Dear Liz: When you’re writing about required minimum distributions from retirement accounts, please make sure people know about qualified charitable distributions. Those of us lucky enough not to need the money can donate it directly from an IRA to the nonprofits of our choice. That way, we don’t even have it in our income column, […]
Recent Blog Posts
Q&A: Don’t need your RMD? Consider a QCD
Q&A: Timing a Social Security application
Dear Liz: I know you work to maximize people’s money. I had a thought about the quality of life with Social Security. I took it at 65, which was then full retirement age. I was fully employed and did not need it to live. However, the extra money allowed us the opportunity to travel to […]
Q&A: Sharing an inherited house with your siblings? It can get complicated
Dear Liz: My husband’s parents, who are 88 and 93, respectively, have decided to leave their house, worth $800,000, equally, to their three children, who are all in their sixties. The children get along well and all decisions will be made as a group. None of the adult children can afford to buy out the […]
Q&A: Selling a house? Don’t confuse the tax rules
Dear Liz: We read your recent column about capital gains and home sales. Our understanding is that if you sell and then buy a property of equal or greater value within the 180-day window, the basis for tax purposes is the purchase price, plus the $500,000 exemption, plus the improvements to the property, minus the […]
Q&A: Delaying Medicare enrollment? What to know
Dear Liz: When my husband was approaching 65, he was employed and covered by a high-deductible healthcare plan with a health savings account by his employer. Neither his employer nor our local Social Security office had concrete advice on how to proceed about enrolling in Medicare, but after tremendous research, he eventually delayed enrollment. Now […]
Q&A: Retirement planning for late starters
Dear Liz: I am in my late 50s, married and woefully unprepared financially for my later years. I was a stay-at-home mom for many years. I now work almost full time but my employer has no 401(k) or profit sharing or really any benefits at all. I just started putting $8,000 (the catch-up amount) into […]