Having previously travelled the world as a flight attendant and designed hats in Kerry, Niamh Stack has made Madrid her home with her family of seven.

Stack, originally from Killarney, studied banking and insurance at the Cork College of Commerce in the late 1980s, before taking up a job at the ill-fated PMPA insurance.

Cork was an amazing place to be in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Michael Jackson came there. So did Nirvana. There were great clubs and nightlife. It was a great vibe.

But Stack had itchy feet so she got a job with Ryanair in Dublin in 1992.

At the time they only had a few routes to the UK, and I worked in the office for a year. It was short, but it gave her an introduction into life in the skies.

When Virgin Atlantic Cityjet started operating a business-class flight between Dublin and London City airport, Stack was on the plane as an air stewardess. It was a fantastic service. People would get Champagne and hot towels before take-off. It was a different experience than it is now.

After two years she spread her wings and started working for BA in 1995, first out of Gatwick Airport, then out of Heathrow.

It was an incredible time to fly. I was doing long-haul routes, often going on seven to 10 day trips. Wed fly to Antigua and then lie on a beach for seven days, then fly home. It was just before mass tourism and low-cost flying changed aviation for ever.

Stack commuted at first, but moved to the UK in 1996, living in Guildford in Surrey. Its nice and leafy but has easy access to London for a night out. There were lots of Irish girls commuting, but I was happy to live in London during that time.

Stack says she worked mostly in business or first class and particularly enjoyed an occasion when Jude Law took over on-board service, much to the joy of travellers in coach. On another occasion, the late Princess Diana was travelling home from Antigua.

The upstairs of the 747s were often economy, while first class was up the front. She sat upstairs, and I was looking after her and the boys. Upon seeing her, paying guests in first class wanted to swap seats but she insisted upon staying. She didnt want the boys to think life was that simple. So after chatting to guests and having dinner, she settled them across the three economy seats and she lay on the floor below. She flew with us regularly. People just loved her.

Now, the princess and the BA Boeing 747 are gone.

Stack says she stopped flying when she was pregnant with her first child and had an emergency landing into Heathrow her second in total. Overhead lockers flew open and that sort of thing.

She moved back to Killarney in 2004 to look after her dad and have three more children all boys.

I really wanted to do something creative and founded Hy Brazil Creations designing hats and jewellery. I was very busy with all the horse-racing events taking place across Ireland designing huge hats. It was fabulous.

But in 2009 the family six decided to move to Spain. We always wanted the kids to have a second language, so we flew over there on a whim.

It was a bit crazy, to be honest. We ended up renting an apartment with no furniture in it. When we landed we had to go to the furniture store. But everything just fell into place. We just clicked with the place and fell in love with the lifestyle and the people.

The move was tough for the boys at first. The first six months in school were the hardest, but suddenly they got the language and now you wouldnt even tell they were Irish.

Stack got a job teaching English conversation at the Montealto School in Madrid in 2010, which she still continues. It piqued an interest in education, and in 2015 she went on to form life-coaching enterprise Think Communicate Lead, which helps increase success at school, at work and in personal life.

We help increase self-awareness, set and pursue meaningful goals and develop positive personal qualities such as self-esteem, a positive attitude, self-discipline and self-motivation.

I also had a fifth child in between a daughter, who is more Spanish than Irish.

Things were going well, until 2020 came along. My husband was working in Ireland, so when the lockdown occurred in March, I was alone with five children in an apartment, trying to work and home-school with bad internet.

It was pretty intense. Our only highlight each day was clapping at 8pm for the health workers on the balcony.

Stack and her family had to stay indoors for six weeks as Madrid was hit hard by Covid-19.

My two youngest didnt leave the apartment during that time. Id go shopping every two weeks and not touch certain shopping bags. Wed have to ration everything. Because there was no traffic, youd just hear all the sirens and see people getting stretchered out of buildings by people in hazmat suits. It was beyond belief. I was terrified Id get sick and no one could look after the kids.

Once lockdown ended things went back to normal, but Stack fears they arent out of the woods. I still havent bought the kids uniforms just in case they dont go back.

Stack, who is a director at her husbands company OpticalRooms, an optical testing company based in Ireland, says she is working on reducing digital exposure.

So many of us especially children are spending more time in front of screens for the purposes of home-schooling and entertainment so we offer tips on how to find better home working solutions.

Despite the pending winter of uncertainty, she and her family are happy in Spain. Even though we endured the worst of a pandemic, we still love it here, and have chosen to stay, despite the odds. Its just such a great place to live and we are prepared for whatever comes next.

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We wanted the kids to have a second language so we flew over on a whim - The Irish Times

The summit of Camelback Mountain rises some 2,700 feet above Arizonas Salt River Valley, accessible by a trailhead that attracts serious hikers and aspirational amateurs alike. The journey takes about an hour. The climbers range from pre-teens to AARP members. On mornings in the winter before the 2012 baseball season, the bottleneck included a 30-year-old man whom many in Major League Baseball never expected to see again. Oliver Prez scrambled across the mountains brown rocks and caked his sneakers in its red dirt.

By his side was his friend and trainer Rafael Arroyo. Atop the mountain, they gazed across the desert sprawl of suburban Phoenix. After enough trips, Prez started to talk, about mistakes he had made, about lessons he had learned. He needed to cleanse the venom and humiliation he had endured during his last few years as a failed starting pitcher with the New York Mets. The hikes almost became like therapy sessions, Arroyo...

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The second baseball life of Oliver Prez - The Athletic

A busy HR manager is reviewing stacks of applications for a position that just opened in the company. The HR manager knows that a host of factors determine employee performance: prior experience, training, interpersonal skills, personality, IQ, emotional intelligence, and work ethic. But after reviewing hundreds of resumes, as many HR managers do, the details on each applicant blur together. And so the HR manager does what many employers do: defaults to selecting hires based on the prestige and rank of the university from which graduates hail.

Presumably, better universities attract better students and provide better training, so it makes sense to use the university rank as a predictor of employee performance. This, after all, is why employers offer higher starting salaries to hires selected from prestigious schools. But is it a good hiring strategy? Do university rankings predict job performance? Our research suggests yes but only to a degree.

Why top-tiered college graduates perform (nominally) better than their peers

In a recent study, we tested the relationship between the university rank and performance of graduates. We tracked the performance of 28,339 students from 294 universities in 79 countries. The students came from 294 universities that ranked from Top 10 to about top 20,000 in the Webometrics global university rankings that rank over 30,000 universities worldwide. We observed the students performance for two months as they were working in global virtual teams on real-life business consulting projects for a number of corporate clients. Importantly, we captured not only the quality of the output, but a wide range of hard and soft competencies including cooperation with team members, leadership, language proficiency, technical skills, emotional intelligence, creativity, and more.

Our results offer some solace to the traditional recruiters. After controlling for age, gender, and the year of study, we found that graduates from higher-ranked universities performed better, but only nominally and only on some dimensions of performance. Specifically, the overall performance improved by only 1.9% for every 1,000 positions in the Webometrics global university rankings. When comparing the performance of candidates whose universities rank further apart a graduate from a top university versus a global average university the performance differential jumps to 19%.

The 19% difference in performance between the top and the average seems significant, but keep in mind that this is for graduates from universities that are 10,000 university ranking positions apart. At a given organization, candidates are likely to be selected from within a much narrower pool, perhaps from universities whose rankings differ by a couple of hundred positions. In this more realistic case, the predicted difference in performance would be closer to 1%.

We found several reasons why the graduates from the top universities performed somewhat better than those from the lower-ranked schools. The first was selection: higher-ranked universities usually can choose from a larger pool of applicants, which leads to steeper competition and a higher quality of the incoming class. Corroborating the selectivity hypothesis, our data demonstrated that students at higher-ranked universities indeed score higher on general cognitive ability tests, have more international experience, better English proficiency, and higher cultural intelligence. However, competitive selection suggests that these competencies may have been attained earlier in their education and, thus, is not a result of their university studies.

Second, higher-ranked universities should provide better training. Top universities employ better instructors, offer access to better-equipped facilities, attract better speakers and guests to campus, which in turn, should lead to better training and subsequent performance. Indeed, our data suggest that students at higher-ranked universities score higher on competencies that could be attributed to better training, such as superior technical and business writing skills, are more knowledgeable in subjects related to the business project, and score higher on team leadership and coordination.

Finally, while it might be expected that higher-ranked institutions might provide a more stimulating academic environment, we did not document that this had an effect on graduates work performance. Indeed, education is not only lectures and seminars. Having notable, hardworking, celebrity-status professors, along with being around intelligent, highly-motivated, achievement-oriented peers, positively affects self-efficacy, motivation, effort, and work ethic. However, our study revealed no difference in these performance-related attributes. Based on our data, the institutional environment did not seem to play a role in enhancing performance. Graduates from lower-ranked universities showed an equal level of motivation and work ethics, so this could be more affected by personality and other individual factors.

The downsides of superior academic pedigree

Despite their slightly better overall performance, hiring graduates from higher-ranked institutions could have a downside. Our data suggest that students from higher-ranked universities might damage team dynamics, sometimes inadvertently. We found that graduates from higher-ranked universities tend to excessively focus on the instrumental tasks, often at the expense of paying insufficient attention to interpersonal relationships. In some instances, graduates from top universities tend to be less friendly, are more prone to conflict, and are less likely to identify with their team.

Numerous studies have shown that interpersonal relationships at work play a critical role in employee motivation, job satisfaction, and, ultimately, performance and career success. As good interpersonal relationships are critical for organizational success, lacking collegiality and a propensity towards conflict could present adverse effects not only on personal performance, but also team and workgroup efficacy, possibly leading to an overall net loss.

Notably, graduates from high-ranking universities tend to share a common identity and could see themselves as different from their team members from a lower-ranking university, and this social categorization can lead to us-vs.-them dynamics. As a result, graduates from top universities could be perceived by their co-workers with less impressive academic pedigrees as arrogant and snobby, and because of that not liked by their peers. Our data did not confirm that this was the case. In fact, students from more prestigious universities tended to be more modest in their self-evaluations than some of their peers from lower-ranked institutions. However, we found that while students from higher-ranked universities generated more conflict, engaged in fewer non-instrumental conversations, and displayed less team commitment and identification with their teams.

So, whom should you hire?

While job candidates from more prestigious universities may slightly outperform their peers, data from Payscale and the U.S Department of Education show that these graduates are also more expensive to hire. For example, the average early career salaries of graduates from the top 10 colleges ($72,160) in the United States are 47% higher than those with degrees from the ten colleges within the City University New York (CUNY) school system ($48,960), many of which are ranked within the top 100. At the 6-year mark, that gap jumps to 108 percent.

Is the extra cost worth the investment? To answer this question, employers need to carefully consider the worth of the increase in performance for the firm. For some companies, the difference between a hypothetical graduate from an average vs. top university may be well worth the extra pay. Yet, for others, the added cost may not result in a positive return on investment and, thus, may not be justified. All in all, our results suggest that hiring graduates from higher-ranked universities would lead to a nominal improvement in performance. However, the university rank alone is a poor predictor of individual job performance. Employers can get a much better deal by hiring the right students from lower-ranked institutions, than anyone from better-ranked institutions. It would also be wise to use additional tests designed to evaluate the technical and interpersonal competencies needed for the job.

Considering the growing gap between skills acquired in college versus on-the-job readiness, any modest performance advantage stemming from the university rank might also be mitigated by on-the-job training. Since employers already invest significant resources into training new hires, such training may be a much better determinant of performance than the rank of the university from which the hire hails.

To a large extent, the answer would also depend on specific job demands. Does the job require a top performer from a higher-ranked university where even a 2% improvement in performance is critically important and offsets any pay differential? Or can the performance criteria be met by graduates from lesser-ranked universities? To make the most strategic decision, an HR manager should know the answer to this question before they look at an applicants college pedigree.

Contributors to this article include:Alexander Assouad, assistant professor of IB and Strategy at Belmont University; Alfredo Jimenez, associate professor at KEDGE Business School; Justin Kraemer, lecturer at Mae Fah Luang University; Anna Svirina, Dean of Engineering Economics and Entrepreneurship School at the Kazan National Research Technical University; Weng Si (Clara) Lei, program coordinator of Tourism Event Management and Assistant Professor at the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies.

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Graduates of Elite Universities Get Paid More. Do They Perform Better? - Harvard Business Review

Early retirement sounds like a great idea if you picture having ample cash to travel the world or hang out at the beach. But in reality, retiring before your mid-60s could cause a whole host of financial consequences that affect your ability to enjoy your later years to the fullest.

In fact, here are three big reasons early retirement could end up being more hassle than it's worth.

It's stating the obvious, but the earlier you stop getting a paycheck, the sooner you must start relying on your investment accounts (and the sooner your balance starts to fall). Not only do you begin making withdrawals earlier when you retire younger, but you also lose some prime investing years when you're eligible for catch-up contributions and may be able to afford to make them.

The consequences can be far-reaching. If you maintain a safe withdrawal rate, you may limit your opportunities to enjoy retirement because your income could be too small. But if you indulge your retirement fantasies by taking out too much money too early, you could run out of money later in life when healthcare expenses rise, and working to get back on track is impossible.

If you claim Social Security prior to full retirement age (FRA), you're subject to early filing penalties that reduce your benefits.

And even if you can retire early without starting your benefits ahead of your FRA, you could still see less lifetime income. The problem comes from the fact the Social Security Administration bases your monthly checks on average wages earned during the 35 years when your earnings were highest (after adjusting for inflation).

If you don't work 35 years, your average wage will be lower due to the inclusion of years with no wages. And even if you manage to work 35 years, chances are good you'll be leaving the workforce when your salary is higher than at the beginning of your career. By quitting when your salary has peaked, you miss out on the chance to replace lower-earning early years in the calculation of your average wage.

If you're retiring early, that almost guarantees you're leaving the workforce well before 65, when you become eligible for Medicare. And that can be a big problem because you can't afford to go without health insurance.

While maintaining your employer-provided coverage through COBRA should be an option, as is purchasing an individual insurance policy, chances are good your premiums will be pretty high especially if you're used to your employer subsidizing coverage. If you buy an individual policy instead of sticking with a group plan, you're also likely to have higher deductibles and co-insurance costs than you're used to.

The extra costs can quickly eat into your retirement savings, which can mean your account balance falls even faster or you have less to spend on other things. And that, combined with the possibility of lower Social Security benefits, plus the fact you'll be living on your savings for longer, can be a recipe for financial disaster.

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Early retirement sounds like a great idea if you picture having ample cash to travel the world or hang out at the beach. But in reality, retiring before your mid-60s could cause a whole host of financial consequences that affect your ability to enjoy your later years to the fullest.

In fact, here are three big reasons early retirement could end up being more hassle than it's worth.

It's stating the obvious, but the earlier you stop getting a paycheck, the sooner you must start relying on your investment accounts (and the sooner your balance starts to fall). Not only do you begin making withdrawals earlier when you retire younger, but you also lose some prime investing years when you're eligible for catch-up contributions and may be able to afford to make them.

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Looking to retire early? The move has its drawbacks, here are 3 to consider. - USA TODAY

Im approaching retirement, and the turmoil in the markets this year has me thinking, for the first time, about buying an annuity. I like the idea of predictable income, but I dont like the idea of handing my money, permanently, to an insurance company. What do you think about a person building his or her own annuity? Is there a good way to do this?

Yes, there are ways to create an annuity. And I think its wise to consider how an annuity might help you and your nest egg. But I think the do-it-yourself approach can be difficult for many investors and carries some sizable risks.

To start, Ill focus on the product you seem to be considering: an immediate fixed annuity. In other words, you hand a lump sum to an insurer, which, in turn, guarantees you a monthly paycheck for life. Period. (Well save, for another day, talking about more-complicated products, such as equity-indexed annuities.)

If you wish to build something resembling an immediate fixed annuity, you could, for instance, assemble a TIPS ladder, a collection of Treasury inflation-protected securities of various maturities. Or you could construct a bond portfolio with high-quality corporate and municipal bonds. Both approaches would produce a predictable stream of income.

Even something as simple as a balanced mutual fund, one with a mix of stocks and bonds and a long history of solid returns, could, in theory, serve as an annuity. A good example: (RPBAX) has posted an average annual total return of 9.46% since its start in 1939.

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Pros and Cons of a Do-It-Yourself Annuity in Retirement - The Wall Street Journal

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For many workers, a traditional retirement is not part of their plans.

Among baby boomers still in the workforce, 59% expect to keep working into retirement, a new study from Voya Financial shows. For Generation X, that share is 60% and for millennials, 49%. Overall, 54% of all workers say their retirement years will include a job of some sort.

"The definition of retirement is evolving and will keep evolving," said Charlie Nelson, CEO of Retirement and Employee Benefits for Voya. "It's not going to be about working until a certain age and then switching to no work."

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The study, based on a survey of about 1,000 people done in waves from March through July, explored workers' attitudes about retirement during the pandemic. Voya defines baby boomers as those born 1946 to 1964; Gen X, 1965 to 1980; and millennials, 1981 to 1996.

The results come as economic uncertainty from the pandemic persists and unemployment remains relatively high, at about 10%. At the same time, however, the stock market despite dropping in Thursday morning trading is far above its lows earlier in the year.

The S&P 500 index closed Wednesday at 3580.84, up 60% from its March 23rd low of 2237.40. The Dow JonesIndustrial Average has gained 56.5% since bottoming out in March at 18,591, closing at 29,100.

Many respondents (56%) noted their reasons for wanting to continue working in retirement included for their mental well-being, while 40% said it's because they want a safety net to cover unexpected costs and prepare for market volatility.

"There may be financial reasons they want to keep working, or it might be because they want to stay mentally alert," Nelson said.

While the coronavirus has caused economic uncertainty and a squeeze on households that have lost income from being laid off or furloughed, Voya's survey suggests that saving for retirement remains a priority, with 55% of respondents saying they'd rather save more for retirement than be completely debt-free.

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Majority of workers expect their 'retirement' to include a job, survey shows - CNBC

Ed Daizovi, a 57-year-old career diplomat, entered the retirement homestretch earlier this year: He had just moved back from Africa and was setting up a new home in Miami where he planned to retire next year with his wife of 29 years, after investing diligently to fund a comfortable retirement.

But the coronavirus pandemicand the volatility stirred first by the markets crash and quick recovery, and now by uncertainty heading into the electionis making Daizovi wary about his retirement timeline.

If the market tumbles 30% to 50% by the time Im ready to retire next year, Im looking at one more tour in the foreign service, Daizovi says. Thats far from ideal, as it would mean having to live apart from his wife as she settles into their retirement home.

For near-retirees, the Covid-19 recession marks the second major setback in little more than a decadeand this one strikes as many are hitting peak earnings and savings years. Now, they find themselves grappling with ways to preserve their retirement securitywith fewer years to bounce back.

Preretirees are getting the wind kicked out of them, says Ken Dychtwald, head of consultancy Age Wave, of the challenges and confusion that those five to 10 years from retirement are facing. Their portfolios are taking a hit. They cant work longer with [high] unemployment. Their mom is sick, and their kids are moving back home.

Among the near-retiree set of 50- to 64-year-olds, confidence about having enough saved for retirement has fallen to 48% from 65% before the pandemic, according to a poll by Edward Jones/Age Wave released in August. And among those in this group with adult children, 28% have provided them with financial support during the pandemic, exacerbating savings shortfalls.

These concerns come at a time when some families budgets are already strained by a variety of factors, such as job losses, income cuts, or efforts to keep small businesses afloat. Almost a third of small-business owners and 8% of baby boomers said their household income had fallen by half or more during the pandemic, according to a financial-wellness survey from Prudential Financial, released in July.

On top of those immediate issues, the pandemic is stirring uncertainty around a number of other key concerns in retirement, including taxes and pensions, as governments reassess budgets and spending priorities. Investors should also reassess what their savings could generate in long-term market returns as global economic growth takes a hit and interest rates are at historical lows in much of the world.

The pandemic also has had an impact on many near-retirees who are still employed. Roughly 15% of employers have either suspended or cut matching contributions to 401(k)s, with an additional 10% considering doing so, according to a survey of 543 employers by Willis Towers Watson. And that can have an impact on overall retirement security. Among those with enough savings to fund their retirement needs, a 10% reduction in employer matches for a year along with a 10% reduction by employees in plans where the match is suspended cuts roughly 14% off the total surplus for 50- to 54-year-old workers, according to projections by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

On an individual level, there are ways to mitigate the Covid-19 hitand not all have to be drastic. Barrons canvassed financial planners and retirement experts to see what adjustments near-retirees can make to bridge a difficult period without derailing retirement plans.

Given the health risks created by the pandemic and uncertain outlook for certain industries, early retirement may seem like an attractive option. But advisors recommend that those who are five to 10 years away from retirement should stay in the workforce, if possible.

The best way to improve retirement financial outcomes is to work longer, says Jamie Hopkins, director of retirement research at Carson Group. A year or two before retirement, we see people tighten their belts and reduce spending, but that has minimal impact versus working six months to a year longer. Indeed, 34% of 50- to 64-year-olds in the Edward Jones/Age Wave survey said that Covid-19 has changed their retirement timeline.

Of course, working longer is easier said than doneeven more so now with a spike in unemployment. While older workers typically have substantially lower unemployment rates than those 25 to 54 years oldroughly 15% to 20% over the past decadethat hasnt been the case through this pandemic, says Richard Johnson, director at Urban Institutes Program on Retirement Policy. As of July, the overall unemployment rate for those ages 55 to 64 sits at 8.7%, just 5% lower than that for younger cohorts.

Thats a troubling trend, as it has also taken longer for older workers to get rehired out of past downturns, with those 62 and older who lost their jobs only half as likely to be re-employed as people in their 30s and 40s, Johnson says.

This situation has given me a reason to take a hard look and come up with a plan B.

Advisors recommend taking a closer look at retirement savings, deferred compensation, and stock options to see if other paths to employment are feasibleincluding a job that pays benefits but doesnt necessarily provide the same level of income, or turning a furlough into a phased retirement where workers transition in steps from full-time work to full-time retirement. Workers could tap savings to set up a consulting business, hire a career coach, or get more training to pivot into a different career.

Being realistic about the changes the pandemic has brought to various industriesand how long it could take to get back to a level of normalcyis also important. Some clients hold out for an equivalent offer and spend so much time out of the workforce they end up with a two-year gap, says Jeffrey Levine, director of advanced planning at Buckingham Wealth Partners. Then they are even older, and it becomes even harder to get back in the workforce.

Finding a job could take time, and even those who have emergency savings may be running low nearly six months into the crisis. Yet the sharp stock market rebound from the March depths and historically low interest rates offer an opportunity to replenish and expand cash cushions.

Advisors recommend anywhere from 18 months to three years of expenses in liquid assets, depending on circumstances. For those who have gotten an early-retirement package or severance, Katherine Liola, founder of Concentric Private Wealth, suggests keeping much of it liquid to generate an income stream, since it could take some time to secure another job.

For small-business owners near retirement, having a cash pile is paramount, given the pandemics impact on many companies revenue and sale valuations. Some advisors recommend that business owners have two years of cash on hand to keep operations going until conditions return to more normal levels, enabling them to possibly sell the business. That might mean cutting expenses, negotiating with vendors, or tapping credit lines as well as any available pandemic aid.

We dont know what the recovery path looks like or the speed at which it could happen, says Brandt Kuhn, managing director at Beacon Pointe Advisors. If you qualify for [government relief] programs, take the opportunity and make your runway as long as possible.

When it comes to freeing up cash, the pandemic has upended some of the traditional ruleslike not taking on debt on the eve of retirement. With interest rates at record lows and housing prices holding up, some advisors recommend that near-retirees look to their homes as a possible source of cash.

If the rate on their mortgage is a percentage point or more than the current rate, refinancing could make sense. Would you rather sell equities in a portfolio that you expect to earn 6% to 7% or borrow from a home at 3% to 4%? Use the asset with the lowest return in the portfolio, which is home equity, Hopkins says.

Another option: opening a home-equity line of credit that can be drawn on in increments if markets take a turn for the worse. The idea is to tap the line of credit and pay it back when markets recover.

The next best place to free up cash is through investment accounts, taking into consideration taxes and asset types for a guide on what to tap first. Here, too, the pandemic has made it acceptable, if not ideal, to break some long-held guidelines, such as not raiding a 401(k).

Policy makers have made it easier for those affected by the pandemic to do just thatand advisors say those who need to bridge an income gap should take advantage of the changes. The Cares Act allowed those affected by the pandemic to tap up to $100,000 in retirement assets this year without getting hit with the 10% penalty if they are under 59, and the act also made it easier to take out a loan of up to that same amount that can be paid back over a period of five years

Of the two options, advisors slightly favor the loan because, behaviorally, it increases the chances that the money will be replenished. If the loan is paid back in five years, there is no tax hit. And for those who opt to take distributions of up to $100,000 from their 401(k) or individual retirement account this year, taxes will be spread out over three years. But for those who manage to repay the distribution within three years, a tax credit is applied, essentially making it akin to a tax-free loan.

The determination of whether someone wants to take a loan or distribution has to be decided up front, with loans required to be paid back on a specific schedule.

Tax considerations also support use of retirement assets for those who have lost their job or had their income reduced. Savers who find themselves in a lower tax bracket could minimize taxes paid on a withdrawal from a 401(k) or individual retirement accountsomething that could become even more important when the Cares Act provisions are no longer in effect.

Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute's Retirement Security Projections

However, if someone has already made substantial income this year, Carolyn McClanahan, founder of Life Planning Partners, says that it may be better to draw from taxable accounts where the 15% tax on capital gains may be a less costly way to free up cash than paying income tax on retirement assets. Whats more, with stocks in certain sectors still down after the crash, an investor might be able to sell at a loss and take a tax deduction.

Which assets to sell first? Given the markets rise, advisors recommend taking profits in stock portfolios with the most-aggressive profiles, or rebalancing to rebuild cash cushions, if possible.

Heres one rule that has stayed largely the same: If you are in good health, try to wait to claim Social Security as long as possible. The roughly 8% increase in benefits each year a worker delays claiming through age 70 is difficult to match elsewhere. Plus, the payout is for lifeso the bigger it is, the betterand tapping it early can have ripple effects for the surviving spouse.

The pandemic is the type of event that calls for introspectionand that holds for finances, as well, with advisors encouraging clients to re-examine their risk tolerance and long-term return projections. Near-retirees should also use this time to consider how they want to be cared for as they age, and their expectations about pensions and taxes.

Indeed, nearly a quarter of older Americans said the crisis had caused them to reduce their risk tolerance for the long term, according to a June survey of 56- to 75-year-olds with at least $100,000 in investible assets by the Alliance for Lifetime Income, a group focused on educating the public about annuities and promoting them as a tool for retirement income.

The pandemic has upended the plans of many near-retirees

One place to start a reassessment is with a look at asset allocation. For near-retirees who have lost jobs or are worried about layoffs, McClanahan has been encouraging them to shift closer to a 50/50 stock and bond portfolio, taking advantage of recent market gains to rebalance. For those under 59 who may need to rely on nonretirement assets next year, McClanahan recommends an even more conservative allocation in the taxable brokerage account, if it needs to be used as a bridge after this years Cares Act provisions expire.

The unprecedented amount of stimulus pumped into the global economy also means that investors should take a closer look at the safer, fixed-income part of the portfolio, as some bond funds have suffered double-digit losses.

Preretirees are getting the wind kicked out of them. Their portfolios are taking a hit. They cant work longer with [high] unemployment. Their mom is sick, and their kids are moving back home.

Some advisors favor bond ladders once clients are beginning to tap portfolios, rather than bond funds, to minimize volatility, especially as many funds have veered into riskier assets to generate returns. The premise is simple: buy bonds that mature in different increments with the intent of holding them to maturity, collect interest income along the way, and replenish with new bonds as old ones roll off.

Other advisors, like Jason Fertitta, head of registered investment advisor Americana Partners, are wary of exchange-traded bond funds whose sharp losses could precipitate selling from investors, exacerbating possible pain for investors. Of all the asset classes, fixed income is the one you need to be most careful in, he says.

Given all the easy money being pumped into the global economy, Fertitta says he has turned more defensive and sees a case for a longer-term inflation hedge by increasing clients exposure to real assets like real estate to 10%-15% from 3%-5%. My biggest concern is that the levers the Federal Reserve is having to pull to keep this market going is very experimental, and we dont know when inflation is coming, he adds. We have to put in some assets that could benefit from inflation. Real assets historically were a small part of the portfolio, and we are certainly open to that being a larger piece.

Near-retirees are also rethinking another risk: their long-term care plans, with the Edward Jones/Age Wave poll showing that the pandemic prompted almost 30 million Americans to have end-of-life discussions for the first time.

The pandemics toll on nursing homes and other congregate-care facilities has further increased near-retirees preferences to add at-home care to their retirement planning, Hopkins says. Such care isnt cheap: A home health aide can range from $150 to over $350 a day, with Genworth Financial estimating $50,000 a year for a home health aide working a 44-hour week, and rising to an average $150,000 for full-time care.

The trillions of dollars being spent to help the economy out of this recession means that investors should also reassess expectations for pensions and taxes. Many state and local governments were already struggling financially, but the crisis has exacerbated the situation, and pension funding levels are forecast to take another hit, says Olivia Mitchell, executive director of the Pension Research Council and a professor at University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Business. Among the most precarious are states such as Connecticut, with a funding level of just 28%, and Illinois, at 20%.

The fallout will take timeand a lot depends on Congress and what it does to deal with local governments fiscal distress. As of now, many states have constitutional provisions that require pensions to be paid in full, but Mitchell notes that the bankruptcies of Puerto Rico and cities like Detroit brought pension cutsa 4.5% haircut in Puerto Rico and the elimination of the cost-of-living adjustment in Detroits case. Congress would have to change laws for states to declare bankruptcy.

Barrons brings retirement planning and advice to you in a weekly wrap-up of our articles about preparing for life after work.

Still, the potential hit to pensions is enough for planners like Jody DAgostini at Equitable Advisors to be cautious. She bakes in a reduction in expected pension payments for clients, and takes a conservative approach to Social Security that factors in no cost-of-living adjustment and a 20% to 25% reduction in benefits for wealthier clients who could be the first to see a reduction.

Then there are taxes. At some point, the bill is also going to come due for the trillions being spent to help the U.S. economy. If taxes have to double because of the fiscal hole we are in, that does tend to threaten peoples planning, Mitchell says.

The November election could offer some clarity, but for now, advisors are stressing diversification, including adding to Roth IRA accounts if possible, as well as tax-efficient investments like municipal bonds. As the postpandemic world becomes clearer, the name of the game for near-retirees will continue to be flexibility.

For the diplomat Daizovi, the stock market rebound has provided an opening to sell some of his positions and build a bigger cash buffer, so he can follow through with his original retirement planand still have some money to buy stocks when the market dips. This situation has given me a reason to take a hard look and come up with a plan B, he says.

Write to Reshma Kapadia at reshma.kapadia@barrons.com

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Covid-19 Was the Second Major Setback for Near-Retirees. Heres How to Get Your Plan Back on Track. - Barron's

A: I have worked in a number of positions from the rank of police officer to major in Baltimore County and most recently colonel of the Law Enforcement Bureau in Carroll County. I worked patrol for several years, mid-to-late -70s, in Catonsville, particularly the Oella sector. At that time Oella was a working class, and in some cases, an impoverished area with outhouses still in use. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the folks in that area, striving to keep the community safe. I worked as a supervisor in a plain clothes unit, as well as patrol and detectives. After a couple years as the Precinct 12 (Dundalk) commander I spent the later part of my career in Baltimore County working in Homeland Security and Support Operations at the supervisor and command level overseeing tactical teams, aviation, K9, crash teams and the mobile crisis team.

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Q&A: Retiring Col. Larry Suther reflects on career, future of Carroll County Sheriffs Office - Baltimore Sun

THOMASVILLE Kha McDonald, the city of Thomasvilles executive director for Human Resources and Community Relations, has announced her retirement, effective Dec. 1. McDonald has served the city for more than 30 years. She joined the city of Thomasville in 1988 as its first personnel director.

At the end of every great journey, you should ask yourself: Did I have fun would I recommend it to others would I do it again was it worth the trip? McDonald said in a news release. In my case, working with the city of Thomasville for 32 years has been a source of pride, a means of community fellowship, and an opportunity to work with some of the most talented and dedicated individuals that I could have ever imagined.

McDonald began her career with the city as personnel director, which would later be reclassified as human resources director. The Thomasville native continued her professional growth within the organization, adding the title of assistant city manager in 1999 and five years later, through a departmental reorganization, had her title changed to senior assistant city manager for employee & community services. In 2018, McDonald would be called upon to step into an even larger leadership role when she would serve as interim city manager.

When I was hired, I thought I was just going to be a personnel director, she said. However, over the years I have had oversight of various projects and departments that gave new insight to the phrase, Sure no problem.

Thomasville City Manager Alan Carson said that McDonalds time has been influential and consequential, not just for the organization but for the city as a whole.

Kha lives and breathes Thomasville; her experience and knowledge about our local community has been invaluable throughout my first two years as city manager, Carson said. Her overall experience and the year she spent as interim city manager have been invaluable to our leadership team. Kha spent her career committed and dedicated to doing what is best for the city and Team Thomasville. While she will be missed greatly, we wish her nothing but the best as she moves into this new phase.

In McDonalds current role, she provides direction, oversight and overall leadership to many key areas, including human resources, community relations, risk management, historic cemetery preservation, and planning. She has been as an advisor, coach, and advocate for staff and has worked integrally with them on projects. One of McDonalds most recent projects has come in her leadership of the citys Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Team, whose focus is to highlight and bring awareness to the importance of the organizations overall workplace diversity.

McDonalds impact has stretched beyond the walls of the citys administration building to the local community and throughout the state. Across Georgia, she has served on the board of the Georgia Alliance of Preservation Commission and as a region director, vice president of the Georgia Municipal Cemetery Association and a board member of the American Public Power Associations Human Resources Committee. Her passion for the community has allowed her to serve on many local boards and committees, including Southern Regional Technical College, Goodwill Industries, MacIntyre Park Middle School, Thomasville Landmarks, Hands on Thomas County, Habitat for Humanity, Marguerite Neel Williams Boys & Girls Club, Thomas County Historical Society, and Archbold Medical Center Board of Directors. She has been recognized for her community service by commanders with the 1230th Army National Guard and by Veteran Boosters Inc.

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Over thirty-two years McDonald has impacted employees in a multitude of ways.

The first time I spoke to her, I did not like what she said to me, said Anthony Choice, manager of Purchasing & Fleet Services. Those words turned out to be life-altering; they helped me become a man that took responsibility for my actions. Years later, I came to realize that was the day she became Ma to me, and I am forever grateful that God placed her in my life.

According to Thomasville Police Chief Troy Rich, McDonald has not only impacted the city of Thomasville, but she has also played an influential role in the careers of many employees, including his own.

Kha has been a mentor, leader, and above all, a dear friend, he said. I attribute my hiring back in 1990 to her and believe that her leadership assisted me in my journey. Kha is invaluable and will be missed dearly by all of Team Thomasville.

Sheryl Sealy, executive director of Marketing & Customer Service, has worked with McDonald since 1989 and said she considers McDonald a mentor.

Ive been fortunate enough to work with and learn from Kha for a very long time. It was by watching her that I learned what it meant to be a true professional, Sealy said. She has set a very high example for me and many others. Kha has always been the heart of Team Thomasville, and she will be missed.

Working with the city of Thomasville has been challenging, fun, fresh, and full of camaraderie, McDonald said. My kids gained many mentors, cousins, aunts and uncles that have been instrumental in their overall development. I gained lifelong friendships that will be in my heart forever, and my gratitude list is endless. My HR Divas Sandra Piland, Lawana Jackson, and Christine Forbes along with so many others, have been my rocks. Thank you for making this a one of a kind, unforgettable journey so remarkable.

McDonalds last day with the City of Thomasville will be Monday, November 30th.

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Long-time Thomasville employee announces retirement | News - The Albany Herald

Every weekend on 9&10 News we share some extra tools to help you plan your retirement.

The finance tips come to you Sunday mornings on Retiring Well at 11:30 a.m.

Each week they talk about ways to help you get ready for retirement and to protect your financial future.

This week theyll be talking about the need for life insurance, and using rental income as a way to fund your retirement.

Rental income is a great investment instrument, because you can raise rent, so its inflationary. If theyre paid off, theyre a great source of income. They can be a headache because youve got to be a landlord, but you can always give that headache away by having a property manager, explained Larry Flynn, a financial advisor with Centennial Wealth Advisory.

Retiring Well is put on by Centennial Wealth Advisory.

You can catch it on 9&10 at 11:30 Sunday morning.

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Retiring Well: Using Rental Income to Fund Retirement - 9 & 10 News - 9&10 News