Free Republic

Financial independence, once a hallmark of adulthood, has gone by the wayside as adult children increasingly depend on their parents to help them cover the cost of rent, student loans, health insurance and more. But parents' desire to give their children a financial assist could be misguided -- and even backfire in the long run. Half of American parents are unable to save as much as they'd like to for retirement, and their grown offspring -- whom they still count as dependents -- are to blame, according to a new Bankrate.com study. While they likely mean well, parents who support...

Easy Street: POTUS Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order instructing federal agencies to loosen or change regulations that will make it far easier for more Americans to retire with more money.

If you've gotten yourself out of debt (except the mortgage) and have a sizable emergency fund ( 3-6 months expenses) 2018 may be a great year to boost your Retirement savings. Many will have increased paychecks and be able invest wisely, but not as much as they could. Many will benefit in 2019 from the 2018 tax cuts and increased Child Tax Credits by getting huge refunds in 2019. But why wait? Time is Money. By Increasing your Withholding Exemptions NOW you can increase your paycheck and boost your Retirement savings even more! Make it a priority to get any...

By age 50, your golden years are just around the corner. To be financially ready to retire by 67, retirement-plan provider Fidelity Investments says you should aim to have eight times your salary saved by age 60. Are Americans on track? According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), many Americans have some catching up to do. The mean retirement savings of a family between 50 and 55 years old is $124,831. For families with members between 56 and 61, the mean retirement savings is $163,577. But those numbers aren't representative of the state of American retirement....

No excerpt allowed from Bloomberg, column here.

As I have noted previously bond yields continue to go lower, and Investment News reports that it has some bond managers worried that it means that the country will suffer a bout of deflation this year, which mean that the economy, might be, could be, holy cow, a little weaker than expected. Wow. You donÂ’t say? Investment News reports that bond yields are a pretty accurate predictor of which way consumer prices will be going. And in this case the yields are saying consumer prices will be going down. ThatÂ’s good news for those of us who still buy things...

Phantom wealth cannot possibly fund unprecedented retirement and healthcare promises. The narrative that Social Security, Medicare and pension funds invested in stocks and bonds can fund the retirement of 65 million people is a misleading fantasy. The sad reality is we can't fund the enormous expense of retirement/healthcare for 20% of the populace out of our national earned income, and the savings that have been set aside are either fictitious (the Social Security Trust Fund) or based on phantom wealth created by speculative asset bubbles in stocks, bonds and real estate. I explain the fraud of the Social Security Trust...

I spend a lot of time browsing FR, and have noticed a lot of FReepers have a lot of knowledge/opinions pertaining to finances. There also appears to be a good number of Freepers who are about retirement age with a good conservative viewpoint. Taking into consideration current events and the steady devaluation of the dollar, my question to the experienced Freepers out there is this: Let's say you're 25, are debt free, make no car payments, earn O-2 pay and are unmarried. You don't have any retirement accounts but are apprehensive of starting an IRA or contributing to a Thrift...

Big Momma Barnhardt has an example of a form letter to send to your HR monkey to request that you can move your money to a company you trust. Trust being a relative term. Who should care? Anyone with a retirement fund but especially folks with all their eggs in one basket. People who have worked at the same company for a while are likely to have all their eggs in one basket. Enron you say?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) revealed that a package of amendments to the Senate-passed health care bill would include a new tax on unearned income. Pelosi said this tax would cover all unearned income, “whatever category that is.” Pelosi, speaking at a press conference on Thursday, said the new Medicare tax was inserted to make up for a reduction in the proposed tax on high-cost health insurance plans. The tax was opposed by House Democrats because it would have largely fallen on the generous health care plans enjoyed by labor union members, who are generally supportive of the Democratic Party....

A wide range of sweeping changes to the 401(k) system were proposed Tuesday at a hearing on how the market crisis has devastated retirement savings plans. Chief among them was eliminating $80 billion in tax savings for higher-income people enrolled in 401(k) retirement savings plans. This was suggested by the chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor. “With respect to the 401(k), it appears to be a plan that is not really well-devised for the changes in the market,” Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said. “We’ve invested $80 billion into subsidizing this activity,” he said, referring to tax breaks...

Common Sense Investing By Jim Cannon For years there has been a tug-of-war between banks and brokerage houses to capture the savings of the American people. For years we have gone where the returns seem to be the greatest. In the early 1980’s interest rates, and therefore CD rates, were probably higher than we will see again in our lifetimes. 12% - 18% per year was not uncommon, and the banks brought in billions of dollars from savers who had no idea what certificates of deposit were prior to that time. Even as interest rates returned to more rational levels,...

It seems likely that Social Security reform will be Topic A for the next year or so, especially if Iraq's progress toward forming a permanent government goes well. But it also seems as though the fate of our retirement funds causes almost as much apprehension as the future of Baghdad. So in the spirit of calming fears on the Social Security front, let's examine a scare story making the rounds. It is the claim that history all but proves attempting to save enough for a comfortable retirement will be impossible. Princeton University economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman...