|
Intel Reportedly Splits Its Handheld Strategy As A Tiny 4-Xe3 Panther Lake Chip Targets The Budget Buyers Arc G3 Ignored WccftechIntel plans an entry-level Panther Lake chip with 4 Xe3 cores for handhelds TweakTownIntel Reportedly Readies Cheaper Panther Lake Chip For Gaming Handhelds channelnews.com.au
|
|
Are you thinking of retiring soon? Perhaps earlier than you had planned years ago? A potential hurdle could be the incentives set up by the Social Security Administration - they calculate your benefits to reward you for staying in the workforce.
But if you are looking to take an early retirement, you're not alone.
SEE MORE What If I Retired Today?
In the first 15 months of the COVID pandemic (March 2020-May 2021), about 2.5 million Americans retired. That was about twice the number of people who retired in 2019. This means there were essentially 1.2 million fewer people in the workforce over the age of 55 than would otherwise be expected.
First, find out what Social Security benefits you can expect
For anyone born in 1943 or later, your full retirement age, as defined by the Social Security Administration, is between age 66 and 67, based on your birth year. If you're contemplating retiring before that, it's important to know that the Social Security program has been orchestrated to incentivize beneficiaries to delay claiming benefits. Specifically:
If you start taking benefits at age 62, your Retirement Benefit will shrink by 25% to 30%, depending on your birth year. That's because your lifetime annual benefits are decreased by approximately 8% for each year prior to your full retirement age you start to claim them.Conversely, your lifetime annual benefits increase by 8% for each year past your full retirement year if
|
|
Editor's note: This is the final part of a seven-part series. It dives more deeply into the third strategy for defusing a retirement tax bomb, which is Roth conversions. If you missed the introductory article, you may find it helpful to start here.
Because they offer tax-free qualified withdrawals, Roth IRAs and Roth conversions can be a critical strategy for defusing the retirement tax bomb that traditional IRAs, 401(k)s and other pre-tax savings accounts can set you up for in retirement.
A Roth conversion is when you transfer money out of a pre-tax retirement account into an after-tax Roth. Typically, every dollar you convert is taxed as ordinary income, unless the pre-tax account was also funded with after-tax dollars.
SEE MORE Don't Move to Another State Just to Reduce Your Taxes
Here's the problem though: Most people who are facing a retirement tax bomb and are still working probably have high incomes and are in a high marginal tax bracket. The last thing they want is a Roth conversion, which adds to their income and would be taxed at high tax rates.
Instead, this is a good strategy to consider in low-income years, especially for people who retire early in their 50s and early 60s who may have several years to do conversions before Medicare means testing surcharges, Social Security income and RMDs kick in. Many of my clients do several years of annual Roth conversions starting early in retirement.
Three Windows for Roth Conversions
The first window for Roth conversions is the years before enrolling in Medicare, but recal
|
|
