Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
The IRS is relaxing certain rules to make pulling money from retirement plans easier amid recent disasters caused by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, but people must remember that the taxes and penalties associated with withdrawals are unchanged, according to the Arizona Republic. Loans from retirement plans could be a better option rather than directly getting money from plans, but loans would have to be paid back with after-tax money. An emergency fund, created separate from retirement accounts, is the best option to tap in case of disasters.
Potential retirees should understand that deferred receipt of one's Social Security benefits once they become eligible allows them to earn extra income, an expert said. This is why clients should utilize alternative assets so that their government-secured nest eggs produce more long-term revenue, according to personal finance website Seeking Alpha. Choosing to live on existing financial assets during times when valuations are high will guarantee your Social Security earnings will continue growing at 8% per year. However, there are other primary determinants to consider when one decides when to start taking Social Security payments; one being a person's health and another is the valuation of what is being sold from their portfolios.
Annuities, which will give retirees guaranteed income during their golden years, will be taxed depending on whether the annuity was bought with pre-tax or post-tax money, according to personal finance website Motley Fool. Annuity payments will be fully taxable if they were paid with pre-tax money. Annuity payments purchased with post-tax money will be partially taxed depending on how much of the payment is considered as a gain on the initial investment.
Where should I invest for a safe high return?
This article on CNN offers investment advice to a 65-year-old retiree with about $275,000 in retirement accounts who wants to invest money safely while making high returns. Safety and high return are diametrically opposed and does not exist in the real world as investments with higher returns always come with higher risk, writes an expert. Instead, the retiree can allocate some savings in a mix of stock and bond funds or ETFs, which can generate higher returns, and devote the rest to more secure investments such as an immediate annuity, which turns a lump sump into guaranteed income for life.
