How to boost your Social Security payments How much you earn and your age when you sign up play a big role in how much you will receive from Social Security. Workers who familiarize themselves with the Social Security rules will be better able to maximize their payments. Pay close attention to these aspects of the program when making Social Security decisions.

YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE to spend all the money in your 401(k) plan before you die. If that happens, your retirement savings will pass to the person you name as the beneficiary of the account. The information on your 401(k) beneficiary form typically supersedes what is written in your will, so it's important to keep this form up to date for all your retirement and investment accounts. 12 Documents to Prepare [...]

THE FINANCIAL transition into retirement can be daunting. A suddenly lower income often leads to lifestyle changes. These adjustments aren’t always easy, especially if you’ve landed in retirement without as large of a nest egg as you hoped to have. Even if you knew your budget would downsize, it can be tough to know just how to spend and where to cut back.

Retirement conjures as many worrisome thoughts as it does exciting ones, largely because it's such a big expense. It's not unreasonable to think you could need $1 million or more, and some people may even need $2 million to live comfortably during retirement. Saving that much is no easy task, and even if you do accomplish it, there's no way to be sure you have enough to last the rest [...]

Last year, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) updated their 2017 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey, providing insights on how Americans decide to retire and manage resources in retirement.The study revealed that for most people, retirement is full of surprises.  Most retirees’ experience a life different in many ways from what they originally planned. Here are a 12 things that surprised retirees.  Use these findings to improve your overall retirement plan [...]

The COVID-19 crisis has been hammering the U.S. economy for months, and not surprisingly, the pandemic has caused retirement plan values to plummet. But not all age groups have seen the same hit to their IRAs and 401(k)s. In a recent survey by Personal Capital, savers in their 30s actually saw a greater hit to their retirement plans than any other age group. And while it's always disconcerting to see a loss of [...]