Retirement

Retirement can sneak up on you.

In one of its final acts of 2022, Congress approved a massive year-end spending bill that includes the long-anticipated retirement savings package known as SECURE Act 2.0.  

Financial gurus want young home shoppers to stop complaining and cut back on small luxuries. But there are broader affordability issues at play.

Consider the 21st century’s most ubiquitous piece of financial advice: “Can’t afford a house? Just stop buying lattes.”

There are over 30 million small businesses in the United States. Many people start their own businesses in order to become their own boss and take control over their schedules, career goals and finances. It can be incredibly rewarding to start and own a successful small business. But one thing that many small business owners may not think about is a retirement plan. 

More Americans are retiring earlier than you might think

Taxes, whether we admit it or not, drive a lot of our personal finance decisions. Avoiding or lowering them can influence where we choose to live, what kind of car we buy, where we send our children to school, whether we purchase a house, and many other everyday decisions. Everyone tries to limit the amount of taxes they pay. Taxes play a large role when we invest for retirement, as well.

The rationale for speculation over taxing Roth IRA withdrawals is that the tax break looks far too generous. Other tax-sheltered retirement plans, after all, are merely tax-deferred—meaning you’ll pay taxes on them eventually. The earnings on Roth IRAs are effectively tax-exempt.