Welcome to Retirement Scan, our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be talking about.
A “phased retirement” option will benefit both workers and employers, according to this article in The Wall Street Journal. Seniors who negotiate for such an arrangement should consider their finances, flexibility and mutual benefits. Parents may also open a Roth IRA for their minor children to encourage the young to save. Seniors who turn 70 have the option of donating directly to charity, count the donation toward their required minimum distribution and avoid paying taxes on the withdrawal.
Millennials are not known to be financially-savvy, but there are ways for them to overcome this reputation and secure their retirement, according to this Kiplinger article. To do this, they should minimize their spending by automating their contributions, boost their savings rate over time and take on side hustles to augment their income. Millennials should also consider passive income-producing assets to offset their living costs and passive investing strategies to build wealth.
Employers are more likely to attract and retain top talent if they offer the option to work from anywhere, a study by researchers from Harvard University and Northeastern University shows, according to this article from CNBC. This option will give their workers greater geographic flexibility. Employees “who had been on the job longer — that is, those older and closer to retirement age — were more likely to move to retirement-friendly coastal areas of Florida and Texas than their lower-tenured peers,” while opting to continue working, the researchers say.
These 20-somethings are just beginning their saving and investing journey and there's no time like the present to get them on the right track.
Couples should develop a united investment strategy to choose the best options in their 401(k)s and maximize their retirement plans, according to this article from MarketWatch. They should study their options together, get the best mutual fund offerings in their 401(k)s, and one spouse should have a plan that has a quality, low-cost bond. Couples should also take advantage of a Roth 401(k) if their plan offers such a feature. “In order to be more diversified from a tax perspective, it can be advantageous for the spouse with access to a Roth 401(k) plan to contribute to it,” says an expert.
