Q. Is a person at full retirement age collecting Social Security benefits allowed to continue to work and make an unlimited amount of money without jeopardizing his Social Security benefits? - RTS

A. You could be in luck, but you have to be very careful about how you calculate your "full retirement age" or you could be in trouble.

Your normal full retirement age is between 65 and 67 years old, depending on when you were born, said Margaret OMeara, a Red Bank-based certified financial planner.

To see your precise full retirement age, check your Social Security benefits statement (if you got one), look online at ssa.gov or call Social Security at (800) 772-1213.

"Loss of benefits can occur in the year in which the individual reaches normal retirement age, however, once a beneficiary is older than full retirement age, he or she will not lose benefits," OMeara said.

But thats when taxation of benefits becomes a concern. More on that in a moment.

If you plan to receive benefits prior to your full retirement age and you do plan to work, make sure you review your specific situation as the rules governing loss of benefits are complex and the penalties may be more onerous than you think, she said.

If you are younger than full retirement age, there is a limit to how much you can earn and still receive full Social Security benefits, said Alan Meckler, a certified financial planner with Cornerstone Financial Group in Succasunna.

If you are younger than full retirement age during all of 2012, $1 would be deducted from your benefits for each $2 you earned above $14,640, he said.

OMeara said if your income plus half of your Social Security benefits exceed $25,000 for an individual or $32,000 for married couples filing jointly, 50 percent of your Social Security income will be included in your gross income. If your income plus half of your Social Security benefits are $34,000 as an individual or $44,000 as a married couple, 85 percent of your Social Security income will be included in gross income, she said.

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Biz brain: social security benefits after retirement possible for ongoing worker?

In Friday's blog post, called "Averting retirement disaster," I described the risk-averse approach to retirement planning that Erin Botsford writes about in her book, "The Big Retirement Risk: Running Out of Money Before You Run Out of Time."

I'll reiterate: It's a must-read for those who are approaching retirement. If you don't want to subject your portfolio to the whims of the market and take a chance on having to postpone your golden years due to market mishaps, you need to adopt a defensive stance. But how can her philosophical investing approach be put into retirement-planning practice?

I asked Botsford if she would design a portfolio for a hypothetical married couple, age 55, with $500,000 between them in retirement accounts, plus a cash-balance plan worth $130,000. They want to retire at 62 and plan to continue saving 15 percent of their income in their respective workplace plans until then. They expect to have the house paid off by the time they retire. They will need a minimum of $4,000 a month to meet basic needs and would like an additional $2,000 a month to fund vacations, hobbies and dining out. They harbor no illusions about buying a second home or a boat.

How should they allocate their portfolio now, and then at age 62?

Botsford stipulates that each couple's circumstances are different, so this would not be a one-size-fits-all solution. But here's her advice for the hypothetical couple while they're in their mid-50s: Allocate 50 percent to short-term bonds, another 30 percent to intermediate-term bonds and 20 percent to blue-chip stocks at this point in time.

"This couple is close enough to retirement that they should not be taking any significant risks with their investments," Botsford says. "Since they have the ability to invest tax deferred into their 401(k)s and have a company match, it makes sense for them to continue to do so. However, investment options are often limited inside of 401(k) plans. They should consider short-, medium-term bond funds to get some return on their money without taking too much risk from a high-equity position."

If all goes according to plan, Botsford calculates that their retirement portfolio will be worth about $835,000 in seven years if they continue to contribute 15 percent of their salary, assuming a 4 percent annualized return.

The couple's after-tax needs are $48,000 per year, and Botsford projects that their Social Security benefits would amount to about $28,000, assuming a tax bracket of 15 percent.

"This leaves a shortfall of $20,000 to cover their needs," she says. "I like to use lifestyle investments to fund the needs category. These could be investments such as bonds, annuities, non-traded real estate investment trusts and a number of other similar investments. These are all income-producing investments that, as of today, we should be able to get an average income of 5 percent from. At their 15 percent tax bracket, it would take $470,000 invested in these types of products to produce the additional $20,000 needed.

The rest is here:
Investing for retirement security

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -03/05/12)- According to a BMO Financial Group study, almost 40 per cent of Canadians made a 2011 contribution to their Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) before the February 29th deadline.

While the deadline to make a 2012 contribution may be a year away, it is never too early to think about retirement planning.

During the month of February, BMO released daily retirement tips from BMO Retirement Institute Head Tina Di Vito's new book 52 Ways To Wreck Your Retirement...And How To Rescue It.

Here is the full list of 52 tips, one for each week until next year's deadline:

To view the full tips, please visit http://newsroom.bmo.com/, or purchase a copy of the book 52 Ways To Wreck Your Retirement...And How To Rescue It by Tina Di Vito.

For more information on retirement: http://www.bmo.com/retirement.

Get the latest BMO press releases via Twitter by following @BMOmedia.

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BMO: Save Your Retirement This Year by Following 52 Simple Tips

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The retirement business of the OneAmerica companies enjoyed their most successful year in every major sales category once again smashing records set in 2010 for 401(k) sales, employer-sponsored not-for-profit sales, total assets and plan participants. OneAmerica also had its best year of retaining retirement business and renewal growth a measure of the growth of assets within retirement plans already with the companies.

2011 was a year of cementing our leadership position within the retirement plan marketplace, said Bill Yoerger, president of retirement business for the OneAmerica companies. While the growth of our retirement business has been substantial these past few years, we are also executing on the promises we are making to customers to provide exceptional local and customized service and support in meeting the needs of their plan participants.

The OneAmerica companies achieved 51 percent year-over-year growth in overall retirement sales including a 67 percent increase in 401(k) sales. They ended the year with a record 95 percent retention rate on existing business including 98.6 percent retention on their large block of tax-exempt health care business. OneAmerica also achieved 20 percent growth on existing plans and ended 2011 with more assets under management and plan participants than at any other time in the 130-year-plus history of the enterprise.

We continue to be excited not just that we are growing, but how we are growing, added Yoerger. We serve four markets from smaller to larger plans, as well as for-profit and not-for-profit businesses. Our growth is consistent and balanced across all these core markets.

OneAmerica added additional talent in sales, service and marketing in 2011, expanded the distribution of its open-architecture trust solution to registered reps, launched a multiple employer plan and continued winning national accolades for its custom plan participant communications program. American United Life Insurance Company (AUL), a OneAmerica company, was named the number one 401(k) provider in five key satisfaction categories according to the Boston Research Group's 2011 Defined Contribution Plan (DCP) Sponsor Satisfaction and Loyalty Study.

About OneAmerica

OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc., is headquartered in Indianapolis, IN. The companies of OneAmerica can trace their solid foundations back more than 130 years in the insurance and financial services marketplace.

OneAmericas nationwide network of companies offers a variety of products to serve the financial needs of their policyholders and other clients. These products include retirement plan products and services; individual life insurance, annuities, long-term care solutions and employee benefit plan products. The goal of OneAmerica is to blend the strengths of each company to achieve greater collective results.

The products of the OneAmerica companies are distributed through a network of employees, agents, brokers and other distribution sources that are committed to increasing value to our policyholders by helping them prepare to meet their financial goals.

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OneAmerica Retirement Sales up 51 Percent in 2011

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYTWT_NjuUo

27-02-2012 08:04 Teo chats with financial expert Jean Chatzky about setting yourself up for retirement.

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Retirement 101 With Jean Chatzky - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSo6rel1tCY

01-03-2012 22:54 After a 15-year career in Boston, Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek announced his retirement on Thursday; Tim Hardaway Jr. recorded 25 points and 11 rebounds as #16 Michigan dropped Illinois 72-61.

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Jason Varitek Announces Retirement - Video

Sen. Snowe explains why leaving Congress

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

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Washington (CNN) -- When Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine rocked the political world with her announcement that she would not seek a fourth term in the Senate, she was forthright in expressing her frustration with "an atmosphere of polarization" in politics.

But for all her transparency, it was one of Snowe's Senate colleagues who perhaps best summed up her motivation for deciding to end her decades-long tenure on Capitol Hill.

"I think she lost hope," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told CNN.

Graham, who like Snowe had participated in bipartisan efforts to find compromise on hot-button issues, added, "You know, all of us need to believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If you lose that belief, why do you spend seven years of your life -- which in her case would have been her commitment -- to do something that there seems no hope."

Citing partisanship, Snowe makes surprising exit

Snowe is the latest in a string of centrist senators to announce that they will not seek re-election in the fall.

Late last year, Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat from Nebraska, announced that he would not seek re-election in 2012. In a statement announcing his decision, Nelson called for "those who will follow in my footsteps to look for common ground and to work together in bipartisan ways to do what's best for the country, not just one political party."

Read the rest here:
Snowe retirement a blow to Senate's 'sensible center'

March 4, 2012 in Business

Dave Carpenter

Avoiding the nightmare financial scenario in retirement running out of money is gettingtrickier.

Rising life expectancy means having to pay for a longer retirement. The lack of a pension or frozen benefits translate to fewer, smaller checks from ex-employers. And the days of being able to count on averaging 10 percent annual returns from the stock market areover.

All that makes it even more important for retirees to know just how much they can take out of their portfolios every year without drawing them down toofast.

There isnt one model that fits all. It depends on individual circumstances, best reviewed with a financialadviser.

But the classic guideline long followed by many, and still respected, is widely known as the 4 percent rule. It holds that if you withdraw no more than 4 percent from your savings the first year of retirement and adjust the amount upward for inflation every year, you can be confident you wont run out of money during a 30-yearretirement.

The strategy is credited to financial planner William Bengen, who published his research in the Journal of Financial Planning in1994.

The twist is this: The father of the 4 percent rule says the complete number is actually 4.5percent.

Read this article:
4 percent retirement withdrawal rule still holds true - Sun, 04 Mar 2012 PST

Updated: March 3, 2012, 1:08 PM ET

Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis denies that he considered retirement and a career with the CIA during his injury-shortened 2011 season.

Hillis told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer on Friday that he never told his coaches he was considering ending his career.

2011 STATS

"I never one time mentioned anything to any coach about retirement or joining the CIA or anything like that. It's 100 percent false," Hillis told the paper.

Team sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Thursday that throughout the past season, Hillis wavered about whether he wanted to continue playing football, and even considered joining the CIA.

It is unclear if he actually pursued a career with the CIA.

The sources said that Hillis told Browns coaches as recently as the end of the season that he was contemplating retirement, though it now looks as if he will continue playing.

Hillis began his second season in Cleveland atop the pro football world. Following a breakout year with the Browns, he won a nationwide fan vote to be the cover figure for "Madden NFL 12," the best-selling video game that has earned a reputation for dooming any player who graces its jacket.

He fell victim to the "Madden curse" in a disappointing 2011 season that was marked by his quarrel with Browns management over a new contract; his controversial decision to sit out a game with strep throat on the advice of his agent; a nagging hamstring injury that caused him to miss five straight games; and his awkward rapport with teammates.

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RB Hillis denies retirement, CIA consideration

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl6In5X1oHc

01-03-2012 18:38 After 15 seasons with the Red Sox, catcher and team captain Jason Varitek is hanging up his mask. Tek made his tearful farewell in front of family, friends and media on Thursday night from Fenway South.

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Jason Varitek Retirement Speech (Complete) || March 1st, 2012 - Video