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MONEY matters

Mark Zaifman's thoughts on money, global economic trends and politics
5 Reasons Why Playing Catch-Up Risks Your Retirement Security
Mark Zaifman   |    Thu, Oct 17, 2013 @ 11:46 AM

In the hyper consumer society we live in today, buy now, pay later has become the norm. Saving enough money for a secure retirement all too often takes a back seat to the immediate gratification of purchasing the shiny object in the window. Practicing the concept of delayed gratification - fuhgeddaboudit.

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Outsourcing Your Money Worries During Retirement
Mark Zaifman   |    Fri, Oct 04, 2013 @ 03:39 PM

If you’re like most people near or currently in retirement, you’ve spent most of your adult life managing your personal finances to the best of your ability. You’ve witnessed your share of stock market crashes, often referred to euphemistically as “market corrections”, you’ve saved and hopefully invested well, and you’ve done what’s needed to have a nest egg large enough to never have to worry about running out of money during retirement.

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Divine Intervention - Facing Your Retirement Truth
Mark Zaifman   |    Thu, Sep 12, 2013 @ 11:45 AM

If you’re among the millions of boomers beginning to plan for retirement, you’re most likely feeling a range of emotions that may range from euphoria to downright fear. Nonetheless, as you begin to prepare for this next phase of your life, step one is assessing where you stand financially right at this moment.

Yet on the road to assessing your financial readiness for retirement, unexpected events could occur that rock your world and change your life in ways probably unimaginable to most people.  The story below actually happened. Names have been changed but events that occurred are unfortunately real.

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3 Reasons Why Retirement Income Planning Needs a Holistic Approach
Mark Zaifman   |    Mon, Aug 26, 2013 @ 12:33 PM

This description is taken from Wikipedia:

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Re-Imagining Your Life Now and Through Retirement
Mark Zaifman   |    Wed, Jun 26, 2013 @ 06:45 PM

"Permission to be a beginner again is the greatest gift you can give yourself."

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A $1 Million Dollar Nest Egg for Retirement - Is it Enough?
Mark Zaifman   |    Fri, Jun 14, 2013 @ 09:44 AM

The following is an excerpt from a recent article, titled, For Retirees, a Million Dollar Illusion, that appeared in the New York Times, Your Money section. Anytime there’s an article that discusses your ‘number’ needed for a safe and secure retirement, I’m hooked.

The article drew so much attention and received so many follow-up comments that the author actually wrote a follow-up to his original article. I encourage you to read the original article in full as well as the follow-up and see for yourself if $1 million is enough to safely retire.

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Smart, Sensible Retirement Planning Advice by Nobel Prize Winner
Mark Zaifman   |    Fri, May 10, 2013 @ 11:40 AM

A person saving for retirement who chooses low-cost investments instead of higher-cost ones could have a standard of living throughout retirement that's more than 20 percent higher”, says Noble Prize winner William Sharpe.

In a recent interview published on the Stanford Graduate School of Business website, Sharpe, a professor emeritus at the school, clearly illustrates how much more money retirees would have if they saved for retirement using lower-cost index funds rather than higher-cost actively managed funds.

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Retirement Income Planning - Adding a Little Spice to the Recipe
Mark Zaifman   |    Fri, Apr 26, 2013 @ 02:23 PM

A couple of weeks back, I received a call from a client couple, (who I’ll call ‘Z’) who have been happily retired for a few years. During our conversation, they let me know they needed to take out some extra money for a one-time expense that their regular retirement income won’t quite cover. However, this isn’t the first time; in fact, it seems for client couple Z there’s a different one-time request more years than not.

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Tax Planning Techniques and the Rise of the Backdoor Roth IRA
Mark Zaifman   |    Mon, Mar 25, 2013 @ 02:44 PM

The Roth IRA has been one of the best tax planning techniques to come out of Washington, DC in a very long time. But because the Roth comes with income limit eligibility limitations; (maximum income for singles in *2017 - $133,000 ) and (maximum income for married couples - $196,000 ), lots of high income earners have been unable to take advantage of this option.  *These dates and figures have been updated for 2017.

Like many of you, including yours truly, that have already received loads of info about the ‘backdoor Roth IRA’ from tax planning firms or your CPA, below is a consolidation of the best of the best that I have received recently on this topic. All due credit belongs to the numerous sources that kindly sent me info about the new ‘tax kid’ on the block - the backdoor Roth IRA - thank you!

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New Ways of Supplementing Your Retirement Income
Mark Zaifman   |    Fri, Mar 15, 2013 @ 05:08 PM
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