50% Return on Investment?

People often quote the old adage "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is," without acknowledging the "probably is" part.  "It probably is" doesn't equal "It absolutely is".  Being able recognize the difference is often what separates the "haves" from the "have nots".

DISCLAIMER:  I AM NOT A TAX ADVISOR.  THIS IS NOT TAX ADVICE.  YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH A TAX PROFESSIONAL REGARDING THIS BEFORE TAKING ANY ACTION.

For those who are in the niche to take advantage of it, here is the not-to-good-to-be-true opportunity of 50% (initial) return on investment (ROI).  This is from the instructions for IRS Form 8880. (Link includes form and instructions.)

Often called, "the saver's credit", it should be available to (again, consult your tax advisor)  a person whose Adjusted Gross Income is under $19,250 (or $38,500 for married filing jointly) for 2019 taxes. Voluntary contributions up to $2,000 result in a tax credit of .5 (50%) of the contributions, with lower credits for those with AGI up to $32,000 for an individual.  Here are a few of my favorite things regarding this:

• It applies to money put into a Roth IRA, not just traditional IRA.  
• Because of filing deadline moved to July 15, deadline to contributing to or opening an account for 2019 tax year has also moved.
• If a person is on the edge of qualifying for a higher credit or for the credit at all, your tax advisor should be able to tell if a contribution would reduce the AGI resulting in a higher credit.
• Once an account is established, it's much easier to contribute for the current and future years.
• Increased retirement savings!

It definitely is a niche since there are a lot of things that would disqualify someone from getting the credit such as being claimed as a dependent or being a full-time student.  And many of those making $32,000 or less are not going to have the money to save.  But here are some situations that may work.  You can probably think of more.

• Semi-retired person who is working but doesn't "need" the money from work.
• Young part-time student or non student with low expenses because of living with parents.
• Person with assets but lower earned income for 2019 (and/or expected for 2020) tax year because of not working part of the year or reduced hours, intentionally or involuntarily.
• Person with intentionally low expenses and intentional low taxable income.
• Person who gets a Covid 19 stimulus payment but doesn't "need" the money.

Bottom line:  If in the right niche, $2,000 contribution to retirement savings gets a $1,000 tax credit, AND the $2,000 is still in the retirement savings.

If your tax advisor says it's a good idea and you need helping set up an IRA or Roth IRA, I am happy to help.  Since it's still the month of 4/20, I'll make the gratuitous Willie Nelson reference.  "If you've got the money, honey, I've got the time".

New Strategy For "Bridge" Health Insurance

Before Affordable Care Act (AKA "Obamacare") I often was asked to help find health insurance for people who were a couple of years from Medicare eligibility.  Most often it happened when a husband retired at age 65 and his wife was younger, usually by a few years.  Health insurance was easy for him because he was new to Medicare, and they could both collect Social Security if they wanted.  It made sense of both of them to retire while they were healthy enough to travel extensively if they wanted to.  Getting health insurance for the non-Medicare spouse required answering some health questions, but I could usually get her a decent rate by selling her a policy that excluded maternity and mental health coverage.  It was a safe bet that she wouldn't get pregnant, and if she hadn't had mental health issues by her early 60's, the odds were against her developing them suddenly.  I could get her a decent health insurance policy for around $200-300 per month.  That was affordable and reasonable.  Those days are gone.

Now for someone in the last few years before being eligible for Medicare, that "bridge" coverage costs two to three times as much because everyone is accepted regardless of health, and the policy has to cover maternity and mental health.  That drives up the cost, making doing the things people want to do in retirement less affordable.

As much as I dislike it, I'm wondering if the best solution is to manipulate income in order to qualify for a tax subsidy to cover health insurance cost.

For example, an Iowa couple with an income of $50,000 with him on Medicare could get a monthly tax subsidy in the neighborhood of $150 per month for her health coverage (per this calculator, at least).  If income is $40,000 instead of $50,000, the subsidy increases to just under $280.  That doesn't mean the couple has to have $10,000 less to spend, it just means that they need to decrease INCOME by $10,000.  There are lots of ways to do it.  For example, take $10,000 more out of a savings account and take $10,000 less from his 401K.  One of the screwy things about the ACA is that the subsidy doesn't care what you have for assets.  You can be a billionaire in term of assets but still qualify for a subsidy if your "income" is low.

Just one more reason to have some assets (Roth IRA, life insurance cash value, etc.) that can be used without increasing "income".

Why Not Self-Directed Roth IRA?

Usually when I'm writing here, it's more to share my wisdom (just lobbing that one up there for you to take a swing at) than it is to ask for advice.  This time I'm asking.  I'd love to hear what others have experienced or considered, what holes you see in what I'm thinking, etc.  You could email me at or better yet, I'd love to discuss face to face.

My older son recently started working at Hy Vee, so he'll be able to start an IRA, most likely a Roth.   I've been thinking about how cool it would be if he maxed out his contributions every year, how well off he would be with all those years of contributing and growing it.  But what's a good way to grow it?  I love fixed indexed annuities for conservative growth and/or income in retirement, but he's not even out of his teens.

Here's what I'm thinking I would do if I were in his shoes.  I would max my contributions until I had enough saved to buy a piece of investment real estate (or rather a significant enough down payment that the rent would cover the payments).  Or one of the many other options available for a self-directed IRA.  I'm especially intrigued by the idea of  investing in "intellectual property".  The way I'm looking at things, he could be an entrepreneur who never pays taxes on what he makes from his investments, just keeps reinvesting them.  And then passes them on tax-free if set up as a Roth.  Seems like a heck of a deal.  With a lot of work involved to figure it out.

I'd love to hear your perspective on it.

Money Is Time

Among other things that I have let get in the way of me blogging consistently is my son's math homework that I've been helping him with.  I'm not really a very good math teacher because I don't understand how other people don't understand it.  Luckily, he's the same way, so I usually just have to explain it once.

Somehow in my mental ramblings while he was working on a problem, I started thinking about how people often say "Time is money".  Which, thinking mathematically, means "time=money".  So according to the symmetric property of equality, "money=time".  Just as I don't "get" how others don't "get" math, I also fail to understand how people comprehend "Time is money" but ignore "Money is time".

The older I get and less time I have left on this earth, the more I see how money is time.  With money I can buy more time by doing things to improve my health and extend my life.  More importantly, with money I can upgrade the quality of the time that I have.  I can pay someone else to do chores I don't like to do so I can spend my time doing things I want to do.  For example, even though I know how to do it and could save a few dollars doing it my self, I don't change my own oil in my truck.  I buy time.  It's worth it.

Here's something to try when considering paying for a service:  if someone offered to do the task for free, would you let him or her do it for you?  If so, you should probably pay for the service.  Your time is almost always worth it.  Example, I pay for someone else to work on my car, but I do my own mechanical work on my bicycles.  Not because I can't afford a bike mechanic, but because I like doing it, and would do it myself even if someone offered to do it for free.

And yes, this does relate to insurance.  I almost always think "money = time" when working with retirement and life insurance issues.  That's what it's all about.  Having enough money that you control your time.  If you don't or can't do that, you aren't "retired", you are "unemployed".

"How Much Did He Leave?" "All Of It" (Day 10)

Yesterday I wrote about what I see people do most often with retirement money, and said that instead of just complaining about their mistakes, I would offer some solutions.  As I often say, this isn't insurance advice.  Without sitting down with you and discussing the specifics of your situation, I can't make an informed recommendation.  What I'm posting here is very general, something to use to open a discussion with me or another professional and figure out an action plan, not something to take action on right now. 


People often tell me something along the lines of, "I want my money to run out the day I die, and the check to the funeral home to bounce".  They understand the old saying of "You can't take it with you."  However, they almost never actually spend their retirement money that way.  Just like a business, 401 (k) and IRA plans should have an "exit strategy" from the beginning.


These are some possibilities that in many cases are better than holding on to tax-deferred money until it gets passed to beneficiaries or a nursing home.

• Start a guaranteed income stream from the retirement funds and use it to buy a life insurance policy.  Often the best option is one that also provides a benefit if you need long term care.  Advantages:  Taxes on withdrawals are spread out over multiple years, and proceeds from life insurance to designated beneficiaries are not normally taxed.  Depending on age, health, etc, life insurance benefit could be more than the value of the retirement savings, even not figuring in tax advantages.  Depending on options chosen, beneficiaries may get both the life insurance benefit and more regular income.  At least they won't get everything as taxable.
• Gradually convert to Roth IRA.  You pay taxes on that part when you convert it, but it is later passed on without the taxes hitting all at once.  With some planning, you can offset the amount you convert with other deductions so you pay little or no tax on the money.  For example, I've had customers balance the Roth Conversion with deductions like large medical bills, HSA contributions, business losses/investments, work layoffs, etc.  I haven't had anyone do it, but it would be ideal to take a year off work to travel, live off savings, and do a Roth Conversion to turn money that's never been taxed to money that will never be taxed.  All without every paying any taxes on that money.  Do this only AFTER consulting with a tax advisor.  That's better than getting a surprise at tax time, and if the tax advisor is good, he or she often has ideas on how to do it even better than you and I think of doing it.
• Give it directly to a charity each year.
• Give a portion as gifts to family each year, paying a small amount of or no tax as you go.  With both this and the charitable giving, you get to see the benefits of your gifts, which is a lot better than saving on taxes.  They might even take you out fishing or water skiing on their new boat.

Those are just a few options.  A key to any of them is to have a plan for long term care.  Notice I didn't say, "long term care insurance" or "to pay for the nursing home".  The insurance part is sometimes involved in the plan, but just having a policy isn't enough, and often is not the best way to plan for it.  Nor is a nursing home always the best option.  But they are full of people who didn't plan because they didn't need a plan because, "I'm never going to the nursing home".

I Don't Know Why They Call It "Common Sense"

For day two of 100 days of writing for publication I am publishing this list of common mistakes I see people make regarding retirement.  I have been thinking about doing this for years, but have never decided if I want to make it a series of blog posts, a brochure, a speech, a magazine article, a book, or all or none of those things.  I still haven't decided, but I know I won't get any of them done without getting started, so I'm going to make it a chunk of this 100 days, for a start.


I often tell new customers, "I like to think I'm smarter than everyone else, but my wife and kids will tell you otherwise.  It's not that I'm smarter, it's that I work with this stuff every day, while you are dealing with it for the first time".  One huge advantage I have right now is that I have been working with another agent for several years who is in his 80's.  Supposedly I'll take over his customers when/if he ever retires.  He has customers he has worked with for 30+ years, so I often tap in to their 20/20 hindsight.




I don't want to make it a "Top Ten" type of list because sometimes on those the focus turns to whether #3 should really be # 5 instead of how to solve both #3 and #5, regardless of where they are in the hierarchy.  However, there is a clear #1, so this post will focus on it, and it will be the theme I consistently refer back to when discussing the others.  Speaking of the others, here are the main others, in no particular order.  (I keep thinking of more, but I need to sleep some time.)

• All or almost all of savings tax-deferred
• Unrealistic picture of what will/won't happen when one spouse outlives the other
• Basing decisions on averages
• Lack of communication with children and others
• Lumping everything together instead of separating out "paychecks" and "playchecks"
• Basing decisions on how long they think they will live
•  Basing decisions on how good or poor they think their health will be in retirement
• Spending too much or too little (much more common with people I see) early in retirement
• Doing the same thing that their friends, relatives and/or parents do or did, ignoring how those people's situations vary from their own
• Having only a saving plan, not a spending plan
• No plan for how to take Social Security and/or pension
•  Having way too much or way too little insurance
• Focus on how much money they have (or don't have) rather than how much they can or can't spend after the bills are paid
• Worrying too much about how long they will live instead of how well they will live

The biggest problem by far, however (which could be argued to be the main cause of all the other mistakes), is not having a basic understanding of general principles of finances.  I am constantly amazed how little most people know and understand regarding taxes, interest, dividends, cash flow, insurance, and general accounting.  You don't have to be a genius or an expert, but you do need to at least have a rudimentary grasp of the language so you can converse with the experts you hire.    Without that, you can't even ask the most basic questions to make sure you are doing the right things.  You'll be like the people I often work with who say things like, "I don't really understand this, but I trust you, so I'll just do what you think is best".  Lucky for them, I am honest and do what is best for them, but it is just luck on their part.  Make your own luck.  Educate yourself.


Here are a couple of places to start.  I don't agree with everything these guys say (could be a whole other series of blogs there), but they are fairly easy to read, and you can join groups to learn that way if you aren't a reader.  The nice thing about them is that they've both sold enough books that you can find them at Goodwill for a buck or less.


http://www.daveramsey.com/home/


http://www.amazon.com/Ed-Slott/e/B001IGOQNC


 http://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Teach-Middle/dp/1612680011