When you reach the age of 70 ½, IRS rules generally require you to begin making distributions for most retirement plans. What happens if you fail to take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)? Read the full article

This past June, the non-profit National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) published a new report on the state of US retirement savings. Based on data from the Federal Reserve’s 2010 Survey of Consumer Finance, the report suggests that many Americans are poorly prepared for retirement and concerned about it. Read the full article

Last week, the Board of Trustees for the Social Security trust funds issued its annual report for 2013. Despite the temporary reduction in payroll tax collections enacted in response to the Great Recession, they project that the dates for exhaustion of the Medicare and Social Security trusts remain unchanged: the Social Security trust is expected to run out in 2033, and the Medicare trust should do the same in 2026. The Trustees also oversee the trust that covers Social Security Disability benefits, and they warn that the disability trust will be depleted much sooner, in 2016. Read the full article

In response to increases in the cost-of-living index, the IRS announced today that adjustments that will be made to contribution limits for some types of retirement plans. Read the full article

The November Journal of Marketing Research focuses on research into the ways that consumers make financial decisions. One of the papers describes a potentially useful tool for encouraging young people to save for retirement. Read the full article

One of the key risks that retirees face is the possibility of outliving their incomes. In a report released earlier this month, the US Government Accountability Office concluded that although almost 75% of retirees start taking Social Security benefits before age 65, many workers would have a significantly better chance of a successful retirement if they worked longer and waited to start collecting Social Security. Read the full article

Everyone understands, at some level, the need to save for long-term goals. Buying a house, preparing for retirement, or sending a child to college are goals that we know we have to save for. But how much difference does it make whether we start saving now versus saving later? Read the full article

In testimony to the Senate Appropriations committee in March, the Social Security Administration announced that it will not send out annual benefit statements for the rest of this fiscal year. Read the full article

According to a recent survey of American workers conducted in February and March 2011, 39% of workers plan to work past age 70 or not to retire at all. Read the full article

I’ve been slow to mention this, but the FFS Blog recently received a compliment by being included in a list of the 40 Best Blogs for Your Retirement Planning over at bschool.com. Although the site mostly gives advice about MBA programs, they also think it’s important for people to plan early for retirement. The article includes a number of other blogs worth perusing. 5/16/2014 update: Apparently, bschool.com has removed this article, but it was a nice compliment while it lasted.... Read the full article

Now that Congress has extended lower tax rates through 2012, taxpayers should have an easier job deciding which taxation option to take for the conversion. Read the full article

Which states are likely to have the worst pension liability problems in the future? A couple of studies, one from the Pew Center on the States and the other from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, indicate that while a few are in decent shape, some are much worse than others. Read the full article

Melissa Korn at the Wall Street Journal interviewed me last month for the Journal's Personal Finance feature, "The Game Plan," in which readers write in and have their retirement planning strategies reviewed by a professional financial planner. The piece appeared in yesterday's WSJ. Read the full article

In recent years the financial health of the states has been a source of concern, especially in light of their growing pension liabilities. A recent paper by a couple of Northwestern University finance professors indicates that these concerns are well-founded. Read the full article

According to a recent analysis of retirement income prospects, Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) have a probability of running out of money in retirement that ranges from 43 to 47 percent, depending on their age cohort. Read the full article

Construction-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar recently announced its willingness to settle a lawsuit in which it was accused of charging excessive fees in four of its employee 401(k) plans. Read the full article

Despite a decline in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), major retirement plan limits remain unchanged. Read the full article

Each year, contribution limits on 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement plans are adjusted to keep up with inflation. However, because of a quirk in the rules that define how limits on 401(k) and pension plan contributions are calculated, it’s possible that 2010 limits on these plans could actually decline from current levels. Read the full article

About 50 million people own 401(k)-type retirement plans, and the percentage of workers with defined-benefit (pension) plans has been dwindling for years. One problem with 401(k) plans is that many plans don’t disclose their fees openly. That would change if Congress moves forward with a bill currently awaiting action in the House of Representatives. Read the full article

Each year the trustees of the Social Security/Medicare trusts are required to report on the status of the trust funds. Last month, having included the effects of the recession in their projections, they released a new report. The news is not good. Read the full article

College graduation season, which lasts for several weeks, is upon us here in the Boston area. According to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), graduating seniors with educational debts carry an average debt load on the order of $20,000. More and more, college students are beginning their working lives with fairly heavy debt loads. It's more important than ever for newly-minted grads to hit the ground running with a plan for their finances. Read the full article

Many employer-sponsored tax-deferred retirement plans, including 401(k)s, offer a unique investment option called a "stable value" fund. If you've invested in such a fund, you should take a close look at what's inside; its value might not be as stable as you think. Read the full article

Researchers over at Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research have analyzed the “interest-free loan” opportunity presented by the loophole in Social Security that I’ve discussed before. Once their findings reach Congress, I’m betting this loophole gets closed. Read the full article

Hewitt Associates, the HR consulting firm, tracks 401(k) investing trends for 1.5 million employees of large (> 5,000 employee) companies. Their January 401(k) plan data show a curious fact: employees put more money into their employers' stock than into any other category. Read the full article

Just before Christmas of 2008, the president signed the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008. The bill suspended 2009 Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s. Read the full article

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