Retirement Planning
401(k), IRA, Roth accounts, pension plans, withdrawal strategies, required minimum distributions, and how much you need to retire.
Latest in Retirement Planning
Social Security stops counting earnings entirely from the month a retiree reaches full retirement age, and the 2027 monthly limit before then is $2,130, or $5,660 in the year they reach it
Social Security stops counting earnings entirely from the month a beneficiary reaches full retirement age. Before that month, the retirement earnings test still applies. In...
Trump signed a new valuation safe harbor for employee stock ownership plans
President Trump signed the Retire through Ownership Act on October 15, adding a new valuation safe harbor to the federal law that governs employee stock...
Aged railroad widows and widowers eligible for the increase will average $2,218 a month in 2027, up $67
Aged railroad widows and widowers who are eligible for the cost-of-living increase will average $2,218 a month in 2027, up $67. The Railroad Retirement Board...
Railroad retirees’ average employee annuity rises $106 to $3,761 a month in January 2027, the Railroad Retirement Board says
Railroad retirees are getting a raise in January, and the average regular employee annuity climbs by $106 to $3,761 a month. The Railroad Retirement Board,...
Social Security says a top earner who claims at 62 in 2027 gets a check 30 percent smaller than the $4,395.10 full amount, with no raise until December 2027
A worker who earned the maximum taxable amount every year and claims Social Security at 62 in 2027 would start with a monthly check 30...
Frontier Communications 401(k) participants who held Verizon stock from 2012 to 2018 share a $14.05 million settlement, with a December 8 rollover-form deadline
A $14.05 million class action settlement over Verizon stock in the Frontier Communications retirement plan is headed to a federal judge in Connecticut for final...
A FERS retiree under 62 with Blue Cross Standard Self Plus One coverage will lose about $1,014 next year, as premiums rise with no COLA, Federal Pension Advisors estimates
A retiree under the Federal Employees Retirement System who left work before age 62 and carries Blue Cross and Blue Shield Standard Option Self Plus...
VA disability checks follow Social Security’s new raise only if Congress passes the annual veterans COLA bill, S. 4487, listed as introduced in its official summary
Social Security announced a 3.6 percent cost-of-living raise for 2027 on October 14, but VA disability checks do not get that raise until Congress acts....
Federal retirees under CSRS get the full 3.6% cost-of-living raise in January, while FERS retirees eligible for a COLA get 2.6%
A federal retiree in the older Civil Service Retirement System, with an average annuity near $6,000 a month, will collect about $216 more each month...
Military retirees see their 2027 cost-of-living raise starting with the December 31 retired-pay deposit, the same increase Social Security announced October 14
Military retirees will see the 2027 cost-of-living raise for the first time in the retired-pay deposit that lands on December 31, 2026, a day earlier...
Postal retirees’ 2027 PSHB health coverage changes take effect January 1, with the government paying at most $689.50 a month toward self-only coverage
The most the government will pay toward a postal retiree’s self-only health plan in 2027 is $689.50 a month, and the new rates and plan...
Federal retirees can switch health plans from November 9 to December 14, as the total 2027 FEHB premium for self-only coverage averages $1,059.39 a month
Federal retirees and other annuitants can change their health plan between November 9 and December 14, 2026, during the yearly open season run by the...
Anyone the VA recognizes to help veterans and caregivers through its programs must certify they will charge no fee, and comments on the plan close October 15
A written promise that no fee of any kind will be charged, and an October 15 deadline for public comment, are the two things to...
Veterans whose benefit payment is disrupted by a disaster can ask VA for a special one-time payment, and ask a VA loan servicer to hold off foreclosing for 90 days
The Department of Veterans Affairs says a veteran whose benefit payment is stopped by a natural disaster can call and request a special one-time payment....
Northeast Grocery and Tops 401(k) savers would be paid automatically under the plans’ fee settlement if the court approves it, and November 17 is only the deadline to object
Participants in the 401(k) plans of Northeast Grocery, the parent company of Tops Markets and Price Chopper, would not have to file anything to be...
Newly retired career rail workers were awarded nearly $5,190 a month in fiscal 2025, against about $2,770 for new Social Security retirees at full retirement age, the RRB says
Career railroad employees who retired during fiscal year 2025 were awarded age annuities averaging nearly $5,190 a month, while Social Security benefits awarded at full...
Retired rail workers averaged $3,640 a month from the Railroad Retirement Board as of Sept. 30, 2025, against $1,985 for Social Security retirees
The average retired railroad employee was collecting $3,640 a month from the Railroad Retirement Board at the end of fiscal year 2025, on Sept. 30,...
Rail pensions are projected to have no cash-flow problems through 2050, the Railroad Retirement Board says
The Railroad Retirement Board projects that the railroad retirement system can pay its benefits through 2050 without a cash shortfall, even if rail employment keeps...
Only the Thrift Savings Plan’s G Fund made money in September, and the bond-heavy F Fund is now down for 2026
Every fund in the Thrift Savings Plan lost ground in September except one. The G Fund, which holds only short-term U.S. Treasury securities, gained 0.40%,...
AME Church retirement plan members share in Symetra’s $44.4 million settlement, paid into the plan
Symetra Life Insurance Co. has agreed to pay $44.4 million, plus interest earned in escrow, to settle a lawsuit accusing it of helping divert money...