Barron’s Retirement’s 10 most learn tales of the yr embody gadgets on retiring overseas and retiring on dividends. Apologies to David Letterman and his High 10 Record section on the ‘Late Present.’
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Top-of-the-line options of digital journalism is the power to know what readers reply to. Barron’s Retirement tries to make use of that data to ship related tales on the subjects you most wish to learn about in relation to saving, investing, and residing in retirement.
The previous yr has delivered loads of hits, as you’ll see beneath, on subjects operating from easy methods to retire overseas to managing your retirement technique amid turbulent markets to retiring on dividends.
Nonetheless, not each story works as we hoped or reaches as broad an viewers as we envisioned. Do senior readers wish to know about pot? Will we not care as a lot in regards to the thought of crypto in our workplace retirement accounts because the headlines would make you suppose? Or have we simply not come across the appropriate headline to attract within the broadest potential viewers?
Regardless of the case, right here is our second annual rundown of the highest 10 most learn Barron’s Retirement shops of the yr to this point, in descending order of the variety of readers who clicked on them:
April 3
When to assert Social Safety is among the most private, and controversial, subjects in retirement protection. Seemingly everybody has an opinion. Right here, author Tom Wilk explored his concerns on when to assert Social Safety on this Dwelling in Retirement column.
I’ve held off claiming Social Safety with some reservations, nevertheless it stays a vigorous subject of dialog with mates who had been former co-workers. In spite of everything, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, about 50% of individuals take Social Safety earlier than full retirement age and fewer than 10% wait till 70 when advantages attain their most.
“Get the cash now. You’ll by no means make up the distinction when you wait till you’re 70,” suggested a good friend, who turned 70 in September and commenced taking it at 66.
Feb. 21
Barron’s Retirement launched a brand new mailbag characteristic earlier this yr, taking reader questions and going to professionals for recommendation. This one drew loads of readers, presumably for its headline, however secondary questions on whether or not to repay a mortgage and tax-efficient methods to guard taxable funding holdings from inflation had been fairly informative as effectively.
July 16
The lengthy bull market that propelled 401(okay) balances for greater than a decade has ended amid hovering inflation, the prospect of a recession, political strife, and the struggle in Ukraine. What’s an anxious retirement saver to do?
To search out out, Barron’s Retirement reporter Elizabeth O’Brien spoke with a lot of monetary execs in addition to an professional within the budding area of economic remedy.
Whereas excessive strikes are a nasty thought, like pulling your cash out of shares, small tweaks may truly enable you to keep the course, stated Preston Cherry, founder and president of Concurrent Monetary Planning in Inexperienced Bay, Wis., and president of the Monetary Remedy Affiliation. For instance, you may really feel higher dialing again your 401(okay) contribution charge by a pair proportion factors. “If it’s good to increase somewhat liquidity, there’s nothing flawed with that,” Cherry stated.
June 12
One other installment in our mailbag collection, this piece seems at Congress’s plan to step by step increase the age for required minimal distributions, to age 75, over the following decade or so. It gained’t occur for some time, if it will get permitted in any respect, and in any case it gained’t be enacted earlier than this yr’s 72-year-olds should take their first minimal distribution.
Plus, we had solutions to your questions on Social Safety spousal advantages and Social Safety’s controversial Windfall Elimination Provision.
July 4
Retirement protection needn’t be all about spending and saving methods. Simply as vital as fiscal issues are well being issues. That is smart, as what’s the purpose in maximizing wealth if we’re not wholesome sufficient or don’t reside lengthy sufficient to take pleasure in it.
Barron’s Retirement reporter Neal Templin’s newest take a look at how seniors can enhance or optimize their well being resonated with readers.
You don’t must run marathons to derive the advantages of train. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults can get the advantages with not less than 150 minutes of reasonable train or 75 minutes of vigorous train per week plus not less than two periods of weight coaching.
You may meet the CDC pointers by going to the gymnasium twice per week and happening 30-minute walks on the opposite 5 days, says Mary Edwards, director of health on the Cooper Health Heart in Dallas.
Jan. 8
I’ve lengthy needed to put in writing the phrase “401(okay) millionaire” right into a headline, and this On FIRE column, wanting on the development of savers looking for monetary independence or to retire early, gave me the primary reputable probability to take action.
Since Covid first grabbed headlines, the mixture of a market rally, a rise in financial savings, and a lower in borrowing has boosted retirement account balances previous pre-Covid highs. Constancy Investments, for one, reported a report 760,300 401(okay) and particular person retirement accounts with seven-figure sums within the third quarter of 2021.
Whereas the inflow of wealth might stir goals of early retirement, monetary planners say savers want to think about a couple of issues. “One of many sticking factors is whether or not you possibly can entry your cash with out being penalized,” says Danielle Harrison, a monetary advisor at Harrison Monetary Planning in Columbia, Mo. One other is whether or not you possibly can mitigate the dangers that include an extended retirement.
June 4
Expat retirement is drawing growing curiosity, nevertheless it isn’t so simple as selecting a spot and transferring in. From healthcare to taxes, seniors seeking to transfer abroad ought to determine on a yr or so of preparation work, reporter Debbie Carlson discovered on this piece on retiring overseas.
April 23
Inventory market downturns early in retirement typically hurt the sturdiness of financial savings, however they can provide retirees prepared to perform a little research and metal their nerves a chance to juice longer-term returns.
Retirees of their 60s or early 70s with an extended time horizon can profit from shopping for beaten-up, high-quality firms and dividend payers, for example. And with planning and analysis there are methods to take the emotion out of shopping for throughout unstable occasions.
To paraphrase billionaire investor Warren Buffett, the time to purchase is when others are fearful.
July 2
Equal isn’t all the time equal when dad and mom go away retirement accounts to grownup youngsters with huge variations in revenue, as reporter Gail MarksJarvis explored on this piece on easy methods to handle your retirement financial savings to restrict the tax hit on heirs.
Earlier than the Safe Act of 2019, grownup youngsters who inherited retirement accounts had important leeway to manage what they withdrew yearly and the ensuing taxes. Whereas they needed to take some cash out yearly and pay taxes, they could limit those taxes by spreading those withdrawals over a lifetime.
Now, for many grownup youngsters, IRAs and 401(okay)s should be drawn down inside a 10-year interval after a dad or mum dies, that means withdrawals—and taxes—may very well be sizable whether or not the disbursements are taken in intervals or in a lump sum by yr 11.
March 18
As extra traders look to commit a portion of their nest eggs to the regular revenue that may come from dividend payers, reporter Lawrence C. Strauss talked with monetary execs about easy methods to diversify holdings, search downturn-resistant firms, and do due diligence on fundamentals.
However retiring on dividends requires lively engagement and administration, so it pays to additionally perceive the draw back.
Whereas savers want such revenue and progress to cowl what generally is a decadeslong retirement, this strategy isn’t foolproof and definitely isn’t for everybody. Buyers who pursue dividend shares for revenue additionally danger dropping principal and even a part of the payout if there’s an financial or enterprise downturn. And youthful traders may very well be forgoing the longer-term potential of progress shares by pursuing a dividend technique. Savers additionally ought to take into account a lot of different potential sources of retirement revenue—bonds are one possibility, their total low yields however.
Write to Brian Hershberg at brian.hershberg@dowjones.com