The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
state of New Jersey attempts to help people who work for a living , what gives????
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, in an effort to encourage and help more New Jersey workers have secure retirements, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee approved legislation that would provide taxpayers a gross income tax exclusion in the amount of contributions made to a qualified retirement plan.
Continue reading SHOCKER : NJ State Senate Proposes Ways to Enhance Retirement Savings
Retirement is a time for enjoying life. You can take trips that you always wanted to take or stay home with the kids after school is out. However, this is only possible if you have retirement savings. Many people don’t know exactly how their retirement savings are growing until it’s too late. Don’t wait till it’s too late. Here are safe ways to grow your retirement savings.
Everyone needs to plan for their future, and Roth IRAs are a great way to save for your retirement. There is no immediate tax benefit with a Roth IRA, but you will be eligible for tax-free income after you retire, including on your earnings pre-retirement. With no minimum distributions during your lifetime, you can allow the money to grow until you need it or pass it on to your family tax-free. Roth IRAs are especially good for younger earners who usually have a lower income tax rate than they will when they come to withdraw the funds. With decades still ahead of compound interest, you can make a lot of money if you start paying into a Roth IRA when you are young. Parents can even open an account for their children as there is no minimum age limit.
Rick Pendykoski is the owner of Self Directed Retirement Plans LLC
Saving for retirement is a critical part of financial planning. It helps you ensure that you will be comfortable and secure after retiring from work. But simply putting money away isn’t enough. It’s also important to understand how to maximize your savings so they last you through the golden years.
Most people use either a 401(k) or IRA to invest their retirement savings and help them grow. Let’s look at 401(k) vs IRA in more detail, so you can choose which one fits your
Continue reading Retirement Planning: Should You Put Money Into a 401k or IRA?
September 24,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Many retirees and those nearing retirement express a common fear.
They worry about running out of money; finding their bank account drained with years of life still ahead of them.
“The reality is that a large percentage of Americans simply don’t have the kind of savings they need,” says Chuck Price, president of Price Financial Group Wealth Management Inc. (www.pfgwm.com) and author of “Investing Simplified: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You.”
“When that’s the case, there are other strategies they’ll need to consider.”
His suggestions for stretching retirement dollars as much as possible include:
• Work longer. Nothing says you have to stop working at a particular age. You can continue in your career, find a new one or just work part-time. Even temporary employment can help keep the cash flowing so you don’t have to tap into your savings too much.
• Cultivate alternative income streams. You can reduce your reliance on your retirement portfolio by cultivating income streams. “This could be done through a side business or maybe by making investments outside your retirement portfolio that pay dividends,” Price says. “There are a number of ways you might be able to come up with some extra income.”
• Cut costs. Are there expenses you can get rid of if money becomes too tight? Maybe you don’t need to play golf every day or dine out so often. Are you paying for insurance on an extra car that you really don’t need anymore or for a motorcycle you rarely ride? “Retirement is supposed to be fun, I know, but in tough economic times you’ll have to make decisions,” Price says. “If your situation improves, you can add some of those luxuries back later.”
• Reconsider the financial help you give others. Older people often want to help their children and grandchildren financially, but you might need to cut back on your charity. “If your own survival and financial situation is being threatened, you need to pull back a bit,” Price says. “You’re trying to make your money outlive you, so it might be necessary in times of economic turmoil to reduce how much you provide to others.”
On the upside, Price says, it’s worth noting that expenses in retirement might not end up being as much as you think.
“Most people spend less money as they get older because they stop driving, traveling and buying clothes,” Price says. “The main exception is if there’s a need for long-term care, which can be very expensive.
“But most of my clients in retirement, usually after about age 80, aren’t spending anywhere close to what they planned for.”
About Chuck Price
Chuck Price (www.pfgwm.com) is president and wealth manager for Price Financial Group Wealth Management Inc. He also is author of “Investing Simplified: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You.” Price has more than 40 years of financial experience and hosts a popular radio show, “Investing Simplified,” that airs on Freedom 970 in Portland, Ore.
“Saving for the future shouldn’t be a privilege for the wealthy, and Washington doesn’t need to put another roadblock between people and their financial goals. By ignoring the advice of the SEC and Congress, the DOL’s rule will increase the cost of retirement advice for lower- and middle-income Americans while creating a preferred class of rich investors. I will continue to fight for everyone’s right to get good financial advice because—unlike this administration—I believe in the people of New Jersey to make the best choices for their families and their futures.” Rep Scott Garrett
April 7,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Yesterday’s editorial (opening paragraphs below) point out that this set of rules is slanted to capture investment accounts with the goal of making small and medium sized savers invest in government run plans. Follow the money — those government run plans are going to lean toward investing in government paper with associated pitiful returns. That’s the conflict of interest that’s not being disclosed.
From the editorial…
President Obama’s regulators aren’t slowing down, alas. And on Wednesday they unveiled another part of their plan to push Americans out of private investment accounts and into government-run plans.
The Department of Labor says its so-called fiduciary rule will make financial advisers act in the best interests of clients. What Labor doesn’t say is that the rule carries such enormous potential legal liability and demands such a high standard of care that many advisers will shun non-affluent accounts. Middle-income investors may be forced to look elsewhere for financial advice even as Team Obama is enabling a raft of new government-run competitors for retirement savings. This is no coincidence.
Bu
Labor’s new rule will start biting in January as the President is leaving office. Under the rule, financial firms advising workers moving money out of company 401(k) plans into Individual Retirement Accounts will have to follow the new higher standards. But Labor has already proposed waivers from the federal Erisa law so new state-run retirement plans don’t have the same regulatory burden as private employers do.
This competitive advantage could be significant. Last month the board of California’s new “Secure Choice” retirement plan wrote to state legislators about their “exciting win” in Washington. They reported that employers enrolling workers in the new government-run plan “would have no liability or fiduciary duty for the plan.” Score! The California bureaucrats added that “we have been given the green light to auto-enroll workers into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA).”
Meanwhile, there are only losses for private competitors. The final rule Labor Secretary Tom Perez unveiled Wednesday is being marketed as less onerous than an earlier draft. Thus much of the financial industry is going to take a few weeks to decide on its response. But the main question is exactly how many billions of dollars in costs and lost opportunities will be visited upon investors. And how big the incentive will be to seek government options…
Oct 27, 2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, issued the following statement after voting for H.R. 1090, the Retail Investor Protection Act:
Rep. Garrett speaks in support of the Retail Investor Protection Act
and the retirement savings of hard working New Jersey families on the House Floor.
“Today the House stood up for New Jersey families who are scraping and saving their hard-earned money to have a comfortable retirement by giving them the ability to make investment choices that are right for them. If the Department of Labor (DoL) rule goes forward, access to good financial advice will become a privilege enjoyed only by the wealthy. The Retail Investor Protection Act will ensure that the DoL’s proposed rule won’t inflict even more damage on middle and lower income Americans who are seeking guidance from a financial professional about their retirement savings.”
Background:
The DoL’s proposed rule changes to The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) could limit the access of middle and lower income Americans to retirement planning and investment guidance. Because of the heightened liability for providers contained in the rule, account minimums will rise – in some cases to as high as $100,000 – leaving millions of Americans without access to their financial advisor. The Retail Investor Protection Act would prohibit the Secretary of Labor from issuing any regulation that would define when an individual would be considered a fiduciary until 60 days after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issues a final rule which would govern standards of conduct for dealers and brokers under the Dodd-Frank Act.