay social security in order to live the retirement that they want. The other 50% won’t ever go through their money anyway, so they are perfectly fine starting early. The other day, the former situation occurred. While going through a detailed … Continue reading Using a CD Ladder as a Social Security Replacement Strategy
