Retirees and other Social Security recipients will receive their biggest boosts to benefits in 40 years: A 5.9% raise from their 2021 monthly benefits. The Social Security Administration announced the increase as part of its annual cost-of-living adjustment, based on inflation measured by components of the Consumer Price Index. The higher benefits take effect in January and affects about 70 million Americans. […]

By Joel Dresang
Messages of “Buy-now-or-else!” make me wonder how economic circumstances affect holiday traditions. […]

By Joel Dresang
Being healthy lets us enjoy retirement more (and probably longer), but it also has financial repercussions. […]

By Joel Dresang
The wealth effect usually is mentioned as a factor in spending, but it also plays a role in investing and retiring. Of the three, I feel it affecting me the most as an investor — but that’s just the phase of life I’m in. […]

Early signs suggest retirees could get the fattest Social Security raise in more than a decade. […]

By Joel Dresang
Having smaller families has been affecting how we try to accumulate wealth and what we do with it. […]

By Joel Dresang
In the 14 minutes we were on the phone, Mark saved me $441.36. That was the good news. The bad news was all the other rigmarole still ahead for me — and the dreaded reality that this probably will happen again. […]

By Joel Dresang
Rehearsal helps performance. It conditions us. It informs our expectations. It lets us anticipate how we’ll handle a situation. Even improvisers rehearse. Research suggests rehearsal can help retirement, too. […]

By Joel Dresang
Life is full of risks, and as we try to assess how to handle them, it’s common to misjudge which risks to fear the most. […]

For the second year in a row, the COVID-19 coronavirus has pushed back the deadline for federal income tax filing. Taxes are due Monday, May 17, 2021, rather than the traditional Tax Day of April 15. Quarterly estimated tax payments are still due on April 15. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue also is extending the due date for state taxes to May 17. […]

By Joel Dresang
I’m always hearing how investors don’t like uncertainty, but more research suggests it can be beneficial. […]

For retirees 72 and older, the required minimum distribution is back in 2021, which means planning with advisors sooner than later. […]