RETIREMENTGUY

After ranking property tax bills from highest to lowest per county in Colorado, it's definitely clear: Rural areas win out. You can generally find cheaper living in the countryside than in the hustle and bustle of Denver or Colorado Springs. Though if you're ready to enjoy historic sites, national forests, and backcountry skiing (and maybe want to commute to ski lodges and resorts), check out these cheap places to live in Colorado. https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/cheapest-pl

We look at a variety of different asset allocations to see which supports the highest safe withdrawal rate. When we ran the research in 2025, it was a fairly light equity allocation, just between 20% and 50% of equities in that portfolio, for that 3.9% safe withdrawal rate. Retirees shouldn’t adjust their spending each year to align with safe withdrawal rates; this is meant to be guidance for people who are just embarking on retirement. https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/

Retirement is full of decisions, and the state you choose to retire in could be the most important one. A recent WalletHub study pitted the 50 states against one another across three main categories — affordability, quality of life, and healthcare — to determine the best places for retirement. The three factors were assessed using 46 different metrics. To determine a state's affordability, metrics such as adjusted cost of living and retired taxpayer-friendliness were consider

A pet medical emergency, such as getting hit by a car, swallowing a foreign object or cancer treatment, can cost thousands of dollars in vet bills. Pet insurance can be a good way to offset those costs. To help you find the best pet insurance, we analyzed 34 key coverage categories such as the ability to pay your vet directly, availability of a 24/7 pet telehealth line and the option to buy a wellness plan. We also crunched more than 900,000 pet insurance costs for six of the

Open enrollment for Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plans runs from October 15 to December 7 every year, and it's a good time to review all of your options. If you've been prescribed new medications or your drugs have gone generic over the past year, a different plan may now be a better deal for you. The cost and coverage can vary a lot from year to year — some plans boost premiums more than others, increase your share of the cost of your drugs, add new hurdles before

For his new book, Healthy to 100, longevity researcher Ken Stern wanted to answer a question that nagged him: Why do so many people in some European and Asian countries live long, healthy lives? How can Americans be like them? For six months in 2024, he traveled to five of the most successful aging nations — Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Spain — to find out why their average life expectancies were often six years longer than ours and to interview residents in thei

When deciding on the optimal age to claim Social Security benefits, conventional wisdom – backed by much of the academic research – often favors delaying benefits until age 70. This conclusion is rooted in models that rely on expected value: the assumption that the 'best' decision is the one that maximizes lifetime benefits in dollar terms. To create these models, researchers often use a very low (or even 0%) real discount rate, under the logic that the 'guaranteed' nature of

2026 brings new retirement rules that could cost you thousands if you’re not prepared. The IRS has released its updated contribution limits for 2026, and whether you're in the early stages of building wealth or fine-tuning your glide path into retirement, these changes offer an opportunity to do more with your money. Here’s what you need to know to make the most of it. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewrosen/2025/12/18/what-2026-means-for-your-retirement-savings-plan/

The White House unveiled new information about “Trump accounts” on Wednesday, including an additional donation from billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio and his wife, Barbara, to help fund the savings accounts for kids. In the last week, a number of companies, including BNY and BlackRock, also announced they would match contributions to Trump accounts for their employees to encourage early wealth-building. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/17/trump-accounts-dalio-blackrock-bny

A recent column in The Washington Post by housing finance expert Jim Parrott placed much of the blame for the current housing shortage on a tax that, he argued, discourages older adults from selling their homes. I’m glad Parrott raised the important issue of seniors staying in their homes as they age. But his diagnosis is largely wrong. Tax law may play a small part in their unwillingness to move, but there are much bigger reasons that families, and policymakers, need to c

When it comes to retirement planning, there’s one financial wildcard, one blind spot that can upend the best-laid plans: the high cost of long-term care — if you ever need it. Like many people, this reporter has not given much thought to the cash cushion or funding vehicles to pay for long-term care (LTC) later in life. My wife has an LTC insurance policy she got through work 15 years ago that will offset her costs. However, despite diligently building a retirement nest egg,

The tax-advantaged retirement savings system in the United States is one of the most effective wealth-building programs in the world. Too many working Americans, however, are left behind. Their access to employer-provided retirement plans is limited, and the incentives in the retirement system fail to encourage lower-income workers to save.  Just how many Americans are left out of the retirement savings system today? We publish here the most up-to-date estimates of who lacks

Key Takeaways Traditional tax-deferred accounts that you own in your own name are going to be subject to required minimum distributions. To reduce RMDs, you should first prioritize Roth contributions. Roth contributions can be preferable to traditional tax-deferred ones, but some people still don’t have a Roth option for their company retirement plan. Converting traditional IRA assets to Roth is the second strategy to reduce RMDs. After retirement and before the RMD years can

High-yield savings accounts give you a chance to reach your savings goal quickly. How? By offering you rates that outpace inflation with no account fees or minimums. However, you want to act fast to maximize gains. The Federal Reserve cuts interest rates at its September meeting. And the smart bet is they'll do it again when they meet next week. While rate cuts can lower how much you earn, rates are still high enough to help you outpace inflation. Here's a look at the best to

Three things are true about long-term care, though many Americans don’t want to believe it: You are very likely to need it in old age. It will cost a lot more than you think. And, no, Medicare won’t pay for it. Two recent studies help explain how Americans think about the financial aspects of their long-term care needs, and why they are so poorly prepared. But the results also may hold a key to future policy solutions to the challenges of funding personal care in old age....

Health care, possibly including long-term care, may be one of your largest expenses and potential key risks when planning for retirement....

The IRS has issued final regulations addressing SECURE 2.0 Act changes regarding retirement plan catch-up contributions, including...

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) brought a considerable number of changes across a full spectrum of American institutions. With so much...