Retirement

Readers were intrigued by my newsletter last Friday, “The Perfect Retirement Investment Nobody Wants.” It was about a concept, never realized, for a hybrid product combining long-term care insurance with an immediate annuity — a stream of monthly payments that begins right away and lasts as long as you live. Some readers said such policies

Two of your biggest financial risks in retirement involve your health, but they’re almost opposed to each other. One is that you will require expensive long-term care early on. You will probably die young, but not before going broke from nursing home bills. Another is that you will stay healthy enough to live a very

Three big 401(k) administrators are making it easier for workers with accounts of less than $5,000 to transfer the money to their new employers’ plans. Moving retirement savings when switching jobs is about to get easier for millions of workers with small balances. The changes aim to stem what retirement researchers call a “leakage” of

Higher interest rates made annuities more attractive in 2022. Better quality products are increasingly available, but consumers still need to read the fine print. In a kinder universe, retirees wouldn’t need to worry about market volatility or outliving their money. But 2022 was a nail-biter: Bonds plunged alongside stocks, and many people in or nearing

Angry protests over a plan to raise France’s retirement age pile uncertainty on small businesses, but most are siding with the demonstrators. Maxime Clausier stood inside the barricaded entrance of his butcher shop in central Paris and surveyed the swelling crowd of protesters outside his door. He had closed early Tuesday amid the latest demonstrations

New developments that integrate senior housing into age-diverse apartment buildings offer a more affordable alternative to isolated suburban retirement communities. Getting older comes with challenges. For the architect and designer Matthias Hollwich, one of the more taxing ones is something often taken for granted: moving. His point — that leaving behind friends, social connections and

Misconceptions about passive income abound, namely that it’s easy to earn. Luca Alboretti was enticed by the thought of making money in his sleep. He was looking to supplement his income as a real estate agent in 2018 when he created an online store selling golf products, an idea he had hatched after watching a

When you invest and where matters for taxes. But a few rules of thumb can stave off some nasty surprises, our columnist says. Tax planning is usually the least of my financial concerns. Most of the time, just making a living, paying the bills and salting away money in suitable investments are much bigger deals.

Hidekazu Yokoyama has spent three decades building a thriving logistics business on Japan’s snowy northern island of Hokkaido, an area that provides much of the country’s milk. Last year, he decided to give it all away. It was a radical solution for a problem that has become increasingly common in Japan, the world’s grayest society.

The Secure 2.0 Act provides for direct government contributions to retirement accounts for low- and moderate-income workers, though that won’t start until 2027. Gig economy workers lag behind those with traditional jobs in saving for retirement, but parts of a new federal law can help them catch up. Nontraditional workers — like contractors, freelancers and

Across East Asia, populations are graying faster than anywhere else in the world, and while younger generations shrink, older workers are often toiling well into their 70s and beyond. TOKYO — All Yoshihito Oonami wants to do is retire and give his worn body a rest. Instead, every morning at 1:30, Mr. Oonami, 73, wakes

The offspring of many East Asian immigrants are raised to support their elders in their later years. That gives a segment of Americans challenges others don’t face. A few months ago, I texted my mother to let her know that I had paid her electric bill (as I do every month), and that it was