Medicare Made Simple? Not Quite: Decoding the Alphabet Soup to Maximize Your Coverage.   Medicare plan options are confusing. This book may help. By Michelle Singletary, November 22, 2024 For all its pluses, Medicare can be a hellish system that befuddles and frustrates so many beneficiaries. Medicare provides health insurance for millions of Americans 65… Continue reading →

Many people, prompted to think about how long they might stay at work, fall back on statistics they hear in the media. You know, the ideal retirement age is 65, maybe a few years more, tops. The thing is, that number made sense only briefly around the time the government was setting up Social Security,… Continue reading →

When we’re young, retirement can feel like a far-off concept, more fantasy than reality. It’s in our middle years that the reality of aging and approaching retirement starts to hit home. By “home,” I mean your actual home, if you live with or near your own aging parents. Many folks in their 40s and 50s… Continue reading →

  Over half of non-retired Americans have a defined contribution pension plan through their employer (source: Federal Reserve), with the most common types being 401(k) and 403(b) plans. These employer-sponsored plans can be an excellent vehicle for individuals to save on taxes and put money aside to create a secure retirement. Unfortunately, many people in… Continue reading →

Savers maxing out their 401(k) plans are likely to hear about one strategy preached endlessly: open a Roth IRA or get taxed to death in retirement. It can get overblown, but there is a kernel of truth here. Having tax flexibility in your later years is a gift that keeps on giving. That is because… Continue reading →

Recently, rules have changed for 529 plans, and there is now a “Grandparent Loophole” that could be of benefit to you. What to Know About 529 Accounts Owned by Grandparents & the New FAFSA by Kathryn Flynn, February 19, 2024 529 plans are a popular way for grandparents to save for college and for good… Continue reading →

The era of Artificial Intelligence is here, and boy are people freaking out. AI is the application of mathematics and software code to teach computers how to understand, synthesize, and generate knowledge in ways similar to how people do it. AI is a computer program like any other – it runs, takes input, processes, and… Continue reading →

The term FIRE (also seen as FI/RE) stands for Financial Independence / Retire Early. It is a term that was coined in the 1992 book, Your Money or Your Life. Recently, the FIRE movement has experienced a comeback as the internet has enabled financial resources to be more readily available. Here at Rebalance, we prioritize… Continue reading →

As tax season is currently in full swing, many individuals are looking for ways to lower their tax bill or increase their refund before the filing deadline of April 15, 2024. For some married couples, one excellent strategy for reducing taxes and boosting retirement savings is with spousal IRA contributions. What is a spousal IRA… Continue reading →