Imagine for a moment that your elderly mother slips and falls and breaks an arm and a leg. She is hospitalized and undergoes rehab — for 12 weeks. Most people think of chronic illnesses when they think of long-term care, but accidents can also trigger the need for extended nursing care, as well as physical and occupational therapy.
It’s funny, sometimes I run into people in the street who ask me how my grandfather is doing – not because they know him, but because I quite often write about him and how his advice has had such an influence on me.
I recently returned from Australia where I visited my grandfather each day in his nursing home. It was hard to see the change in him and how, at 99 years old, his body is clearly shutting down. His 100th birthday is in March and, as we say in Australia, “He has had a good innings.” But the question is, will he bat a century? (more…)
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 included several provisions that could affect the taxes you pay in 2018 and in the future. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to check with your HR department or benefits manager to verify that you are not under- or over-withholding federal and state tax payments.
Employees may ask you for advice about how much of their income they should be saving for retirement, how much they should already have saved, and how much they will need. It’s never a good idea to give one-size-fits-all answers to these important questions, but it’s good that you’re interested in helping participants learn more.
If your workforce includes recent college graduates, it’s likely that some of them have debt associated with their college years. Student debt may play a large part in the finances of these young (and even not-so-young) employees; that’s why a complete picture of employee financial wellness should consider it. (more…)
At some point in their lives, most people have thought about what they would do if they had a sudden positive change in their finances – maybe quit their job, travel the world, buy a house or pay off their mortgage. I certainly have played the game with my husband, dreaming about what we would do if we inherited or won a million dollars! Neither of these has happened and both are probably a LONGSHOT. If it does happen, boy, do I have plans for those dollars….
For many couples, retirement planning takes on fresh importance once their children leave the nest, especially if they have put off savings during the child-rearing years. If this is your situation, think about directing a greater share of your income toward your retirement. It may be helpful to devise a strategy several months before you face an empty nest, figuring out how far behind you are in building your nest egg. Having a written budget is critical, as is auto-depositing your contributions. That way you’re not tempted to spend your increased income once the kids are launched.
There is a provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed December 22, 2017, that affects plan participants who terminate employment with an outstanding loan. Before passage of the law, the loan would have been due immediately.
Everybody imagines retiring early, but few people manage to do it. A recent Willis Towers Watson survey reported that far more working Americans are planning to retire after age 65 (46%) than before it (30%).1 Here are five steps you can take to jumpstart the process.
It was a good year for individual account plans, including 401(k)s and 457s. In fact, 2017 may go in the record books as the first year the number of plans with an average auto-enrollment deferral rate of 6% exceeded the number of plans with a default deferral rate of 3%, as it has commonly been.
