Get smart with your money
The world is full of tropical paradises and other exotic places where a couple can live comfortably on $2,000 a month or less. Plus, good health care abroad can cost a fraction of what it does in the U.S.
If living more cheaply is the only reason you’d retire to another country, though, you’re likely to be unhappy.
In my latest for the Associated Press, the potentially high price of becoming an “economic refugee.”
Today’s top story: How to build your ‘Oh, Crap!’ fund. Also in the news: A strategy that could help new grads retire sooner, United Airlines sets a new pet transport policy, and what happens to your debts when you die.
How to Build Your ‘Oh, Crap!’ Fund
Don’t get caught empty-handed.
New Grads, This Strategy Could Mean Retiring Sooner
Doesn’t that sound nice?
United Airlines Sets New Pet Transport Policy
The policy will ban dozens of dog breeds from being transported in cargo.
What Happens to Your Debts When You Die
They don’t disappear.
Today’s top story: Money advice for new graduates – and some old-school wisdom. Also in the news: Should you fix or break up with your car, types of stocks to look at if you’re getting back into the market, and how to determine if you need life insurance in retirement.
Money Advice for New Grads — and Some Old-School Wisdom
Advice from personal finance experts.
Should You Fix Up or Break Up With Your Car?
Separating emotion from reality.
Buying the Dip? Give These Types of Stocks a Look
Time to get back in the market?
How to determine if you need life insurance in retirement
Assessing your circumstances.
Dear Liz: I recently returned to a regular 9-to-5 job after freelancing for several years. I contributed the maximum amount to an IRA while self-employed and continued to do so after starting my new job. I was surprised to learn when doing my taxes this year that I could not deduct my IRA contributions because I was also contributing to my company’s 401(k) plan.
Other than increase my 401(k) contributions at the expense of future IRA funding, are there any actions I can take?
Answer: The ability to deduct IRA contributions when contributing to a workplace retirement plan phases out once your modified adjusted gross income reaches certain limits. For single filers, the deduction starts to phase out at $63,000 and disappears at $73,000. For married couples filing jointly, the phase-out is from $101,000 to $121,000.
Your next move depends on your goals and situation. If you’re primarily concerned with reducing your current tax bill and you’re likely to be in a lower tax bracket in retirement, as most people will, then you should funnel more money into your 401(k) rather than funding your IRA.
If, however, you expect to be in the same or higher bracket in retirement, or if you want more flexibility to control your tax bill in your later years, consider contributing to a Roth IRA in addition to your 401(k). Roths don’t offer an up-front deduction, but withdrawals in retirement are tax free. Also, unlike 401(k)s and traditional IRAs, there are no minimum required withdrawals in retirement.
There are income limits on the ability to contribute to a Roth IRA. For single people, the ability to contribute phases out between modified adjusted gross incomes of $120,000 to $135,000 in 2018. For married couples filing jointly, the phase-out is between $189,000 and $199,000.
Today’s top story: When to ignore credit card advice. Also in the news: More Wells Fargo refunds are coming after $1 billion fine, how SunTrust customers can protect themselves after data breach, and how to live it up without going broke before you die.
When to Ignore Credit Card Advice
Conventional wisdom doesn’t always apply.
More Wells Fargo Refunds Coming After $1 Billion Fine
Auto and home loan customers could have money coming to them.
How SunTrust Customers Can Protect Themselves After Data Breach
Another day, another data breach.
How to live it up without going broke before you die
You deserve to have some fun.
Dear Liz: I am confused about “safe withdrawal rates” from retirement accounts. I’ve read that withdrawing 4% of savings each year is the gold standard that financial planners utilize to ensure that life savings are preserved in retirement.
However, if the Standard & Poor’s 500 index returns on average 8% a year, and if the life savings are locked down in a mutual fund that is indexed to the S&P 500, then shouldn’t the annual withdrawal amount, to preserve those savings, be 8%? Limiting my withdrawals to 4% means my retirement would be pushed several years down the road. Can you clarify?
Answer: It’s good you asked this question before you retired, rather than afterward when it might have been too late.
You’re right that on average, the S&P 500 has returned at least 8% annualized returns in every rolling 30-year period since 1926. (“Rolling” means each 30-year period starting in 1926, then 1927, then 1928, and so on.)
But the market doesn’t return 8% each and every year. Some years are up a lot more. And some are down — way down. In 2008, for example, the S&P 500 lost about 37% of its value in a single year.
Such big downturns are especially risky for retirees, because retirees are drawing money from a shrinking pool of assets. The money they withdraw doesn’t have the chance to benefit from the inevitable rebound when stock prices recover. Bad markets, particularly at the beginning of someone’s retirement, can dramatically increase the odds of running out of money.
Inflation also can vary, as can returns on cash and bonds. All these factors play a role in how long a pot of money can be expected to last. The “4% rule” resulted from research by financial planner William Bengen, who in the 1990s examined historical returns from 1926 to 1976. Bengen found there was no period when an initial 4% withdrawal, adjusted each year afterward for inflation, would have exhausted a diversified investment portfolio of stocks and bonds in less than 33 years.
Some subsequent research has suggested a 3% initial withdrawal rate might be better, especially for early retirees or those with more conservative, bond-heavy portfolios.
Free online calculators can give you some idea of whether you’re on track to retire. A good one to check out is T. Rowe Price’s retirement income calculator. But you’d be smart to run your findings past a fee-only financial planner as well. The decisions you make in the years around retirement are often irreversible, and what you don’t know can hurt you.