Cortburg Speaks Retirement
Cortburg Speaks Retirement / Investment in Stock Market, Financial Planning, Retirement Planning, Money Management
1.Educational Update = How Women can prepare for Retirement
2. Week on Wall Street = Changes to Dow30 lineup
3.Tax Tip = Child Tax Credits
4.Healthy Lifestyle Advice = Superfood Matcha
5.Green Living Idea = Protect the Bees
6. Quote of the Week
Welcome to Cortburg Speaks Retirement Podcast
with Miguel Gonzalez, MBA, AIF®, CPFA®, CRC®
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO MIGUEL'S LATEST PODCAST
FOLLOW US ON:
Cortburg Speaks Retirement
Cortburg Speaks Retirement / Investment in Stock Market, Financial Planning, Retirement Planning, Money Management
1.Educational Update = How Women can prepare for Retirement
2. Week on Wall Street = Changes to Dow30 lineup
3.Tax Tip = Child Tax Credits
4.Healthy Lifestyle Advice = Superfood Matcha
5.Green Living Idea = Protect the Bees
6. Quote of the Week
Welcome to Cortburg Speaks Retirement Podcast
with Miguel Gonzalez, MBA, AIF®, CPFA®, CRC®
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO MIGUEL'S LATEST PODCAST
FOLLOW US ON:
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Cortburg Talks Retirement
An audio podcast about investing in the stock market, financial planning, money management and retirement planning. Each Wednesday, we help investors at all stages of life learn how to grow and preserve their money from first job through retirement.
Now here is your host, Miguel Gonzalez.
HOST
Hello and welcome to the CORTBURG SPEAKS RETIREMENT audio podcast. On this episode, I am going to help women prepare for retirement, discuss changes to the Dow 30 stocks, provide you with a tax tip from the IRS website, explore a superfood for your health, offer an easy way to live a more green lifestyle and end with our weekly quote.
1st – weekly educational update
How women can prepare for retirement
When our parents retired, living to 75 amounted to a nice long life, and Social Security was often supplemented by a pension. The Social Security Administration estimates that today’s average 65-year-old woman will live to age 86½. Given these projections, it appears that a retirement of 20 years or longer might be in your future.[i],[ii]
Are you prepared for a 20-year retirement? How about a 30-year or even 40-year retirement? Don’t laugh; it could happen. The SSA projects that about 33% of today’s 65-year-olds will live past 90, with approximately 14% living to be older than 95.2
Start with good questions. How can you draw retirement income from what you’ve saved? How might you create other income streams to complement Social Security? And what are some ways you can protect your retirement savings and other financial assets?
Enlist a financial professional. The right person can give you some good ideas, especially one who understands the challenges women face in saving for retirement. These may include income inequality or time out of the workforce due to childcare or eldercare. It could also mean helping you maintain financial equilibrium in the wake of divorce or death of a spouse.
Invest strategically. If you are in your fifties, you have less time to make back any big investment losses than you once did. So, protecting what you have may be a priority. At the same time, the possibility of a retirement lasting up to 30 or 40 years will likely require a growing retirement fund.
Consider extended care coverage. Women have longer average life expectancies than men and can require significant periods of eldercare. Medicare is no substitute for extended care insurance; it only covers a few weeks of nursing home care, and that may only apply under special circumstances. Extended care coverage can provide a huge financial relief if the need arises.1,[iii]
Claim Social Security benefits carefully. If your career and health permit, delaying Social Security can be a wise move. If you wait until full retirement age to claim your benefits, you could receive larger Social Security payments as a result. For every year you wait to claim Social Security, your monthly payments get about 8% larger.[iv]
Retire with a strategy. As you face retirement, a financial professional who understands your unique goals can help you design a wealth management approach that might serve you well for years to come.
2nd – weekly market update
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), one of the most widely followed stock market indices, has made some key changes to its starting lineup.
Salesforce.com, Amgen Inc.and Honeywell International Inc. have replaced Exxon Mobil Corp., Pfizer Inc., and Raytheon Technologies Corp. The change went into effect before the market opened on Monday, August 31.[v]
It’s important for investors to know that the changes took effect so they have a better understanding of the financial markets. But it’s also important to note that the DJIA has made several adjustments since it was first published in 1896, so a change to the Dow 30 lineup is nothing new.[vi]
The index changes were prompted by Dow component Apple Inc’s decision to split its stock four-for-one, which also took effect on August 31.[vii]
The DJIA is a price-weighted index, meaning the 30 companies are weighted in proportion to their price per share. By splitting its shares, Apple effectively reduced its influence—and the entire technology sector’s influence— on the Average. In fact, Apple’s move reduced the technology weighting within the Dow from nearly 28% to 20%. The addition of Salesforce is designed to help bolster the technology sector.
Put another way, before the split, Apple was the most influential component in the DJIA, but after the split, it drops to 17th.
Some market analysts have said the changes make the index “more in tune with the new economy.” The DJIA changes reflect the growing influence of technology and the waning influence of the old economy. Oil and gas multinational Exxon, for example, joined the Dow more than 90 years ago in 1928.[viii],[ix]
3rd – weekly tax tip
Child Tax Credits: By the Numbers
Here are some Child Tax Credit numbers to know from the website, IRS.gov. The numbers were updated in March 2020.
● $2,000: The maximum amount of the child tax credit per qualifying child.
● $1,400: The maximum amount of the child tax credit per qualifying child that can be refunded even if the taxpayer owes no tax.
● $500: The maximum amount of the credit for other dependents for each qualifying dependent who isn't eligible to be claimed for the child tax credit. This can include dependents over the age of 16 and dependents who don't have the required Social Security Number.
● $400,000: The amount of adjusted gross income for taxpayers who are married taxpayers filing a joint return before the credit is reduced.
● $200,000: The amount of adjusted gross income for all other taxpayers before the credit is reduced.
* This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific tax issues with a qualified tax professional.
Tip adapted from IRS.gov [x]
4th – healthy lifestyle advice
Don’t Miss Out on This Delicious Superfood
Matcha is a powerful superfood that’s been cropping up in everything from teas and lattes to deserts and drinks. There’s a lot to love about this earthy tea, including its potential health benefits.
Matcha is similar to green tea but is grown differently. It has high levels of chlorophyll, which gives it the distinct green hue we know and love. Studies show that matcha may be high in antioxidants, protect the liver, and boost brain function. It also has some caffeine, making it an alternative to coffee or soda. Plus, you don’t even need to go to a fancy coffee shop to enjoy matcha at home. Simply mix 1-2 teaspoons of matcha powder (look for the all-natural versions at health food stores) with 3-4 ounces of water. You can enjoy matcha tea both iced and hot.
Tip adapted from Healthline[xi]
5th – Green Living Idea
Protect the Bees
Bees are really important to our ecosystem and unfortunately, today’s pesticides can be dangerous to their habitats. But you can help through organizations like BEE Protective.
BEE Protective is a national public education effort that is dedicated to protecting honey bees and other pollinators. They make it easy to get involved by providing lots of resources and educational materials that you can share with your community. The organization’s goal is to encourage cities, schools, and homeowners to adopt policies and practices that limit the use of harmful pesticides. It’s easier than you might think to make a big difference for this environmentally-friendly cause.
Tip adapted from BeyondPesticides.org[xii]
6th – quote of the week
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”
– Leo Tolstoy
Make sure to visit our website, www.CortburgRetirement.com. Our site is filled with educational videos, eBooks, publications, and financial calculators designed to help you learn more about your finances. As you search our site, send us a note regarding any questions you may have about any particular investment concepts or products. We will get back to you quickly with a thoughtful answer.
This is Miguel Gonzalez, Retirement Specialist and Managing Partner, with Cortburg Retirement Advisors signing off for this week’s educational update.
DISCLOSURES
The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.
Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Please consult your financial professional before making any investment decision.
Securities offered through LPL Financial. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Private Advisor Group, LLC, a registered investment advisor.
Private Advisor Group, LLC and Cortburg Retirement Advisors, Inc. are separate entities from LPL Financial.
Investing involves risk including possible loss of principal
[i] CDC.gov, January 2020
[ii] SSA.gov, February 25, 2020
[iii] Medicare.gov, February 25, 2020
[iv] Investopedia, November 24, 2019
[v] S&P Dow Jones Indices, August 24, 2020
[vi] Investopedia, August 2018
[vii] CNBC.com, August 24, 2020
[viii] CNBC.com, August 25, 2020
[ix] Reuters.com, August 24, 2020
[x] IRS.gov, February 28, 2020
[xi] Healthline.com, August 28, 2020
[xii] Beyondpesticides.org, August 28, 2020