Once new retirees wrap up their longtime careers, they can get down to the business of serious relaxation … or, alternately, the pursuit of further knowledge. When better to take that adult education course, pursue an advanced degree or delve into an entirely new field of study than retirement, when your time is largely your

Overall, these investors do have a positive outlook on the U.S. economy. They are worried more about politics than stocks. The survey was conducted between Nov. 7 and Nov. 19, so it did precede December, which has been the worst December for the market since 1931. A January reckoning for many investors may still be

There is a penalty if you collect retirement benefits and continue to work, depending on your age. If you are under full retirement age, the limit for 2018 is $17,040. For every $2 you earn above that threshold, the Social Security Administration deducts $1 from your benefit payments. In the year you reach full retirement

Roughly 11 percent of those “never beneficiaries” are employees who worked in jobs that receive a public pension and don’t pay into Social Security. Among the groups potentially affected: government workers, teachers and railroad employees. (For example, a 2014 report from advocate TeacherPensions.org estimated 1.2 million teachers — or about 40 percent of the nation’s

Part-time consulting is a great way to leverage your hard-won institutional knowledge and expertise after retirement. Firms may be looking to fill their full-time rank-and-file with lower-paid new college graduates, but there’s a lot to be said for decades of experience. If you’re offering your skill set on a part-time, independent basis, your former employer,

Medelli­n is a cosmopolitan city with a neighborhood feel. Set in the middle of the Andes Mountains, Colombia’s second-largest city is known as the City of Flowers. Medellin is always in bloom and offers high-end living for significantly less than it would cost in the U.S. Aaron Brabham found exactly what he wanted. “I’m really

Before you break out the bubbly, know that this strategy isn’t necessarily for everyone. For instance, prior to the tax overhaul, financial planners and CPAs used to recommend Roth conversions early in the year. Investors would then see how their Roth accounts performed over subsequent months. If any of the converted accounts didn’t perform well,

If rates keep rising, that tension will only grow. The prevailing market wisdom — at least before the recent volatility in stocks and increasing concerns about a slowdown in the U.S. economy — had been that the Fed would hike as many as three times next year. The Fed is expected to raise rates again

If you’re like other retirees, you’re eager to see just how big your Social Security check will be next year. The Social Security Administration has released its cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, notices online. To find out what your payment will be, log on to your My Social Security account. Your cost-of-living adjustment will be found

A normal curve with the two-year offering a lower yield than the 10-year is fundamental to how banks make money. Banks borrow short term at lower interest rates so that they can make long-term loans to borrowers at higher interest rates. The difference between those two interest rates, the positive spread, is their profit. If

That’s not the only discrepancy. When asked about finances, survey respondents reported, on average, $610,000 as the ideal amount to have saved by retirement age. Age-group-wise, baby boomers think they’ll need $574,000, while millennials foresee a higher, $687,000 as the goal. Neither demographic is aiming high enough; $1 million as a minimum nest egg, long

Liquidity is like good health. You don’t really appreciate it until you lose it. Investors are starting to appreciate it. As volatility has surged, first in the stock market and now in credit markets, liquidity is starting to dry up across segments of the corporate bond markets. The ominous widening of spreads in the high-yield

While I can’t give you any investment advice or help you ignore the current market conditions, I can teach you how to manage stress so that “volatile” describes the market and not your mindset. Emotions can help influence decision-making, but when it comes to considering investment decisions in a volatile market, getting stressed out may

Gyrating markets, rising rates and significant market volatility will always create anxiety for investors and leave them with a bad, sinking feeling. Those big swings typically cause investors great concern, no matter the rise or fall. But what is the root of the anxiety? Behavioral science suggests that humans are “uncertainty reduction” machines. That’s one

The many big companies disrupted by blockchain have now made it a priority to harness this technology. As is typically the case when faced with disruption, large companies are seeking to defend their territory by adopting the very tool that threatens them. With blockchain there’s a lot at stake. The global market for blockchain-related products

Erica Canepa | Bloomberg | Getty Images People wait outside of a currency exchange house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018.  Mark McCarron, chief investment officer for Wescott Financial Advisory Group, believes in global diversification when it comes to investing in stocks. But not when it comes to bonds. The reason: currency

When investors sit down with their financial advisor to prepare their tax returns next year, they’ll be confronted with new rules that for many mean an increase in the cost of having an advisor. The new tax law passed by Congress last year ends deductions on some types of advisory fees, including those based on

It’s that time of year again for the municipal bond market. The fall months are typically weak for muni bonds and although this year has generally bucked seasonal trends, it looks that way again this year. “There’s been a lot of unevenness in a usually more predictable market,” said Peter Hayes, head of the Municipal

Betterment, another robo-advisor, is using artificial intelligence in a limited capacity to back-office tasks such as check processing. The company does not use the technology to generate financial advice or manage portfolios, said Dan Egan, director of behavioral finance and investing at Betterment. “Generally speaking, machine intelligence is kind of like an autistic savant, in

We’ve all heard of voodoo economics, but voodoo investing? Noted Washington, D.C.-area radio personality and former financial advisor Dawn Bennett was convicted earlier this week of fraud, found to have bilked 46 listeners, advisory clients and friends who trusted her out of some $20 million in a Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors say she used voodoo in

Are you ready to leave your job, ride off into the sunset and devote time and energy to more personally meaningful pursuits? If you answered yes but are still 20 to 30 years away from a traditional retirement, you may want to consider taking a “mini retirement.” Unfamiliar with this concept? Author Tim Ferriss created

“If you need to have $5,000 in expenses before the insurance kicks in at work, depending on the nature of the costs, Part A or B could be secondary coverage and help you pay for those deductible expenses,” said Philip Moeller, author of “Get What’s Yours for Medicare.” High-deductible plans come with health savings accounts,

Whether you’re looking to avoid companies that have questionable environmental practices or to reward those that prioritize gender equality, there’s an investment strategy for that. Say hello to sustainable investing, which you may also know as socially responsible investing, a way for individuals to make a social impact with their dollars. This investment strategy involves

No bigger than Manhattan, the small tropical island of Penang off the west coast of Malaysia has arts and culture, history and nature, beach and jungle. Known as a foodie haven, the island’s largest city, George Town, boasts eclectic architecture, a vibrant art scene and what many claim is the best street food in the

Prices have fallen with the rest of the bond market recently, but the Bloomberg Barclay’s U.S. Corporate high-yield index had a total return of 1.05 percent through Oct. 11. Floating-rate leveraged loans remain the hottest segment of the fixed-income market. The Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan index was up 4.46 percent through Oct. 11. High-yield funds