Retirement

null Getty Are interest rates heading to zero in the US? Or, dare I say, negative range? I don’t think so. But if they do, real estate investment trusts (REITs) are going to absolutely skyrocket. This year-to-date has been a sneak preview. Most REITs have seen their valuations expand with the market rally, but we

Getty It’s benefits season, and that means employees are making mistakes that will cost them in headaches and dollars. “You really have to sit down and pay attention to your benefits like you never had to before,” says Judith Wethall, an employee benefits lawyer with McDermott Will & Emery in Chicago. It’s complicated enough if

Getty In the realm of financial planning, there are numerous rules and guidelines which must be followed in order to stay clear of significant problems. Many times, once an error has been committed it can either not be unwound or it takes significant time and cost to rectify. One specific area where this holds especially

By Elizabeth Alterman, Next Avenue Contributor Ruth and Al Brod and family in their dining room Ruth and Al Brod When Ruth Brod retired from her job as a probation officer in 2004, she and her retired husband, Al, decided to sell their 1,600-square-foot house in New Hyde Park, N.Y. and move into a 2,800-square-foot

raccoon in a trash can Getty Most stocks that pay more than 10% are, honestly, trash. Their yields usually look big because their stocks have split once or twice “the wrong way.” Take Tupperware Brands (TUP), for example. The party ended abruptly for these shareholders. I feel bad for anyone who was mistakenly holding these

Trickle-down tax cuts do not build a strong middle class Getty Many families still struggle financially, even though the economy has been on the mend for more than a decade. It becomes increasingly clear that something must fundamentally change for a broad and secure middle class to reemerge. Real economic security for more families won’t

Businessman looking tired while working at his office desk Getty Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are on fire—and we need to be very careful not to get burned. Here’s the twist: there’s plenty more upside ahead—and you can thank the Fed for that. Its latest rate cuts will keep powering REITs higher, for two reasons:

(Rancho Santa Fe, CA)Clinical Pharmacist Jason Kim consults patients with Medicare questions (Photo … [+] by Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Los Angeles Times via Getty Images One of the biggest misconceptions seniors have about health care is this: I have Medicare so don’t need to worry about medical costs in old age. It

Retiring early has obvious advantages, but it can also have disadvantages. Early retirement is often envisioned as ditching the daily grind for a worry-free lifestyle in your 50s and 60s. However, if you are not properly prepared, a tighter budget might make that lack of the daily grind seem less enjoyable. However, if you are

Put more into your piggy bank with tax-planning strategies for capital gains. Getty Let’s say you own stock that may generate a big capital gain when you sell it. It could be shares in Apple or Amazon that you purchased a long time ago, founder’s stock in a startup that turned into a hot IPO