Retirement

Retirement

The tax-free growth advantage compounds dramatically over time. A modest S&P 500 investment from a decade ago would have nearly quadrupled in value. The real difference emerges at withdrawal, where a taxable account surrenders roughly 15% to capital gains taxes while a Roth account preserves every dollar. That difference doesn't just represent savings-it represents money that stays invested and continues compounding in your favor, creating a widening gap between the two account types over decades.

Silver just delivered one of its worst weeks in recent history. The iShares Silver Trust ( NYSE:SLV) plunged 35.6% to around $68, erasing months of gains in just five trading days. The speed and severity of the collapse has retirees asking whether this represents a rare buying opportunity in precious metals or a warning sign that commodity exposure doesn't belong in retirement portfolios.

"For you to have money, you have to learn to live below your means but within your needs. How do you do that? You do that by simply purchasing needs versus wants. What is a need? Need is food that you buy at a grocery store. What is a want? A want is going out to eat at a restaurant and doing it over and over again."

A traditional IRA allows you to contribute with pre-tax dollars and pay taxes on withdrawals in retirement, while a Roth IRA allows you to take tax-free withdrawals as a retiree, although you will have to contribute with after-tax dollars. Provided your income isn't too high, you can make tax-advantaged contributions to these accounts this year, up to a total limit of $7,500 if you're under 50 or a limit of $8,600 if you're 50 or older and eligible for catch-up contributions.

The Core Tension: Income Stability vs. Cognitive Burden The real issue here isn't performance. It's decision fatigue. JNJ, VZ, PG, and KO represent classic dividend aristocrat territory-steady income, low volatility, minimal drama. JNJ's beta of 0.33 means it moves one-third as much as the broader market. VZ yields 7% but has grown earnings just 0.5% year-over-year. These stocks don't demand constant attention.

What gets glossed over in most of these conversations is taxes, as everyone focuses on the accumulation phase by maxing out your 401(k), funneling money into accounts like the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, and watching your net worth compound. However, when you retire early and need your portfolio to generate income, the tax bill can be significantly higher than you planned for, particularly if most of your money is in tax-deferred accounts or you've accumulated large unrealized gains in taxable accounts.

Musk envisions a future of unprecedented productivity, where advances in artificial intelligence, energy and robotics produce economic abundance and even a so-called universal high income that might make long-term savings unnecessary, Business Insider reported. The good future is anyone can have whatever stuff they want, Musk said. That would mean better medical care than anyone has today, available for everyone within five years.

Researchers found that unexpected costs are the norm, not the exception. In any given year, 83% of retired households experience at least one unexpected expense. These fall into three broad categories: Rainy-day costs, such as major home or vehicle repairs Family-related expenses, including helping relatives or covering emergency travel Health-related expenses beyond routine care Health and home costs are especially common, with each affecting well over half of retirees in a typical year.

My husband and I were happily renting in New York thanks to a pandemic rent deal (four months over two years free!). Real estate prices in New York felt completely out of reach and frankly, the three-bedroom, well-lit, high-ceiling place we found was perfect. Then, a series of events happened that made me itchy to buy a home. The first is that the home I shared with my grandparents during my formative high school years was sold.

Many baby boomers were led to believe that their Social Security benefits would replace their entire paychecks. In reality, those benefits only provide a limited amount of income, and they do a poor job of keeping up with inflation. Boomers who earned an average paycheck during their working years can expect Social Security to replace about 40% of it. That's not enough income to live on in retirement - or at least not to live comfortably.

Saving for retirement in a traditional IRA or 401(k) can make more sense than socking money away in a Roth account. That's because traditional retirement accounts give you a tax break on your contributions. If you're a higher earner in a higher tax bracket, that tax break may be very valuable to you. Plus, you might earn too much money to contribute to a Roth IRA directly, making a traditional IRA a better bet.

Then, about three or four years ago, home prices doubled, and I was able to sell several rental homes that I'd constructed. Off two homes alone, I made around $700,000 in profit. It was an awful lot of money in one year, and then my income became less important. I would've kept building anyway, even if I needed the income, but now I don't do it for the money; I'm able to do it as a passion.