More Americans are entering their later years without people they can automatically turn to for assistance with their health and finances. Here’s how to start.

More Americans are entering their later years without people they can automatically turn to for assistance with their health and finances. Here’s how to start.
Planning for retirement has always been a multiyear process that requires thoughtful and consistent attention and actions. Yet retirement planning for younger investors has become even more challenging relative to the previous generation due to certain secular changes that have created new obstacles.
The first couple of years in retirement are often the most difficult. But they also can set the stage for how you’ll fill the years ahead—both financially and psychologically. Stephen Kreider Yoder, 66, a longtime Wall Street Journal editor, joined his wife, Karen Kreider Yoder, 67, in retirement in late 2022. In this monthly Retirement Rookies column, they chronicle some of the issues they are dealing with early in retirement.
Recently, I was on a company trip with my husband who is a wealth advisor. It was an awards trip for high performers in his profession. It has been fun over the years to meet people across the country and become friends. In past years, the conversations focused on sharing best practices about how they structured, built, and enhanced their businesses.
New regulations alter the rules for after-tax Roth contributions, inherited IRAs, RMDs, and 529s balances. The changes impact employers, high-earners, retirees, employees, and individuals inheriting retirement accounts.
The RMD 10-year rule substantially reduces the ability of most nonspouse beneficiaries to stretch distributions from an inherited defined contribution plan or IRA after the death of the original owner.
People who inherited retirement accounts in recent years finally have guidance from the Internal Revenue Service on how to drain their accounts. A few strategies can help you avoid handing over more than necessary to the IRS.
The often-cited goal of having a $1 million retirement nest egg needs to be retired itself. Adjusted for inflation, it would take nearly $1.9 million to have the same purchasing power today as in 1999, when the oldest of millennials were just turning 18. Granted, $1 million still sounds like a lofty sum to many Americans, which could be why so many are nervous that they won’t reach the double-comma club by retirement.
A fight over Social Security is brewing between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Now that both presidential candidates have clinched their nominations, we’re likely to hear more proposals to fix the program—raising fresh questions about whether future retirees can count on their full benefits.
Deciding when to retire will have a substantial impact on your Social Security benefits. If you decide to start receiving payments at age 62, they will be lower than if you waited until your full retirement age. Contact the Social Security Administration for more information.