The latest new individual retirement account (IRA) is a stretch IRA.  This concept is used to pass the proceeds from an IRA to younger generations rather than to your spouse or peers.   IRA owners must begin receiving distributions by the age of 70 and ½.  The distributions are based on the life expectancy of the owner.  Older owners will have a greater required minimum distribution (RMD) while younger owners will have a much smaller RMD.

Comparing the RMD of a retiree who is 73 years old, versus the grandchild of an individual with a stretch IRA, you will see how the money saved in the original IRA could potentially last two or more lifetimes.  A good example is looking at how a $500,000 IRA would be distributed.  The original owner would be required to take a minimum distribution of a little over $20,000.  If this same IRA was inherited by a child, and that child was 55 years old, their minimum distribution would be around $17,000.  If instead of a child, it was a 28 year old grandchild that inherited the IRA, they would have to take a minimum distribution of approximately $9000.  If the grandchild was only 6 years old, that distribution would be around $7000 per year.

The amount of the distributions is based on the IRS Single Life Expectancy Table.  Potentially, depending on the amount accumulated in the IRA and the lifespan of the beneficiaries, the stretch IRA could span several generations.  If the stretch IRA is a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA both will benefit from tax deferred growth even if the distributions are being directed to a beneficiary.  Traditional IRA distributions will be taxed as ordinary income and Roth distributions are usually tax free.

This product has the capacity of passing on supplemental income that grows tax deferred to future generations, stretching the IRA’s proceeds significantly.  This is especially true if the rate of growth for the IRA is consistent year after year and decade after decade.  It also opens up a new means of passing on one’s wealth without the dealing with the burdensome process of probate and the estate taxes associated with probate.

You have probably read a lot of posts and articles lately detailing how the U.S. retirement system is failing retirees.  The Frontline documentary, “The Retirement Gamble“, detailed how high 401k fees are making it difficult for many Americans to save enough for retirement.  In the wake of the article there were many other posts and articles stating how difficult it was for workers to save enough for retirement in the U.S.  I do believe that 401ks have mostly been a failure but a recent report from the Investment Company Institute (ICI) states that the U.S retirement system is a success.

ICI states that their research indicates that the U.S retirement system has successfully provided adequate retirement sources to generations of Americans.  They also state that more recent generations of retirees have been better off than retirees in previous generations.  As an example they state that “the poverty rate among people aged 65 or older has declined from nearly 30 percent in 1966 to 9 percent in 2011.”  Maybe things are not as bad as they seem.

The research does also show that Social Security provides a substantial portion of most retirees’ retirement resources and provides the primary retirement resources for workers with low lifetime earnings.  Although the system may be successful so far it seems that any reductions to Social Security could undermine the success of the retirement system.  Also the ICI indicates that the shift from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans is unlikely to reduce retirement preparedness.  I am not entirely sure of that.

Even if the U.S. retirement system is  currently a success there are improvements that can be made.  And the uncertainty of future Social Security benefits and the shift from pensions to 401ks could certainly have an impact on whether the retirement system continues to be successful.  What do you think?  Is the U.S. retirement successful?  Will it be successful in the future?  What changes, if any, should be made?

In recent years you may have heard the term ‘no win, no fee’ mentioned a lot in the newspapers and on television but are you 100% you know what it means? There is a lot of confusion surrounding the term, a lot of which has led to misunderstandings and people losing out on money they were entitled to.

Doesn’t mean no cost

The first thing you need to understand is that it does not mean no win, no cost. This is something that many people have had trouble understanding and the source of much confusion. You need to go into any case with your eyes open and in full possession of all the facts.

At its most basic, no win no fee is an easy way of referring to a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). These were introduced in 1995 when the legal aid system stopped applying to personal injury cases. Without CFAs, personal injury cases would only have been available to those who could afford to make them. That essentially meant that better off people could receive compensation when they had been affected but the rest of us had little choice.

Thanks to no win no fee, justice has been done for thousands who otherwise would have been unfairly punished by the system. It has levelled the playing field and given the little guy a voice.

A no win no fee or CFA is an agreement made between client and solicitor that means if the client does not win, they are not charged. If you win, the solicitor earns his fee as usual but it comes from the opposing party. You keep the compensation awarded, the solicitor receives payment from the insurance company or other party involved.

If you lose you may be liable to pay these costs but your solicitor should have arranged an insurance policy to cover these costs. You need to be aware of this before you start any case. This ‘After Event’ insurance covers you against a loss.

It is not in any solicitor’s interest to take you case if they don’t think you can win. If they do not think there is a case to answer they won’t give you a CFA in the first instance. However, this does not mean you shouldn’t make yourself aware of the facts first.

If you feel you do have a personal injury case, then why not contact a specialist in the field like http://www.injurylawyers4u.co.uk for more information?

You can create your own version of a target date retirement fund with Target Date motifs from Motif Investing.

Target Date motifs are designed to provide you with a disciplined and diversified retirement portfolio that can fit your individual needs. Choose from eight motifs intended to keep your retirement investments allocated properly.

Value. Using ETFs with low expense ratios, Target Date motifs seek to provide steady returns at minimal cost.
Discipline. Target date strategies can provide investors with potential for gains from equities and other high-risk securities, while mitigating potential losses from over-exposure to a single asset class.
Rebalancing. You can choose to follow an annual rebalancing of Target Date motifs to help keep your portfolio moving toward retirement.
Flexibility. As with other motifs, you can easily customize your motif to best suit your own needs.

Detailed Asset Allocation
A key feature of Target Date motifs is the transparency into the security-level asset allocation instead of merely at the asset-class level. This detailed level of allocation allows increased control of the portfolio’s risk profile at every age. Target Date motifs allocate assets across the following securities:

1. Growth-oriented assets

• US equities
• International equities

2. Fixed income assets

• US bonds
• International bonds
• Inflation-linked bonds (TIPS)

3. Precious metals

4. T-bills

Beyond Equities
Another key feature of Target Date motifs is the allocation to precious metals such as gold. This exposure to precious metals seeks to provide diversification and a hedge against inflation risk in the face of unprecedented levels of quantitative easing.

From Early Years to Retirement
In the early years, growth-oriented and risky assets make up as much as 75% of the portfolio with the balance allocated to conservative, fixed-income assets.

As you move toward retirement, the allocation to growth assets is gradually reduced in favor of low-risk and conservative assets such as bond ETFs and short-term T-bills. At the target date, growth-oriented assets make up around 25% of the portfolio while fixed-income assets and short-term treasury bills represent 60% and 15%, respectively.

Customers will be informed of the changing allocations and it is up to the customer’s discretion to follow motif rebalances. Just click on the affiliate link below to sign up.

Making a decision regarding what’s right for your own well being can be a difficult task at the best of times, but the thought of being unable to make that decision owing to mental or physical incapacity is an altogether more worrying state of affairs.

If you are unable to care for yourself, there are a number of legally protective steps that you can take as a means of ensuring the correct decisions are made on your behalf, should you not be capable.

 Advanced directives

The British government specifies that every adult who is deemed mentally capable has the right to refuse or accept whatever medical treatment is prescribed by a healthcare professional. So there exists an advanced directive or living will: a set of instructions that you are able to dictate which describes your future wishes with regards to medical care.

If it is deemed that you ‘lack capacity’,  as defined by the 2005 Mental Capacity Act, your advanced directive – made when you are deemed mentally capable – takes precedence over any decisions that you make in your mentally deteriorated state. Advanced directives are invoked by a designated healthcare proxy, which you will appoint, who plays a role similar to that of the executor of a will.

Advanced directives allow you to make decisions regarding a wide range of treatment possibilities, and are increasingly being used by those suffering from terminal illnesses where one’s mental faculties are known to deteriorate.

The decisions covered by an advanced directive relate to: the use of intravenous fluids, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, life-saving treatments where brain functionality is inherently impaired (such as in the case of a stroke) and other specific procedures, such as blood transfusions.

 Untimely death

 If you are suffering from a long-term illness, or potentially fatal condition, making a will is an essential undertaking.

A will is the only legally binding means you have of ensuring that the beneficiaries of your estate are those who you intended them to be. A well-written will, made up by a reputable solicitor, such as those found at Co-operative Legal Services, enables you to give one final gift to your loved ones, at an extremely difficult time.

Failure to make a will, however, means that your estate will become subject to the rules of intestacy.

The rules of intestacy

 The rules of intestacy are very clear and well documented, strictly laying out the order of priority in which your family will inherit your estate. While this may be acceptable to some, the inherent, traditionalist nature of the rules means that cohabitants and friends have no legal claim to your estate.

If you wish the beneficiaries of your estate to be a friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, or even a charity, making a will is the only way of legally ensuring that your wishes are adhered to.

 Don’t leave it to chance

 If you’re currently in a state of ill-health, or your health is slowly deteriorating, the only means of ensuring that your desires are carried out is to contact a professional body, such as Co-operative Legal Services, to help you draft an advanced directive and/or will.

With these articles prepared, you can rest assured that you are legally protected if you reach a stage where you can’t care for yourself.

As you get older different things become more important than at other times in your life. If you are lucky enough to have close family, children or grandchildren, the idea of providing for them and helping them on their way is something that increases day by day.

Having peace of mind that loved ones will be looked after when you are no longer around to do things yourself can be a valuable thing to have, and there are some easy ways to get it.

Insurance

Having life insurance is a great way to make sure that there is a financial buffer for those that are left behind. It means that at a difficult time your loved ones won’t have to worry about financial matters, but it is something that many people think is not a cost effective thing to do.

What is essential is to make sure that the things you have built up over a lifetime of hard work go to those that you want it to.

The Importance of Having a Will

Although many people have insurance policies and other financial considerations in place to look after their loved ones after they die, making a will is sometimes seen as morbid.

If you die without having a valid will there can be problems and delays in your loved ones inheriting your estate in the way you want them to, but when you have a will it sets out a clear record of your own desires as to what happens to your estate.

Your Estate

The term ‘estate’ is basically a legal way of saying ‘everything that is yours’. So all of your assets make up your estate, and it is up to you how that is distributed after you die.

Probate and Administration

When someone dies there are many legalities to be looked after, and one is establishing whether or not there is a valid will. If there is, the next step is to apply for a grant to enable the estate to be distributed.

This is known as granting ‘probate’ and it gives the person named in the will as the executor the legal right to distribute the estate as per the instructions of the will.

If there is no will this can complicate matters as the estate is then distributed along general legal lines, which might not be true to the wishes of the deceased.

Legal Help

Although making a will is quite straightforward, it is best to take legal advice to make sure everything is done in the right way. Co-operative Legal Services are experienced in helping people through the process and making it simple and easy.

In life, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. More often than not you prefer to win, but most of us are able to take a knock on the chin and carry on. I hope I’m one of them; in fact I’m pretty sure I am. That is, in every area except clothing. In fashion terms, I am pretty much always a loser when it comes to choosing clothes suitable for the occasion.

Take, for instance, an ill-advised picnic I went on last week. Most of us are aware that the weather is particularly grim for this time of year. However, I optimistically donned jeans and the flimsiest of t-shirts, only adorning myself with a thin fleece to keep out the cold. It was sunny at the time, see, I hadn’t had a chance to think about the inclement weather we seem to have been consistently experiencing. The thought of a knitted jumper just hadn’t crossed my mind. Sure enough, upon reaching the destination, a picturesque castle in North Essex, I almost froze to death and spent the afternoon trying to force picnic food between my chattering teeth. Fun times.

Then there are the myriads of weddings I have been invited to over the past few years. Forget the time when I was 12 and I wore grey pedal-pushers, clumpy black sandals and a pink and white t-shirt to a church wedding. The assemblage of outfits I have donned in more recent times puts to shame even that. Need I mention the frilled skirt I wore to an evening reception? Let’s just say that dancing and the skirt were a combination which was only ever going to end badly. Or the skin-tight, bright pink number I picked up in a department store for £15, feeling very pleased with myself. Unfortunately, by the time the event in question arose, I had put on a couple of pounds and looked more like a tube of lipstick than the slim, sophisticated young woman I was trying to be.

So, no, I am not a winner when it comes to fashion. Before you get the violins out, however, there is one silver lining to this particularly woeful little cloud. As I spent many of my formative years desperate to hide my various fashion faux pas, I grew to love a particular item of clothing more than anything else. The ubiquitous, splendid jumper. Any jumper would do in those days, in fact the bigger the better. Putting one on made me feel happy and safe. Whatever the weather, I would be warm.

My love for jumpers has never faded. Now, I prefer the sleeker, more sophisticated, lightweight version. They come in all sorts of different styles – knit, crochet, crop, slouch and knitted to name but a few. I love to pair one of my jumpers up with skinny jeans and shoe boots, to create an effortlessly stylish look for chilling out at home or heading to town with my friends. Whether I’m working, studying or having fun, I know that in my lightweight jumper I am finally cutting quite a cool image.

The tide is turning. Now I just have to sort out the rest of my wardrobe!

Author Bio:

Tasha Whitts is a student who enjoys wearing a lightweight jumper to help her create a cool look.

Yes, one can retire on social security alone.  According to the Social Security Administration, benefits make up 90% or more of the income of 36% of the people receiving benefits.  So it is obviously possible to retire on Social Security alone, but it is less than ideal.  If you are nearing retirement age and looking at Social Security make up almost all of your retirement income there are some things you can do to make living on just your benefit check a little easier.

The following items are based on what my own mother is doing.  Social Security won’t be 90% of her income in retirement, but it will probably be at least 75% of her income.

• Paid Off Home/No Debt – My mom will have her house paid off and no monthly debt payments when she retires.  That will free up a lot of room in her budget for other expenses.
• Live in a Low Cost of Living Area – The rural Midwest is a very cheap place to live.  That is how my mother was able to buy a brand new home for $70,000.  The low cost of the home made it possible for her to pay off the loan before she retires.
• Delay Retirement – Not retiring as soon as you reach the minimum age to draw Social Security benefits allows your monthly check to build up.  My mom likes her job and is working a couple years past her retirement age to increase her check and finish paying off the house. This won’t be an option for everyone but if you are able to delay retirement you can reap the reward of larger monthly checks.
• Good Health – This is an item you can’t completely control.  If you are healthy, do your best to remain healthy by eating right and exercising.  Health care can easily kill a monthly budget when you are only drawing Social Security so do what you can to stay healthy.

Those are the main things you can do to help increase your chances of living comfortably on Social Security benefits alone.  Of course, it is best to not have to live on just Social Security benefits.  Opening an IRA or other investment account to save for retirement with ShareBuilder.com or Betterment.com can help you have a more comfortable retirement. Right now you can take advantage of the ShareBuilder $100 Promo to help kick start your retirement investing. Just click on one of the affiliate links to open an account and get your bonus.
 

If you’ve ever been in a situation where you have an unused or unwanted piece of technology, it’s not always easy to know what to do with it. The two easiest answers seem to be to either throw it away or sell it on as a second-hand device, if possible.

However, I instead wanted to focus on the benefits of recycling. In addition to the environmental benefits and other factors, this still allowed me to sell my macbook pro. If you haven’t considered the benefits of recycling already, this should hopefully help change your mind.

Retail Value

The first thing one can easily notice when trying to sell an old device is the change in retail value. Even if you’ve only had it a year, its value is not what it was when you picked if off the shelf. Of course, no second-hand item is ever worth its shelf-value brand new, but the rate in which the value disappears can surprise some. Yet it makes sense when you consider the rate in which new, better, options hit store shelves.

Likewise, selling this item on to a second-hand retailer is nowhere near as valuable as you may think. In addition to the costs of running a shop, such a business has to buy off you at a price even lower than the second-hand value; they have to sell it for a profit after all. As such, this is arguably one of the worse places you can go to sell an unwanted Macbook.

Recycling Value

The value when recycling, however, is not based on age or popularity. You don’t need to be a computer expert to understand that the inner workings of any computer device are more or less the same. The cards may change and it may look different, but when it comes down to individual resources and materials, things rarely change. A motherboard alone nearly always has the likes of zinc, copper and gold; all important materials in the technology industry.

As such, recycling puts a high value on any unwanted gadget. As such, the Macbook Pro suddenly became yet another valuable resource. No matter how old or unwanted it was as a usable gadget, its recycling potential ensured it was always able to sell for a reason value.

An Environmentally Friendly Option

Additionally, as a final incentive, if you’re one of those people that care about the environment and the world around you, then recycling older gadgets definitely has even more advantages. In addition to the financial profits, you’re doing the right thing by putting the unwanted computing device to better use.

Recycling is the opposite to throwing it away. My Macbook Pro didn’t end up in a landfill taking up space. Instead, it was broken up into smaller parts and materials. That one Macbook now might exist as any number of modern gadgets and electronics. Likewise, re-using these resources means less is needed to be dug up and extracted from the earth. It’s not much but, in addition to being paid, you can’t argue with a little extra piece of mind knowing you’ve done your part.

I’m Caroline Jordan and from as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with technology. Shortly after I decided to sell my macbook pro in favour of a new Windows laptop, I grew to love writing about tech too. This is something I do, even now, blogging about all the various aspects of technology.

If there are persons who are still getting paper checks for their federal benefit payments such as Social Security and others, it means they are not in compliance with the law which stipulates that if Social Security benefits are applied for anytime after the May 1, 2011 date, beneficiaries should receive their payments electronically. This directive was issued by the authorized Treasury Department.

If individuals did not ask that their payments be sent electronically when they made the application for benefits, they are strongly advised to immediately make that request. As of March 1, 2013, there will be no more paper Social
Security checks issued and to prevent any interruption in regular payments, the beneficiary’s funds may be sent by the Treasury Department to the Direct Express Card system.

In addition to being simple, this direct deposit program is known to be an effectively secure and safe method of receiving benefits. Beneficiaries can request that their funds be directed into a personal credit union or bank account. The requirement for this process is that information regarding the account number, the type of account (savings or checking) and the routing transit number of the financial institution is provided to complete the transaction.

Another reason for the switch from paper Social Security checks involve the fact that it decreases the possibility of checks being misplaced or stolen. With the Direct Express Card, if it is stolen or lost, the money will be safe, especially if the matter is reported immediately. The money on the card account is insured by the FDIC and cards are replaced without any trouble if they are stolen or lost.

Other beneficial features of the electronic system for Social Security benefits when compared to paper Social Security checks include ease and convenience. That is, there is no more need to wait for long periods for the arrival of the mail as the money is posted automatically to the account of the individual each month on the pre-arranged payment day. In addition, there is no requirement to make the journey to cash the check or make a deposit. The card can be used at all the ATM machines, banks and retail locations in the country when the individual requires cash.