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The Unintended Consequence of Social Security – Season 1: Episode 1
Managing Your Financial Future

The Unintended Consequence of Social Security – Season 1: Episode 1

December 9, 2019

Social Security has provisions for a survivor benefit, which allows a surviving spouse to continue receiving their deceased spouse’s Social Security benefits.  It was put in place in 1940 to ensure that widows would not suffer a cut in benefits.  Ironically, in today’s world, those same survivor benefit rules may cause just that – a actual cut in pay to the survivor.  How is that possible?
The Top 3 Risks in Retirement
Lucia Capital Group Weekly

The Top 3 Risks in Retirement

December 5, 2019

What is the essence of financial planning? At its most basic level, it’s really all about risk management. This is true about any kind of planning, really. Whether you’re planning a vacation, a wedding, or a big project at work, it’s the risk side that gets the most attention. The greater you feel your potential risks are, the more detailed your plan is likely to be. When it comes to retirement, people often face more risks than they did during their working years. And while there are probably a dozen or more different types of risk that retired people face, most of them can be placed into three distinct categories: living too long, dying too soon, and getting sick along the way.

Social Security’s Unintended Consequence
Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Social Security’s Unintended Consequence

November 21, 2019

You may have heard that Social Security Administration provides something called “survivor benefits,” where qualifying surviving spouses can receive benefit payments as long as certain conditions are met. These benefits were established back in 1940, when there was primarily one household wage-earner and one stay-at-home spouse. The intent was to ensure that if the wage-earner (i.e., the one with the Social Security benefit) died, the survivor would continue to receive that benefit and not have to worry about taking a cut in income. But now that there are so many two-income households, and thus (often) two Social Security benefits, the survivor benefit rules may actually create the unintended consequence of a real cut in your total benefit amount: ironically, the very problem that the benefit is supposed to solve.

Turn Your Roth IRA Into a Super-Roth
Lucia Capital Group Weekly

Turn Your Roth IRA Into a Super-Roth

November 14, 2019

Roth IRAs can be wonderful savings instruments for people looking for tax-free growth potential. But because a Roth IRA is (of course) an IRA, that means you’re stuck with the relatively low IRA contribution limits of $6,000 (or $7,000 if you’re at least age 50). A 401(k) plan, though, has much higher contribution limits at $19,000 (or $25,000 age 50+). Further, some employers also allow for after-tax contributions to their 401(k) plan, meaning that you could potentially contribute up to $62,000 to your company retirement plan, depending on your age and some other factors. These higher deferral limits may offer you the rare opportunity to eventually roll all of your post-tax money from your 401(k) into your Roth IRA – WITHOUT having to do so on a pre-tax/post-tax pro-rata basis.