Katie Brockman, The Motley Fool Published 3:15 p.m. ET March 3, 2020

Millennials are better at managing money than older generations. They started saving for retirement at 24 on average, well before Gen X and Boomers. USA TODAY

Even in retirement, you likely won't be able to escape Uncle Sam taking a chunk of your earnings. If you're not preparing for taxes in retirement, your savings likely won't go as far as you think they will. You may owe thousands of dollars in taxes each year, depending on what your retirement income looks like, and a hefty tax bill can make it harder to enjoy your senior years comfortably.

Fortunately, a little planning can go a long way. By understanding how taxes will affect your retirement income, you can prepare for them ahead of time to ensure you'll still have enough money to make ends meet. As you're saving for the future, consider these three ways taxes could affect your income during retirement.

Survey: Only 1 in 3 older Americans are using this smart trick to beef up their savings

Social Security: You get only one chance to use this little-known way to boost benefits

If you've stashed money in a 401(k) or traditional IRA, you'll owe income taxes on those withdrawals in retirement. The only way to avoid paying taxes on retirement account withdrawals is to invest in a Roth IRA. With a 401(k) or traditional IRA, your contributions are tax-deductible upfront. But with a Roth IRA, you'll pay taxes when you make the initial contributions -- so your withdrawals will be tax-free.

Some workers may have savings in multiple types of accounts. In that case, it's important to come up with a withdrawal strategy to minimize your tax bill in retirement.

For example, if there are years of retirement when you know you'll be spending a lot more money -- like if you have several expensive vacations planned or want to renovate your home -- it's a good idea to withdraw more of your income from your Roth IRA because that money will be tax-free. Then, during the years when you're spending less, you can withdraw more from your traditional IRA or 401(k).

If you want to minimize your taxes in retirement, you may choose to invest primarily in a Roth IRA now so the bulk of your savings will be in this type of account. Although you'll owe taxes upfront, if you're currently in a lower tax bracket than you expect to be when you retire, saving in a Roth IRA could help you pay less in taxes than if you save in a 401(k) or traditional IRA.

The unfortunate truth is that even though you've been paying Social Security taxes for decades, you may also owe taxes on your monthly checks once you retire.

You could face both state and federal taxes on your benefits. Whether you owe state taxes will depend on where you live, because although the majority of states do not tax benefits at the state level, there are 13 that still do. (Also, while West Virginia currently taxes benefits, the state is planning to phase this tax out by 2022.)

When it comes to federal taxes, how much you're taxed will depend on what's called your "combined income" -- which is half your annual Social Security benefit amount plus all other sources of income. (However, Roth IRA withdrawals do not count toward your combined income.) Depending on your yearly income, you could face income taxes on up to 85% of your Social Security benefits.

The only way to avoid Social Security taxes entirely is to make sure you're living in a state that doesn't tax benefits, and then keep your combined income below $25,000 (or $32,000 for married couples) per year. If you have a Roth IRA, that's an advantage because those withdrawals don't count toward your combined income -- so you can spend more each year while potentially lowering your federal tax bill.

Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are traditional IRA or 401(k) withdrawals you must make once you turn age 72. The reasoning behind RMDs is that because traditional IRA and 401(k) contributions are tax-deferred, you don't pay taxes on that money until you make withdrawals. Eventually, Uncle Sam will want his cut, so you can't leave your cash in these accounts forever.

Not taking your RMDs can result in a hefty penalty, too. If you don't withdraw the full amount from your 401(k) or traditional IRA that you're supposed to, you'll face a 50% tax on the amount you didn't withdraw.For instance, if you have an RMD of $20,000 and you don't withdraw anything that year, you'll be hit with a $10,000 tax. Or if you only withdrew $15,000 when you should have withdrawn $20,000, you'll face a tax of $2,500.

Taxes can potentially take a big bite out of your retirement income, so it's vital to prepare for them as much as possible. By being aware of what taxes you may owe and coming up with a strategy to minimize them the best you can, you'll be able to stretch every dollar in retirement.

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Offer from the Motley Fool: The $16,728 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook

If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as$16,728 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

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Here are 3 ways taxes could be sabotaging your retirement income - USA TODAY

If you're looking to stretch your retirement budget as far as you can and are up for an exotic adventure, consider retirement in Thailand. This country has a low cost of living as well as some of the world's most beautiful beaches. However, the culture shock of living in Thailand can be significant for Americans. Before considering a move overseas, ask yourself if you will find the reality of life in Asia thrilling and invigorating or intimidating and stressful. Here's what you need to know about retirement in Thailand.

The Cost of Housing in Thailand

Renting before you consider a property purchase is a good idea. The cost depends on the location. You can rent in some parts of the country for as little as 6,000 baht ($190) per month, but accommodation that tends to appeal to American retirees generally starts at around 10,000 baht ($318) per month.

Most apartments and many houses come furnished. Utilities are usually paid by tenants, although extras like Wi-Fi and cable TV are sometimes included in the rent. Most contracts are for a year, but six-month leases are also common. Upon signing you'll typically hand over the first and last month's rent, plus a security deposit of one month. If you use a real estate agent to find a place, the standard commission is one month's rent for a 12-month contract and is paid by the landlord.

Foreigners can own property in Thailand with restrictions. You can own a condo as long as total foreign ownership is less than 50% of the building. Foreigners cannot own land.

[See: The 10 Best Places to Retire in Asia.]

Owning a Car in Thailand

There are many affordable public transportation options in Thailand. However, if you decide to invest in a car of your own, you'll find that vehicles are reasonably priced in Thailand, as many are assembled here. Insurance is affordable, and full coverage on a midsize late model car should run about 20,000 baht per year ($635). However, financing is normally unavailable or difficult to obtain as a foreigner.

Thailand Transportation Alternatives

Motorbikes and scooters rule the roads in Thailand. They are cheap to own and operate. A new Yamaha Fino automatic scooter can be purchased for 44,000 baht ($1,400). You could rent the same motorbike for about 3,000 baht ($95) per month. They are easy to drive, maintain and park. For Thai families, the household motorbike is an indispensable necessity, and many foreign retirees and expats come to feel the same way.

Three-wheeled tuk-tuks can be loud and hot, but they are affordable, and they do have a certain charm. Even more ubiquitous than tuk-tuks are the bright red "baht buses" or songtaews. A songtaew is a heavy-duty pickup truck with a cabin and seating built onto the bed. Never get into a tuk-tuk or songthaew without agreeing on the price in advance. When possible, ask a local how much the fare should be, so you know if you're being overcharged.

Visa Options in Thailand

You can apply for a 60- or 90-day visa from your home country through the Thai Embassy or Consulate or apply for a retirement visa. To qualify, you must be 50 years of age and be able to show an adequate income from outside Thailand or deposit 800,000 baht ($25,400) in a Thai bank. While "adequate income" isn't formally defined, unofficially it's about $1,800 a month. The retirement visa is for one year and must be renewed annually. You can process the paperwork yourself and pay about 2,500 baht ($80), or you can seek help from an attorney who will charge 10,000 to 15,000 baht ($318 to $475).

[See: The Best Affordable Places to Retire Overseas in 2020.]

Food Markets in Thailand

Local Thai markets are usually open-air establishments either in a static location or recurring at a set place and time weekly. Most markets offer a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices and other cooking products. Thai markets also offer prepared foods, most commonly roast duck and chicken. A rotisserie roast chicken costs just 140 baht ($4.50). Spicy salads such as som tum (papaya salad) can be made to order for 30 baht (95 cents).

Street Food in Thailand

Food carts are a way of life in Thailand. Most carts are attached to a motorcycle, and many operate from the same spot for decades. Try one thing at a time until you acclimate to the local food. Returning to the same vendor again and again is a great way to make a local friend. One unique kind of street food is fruit. Vendors offer fresh pineapple, mango, watermelon and even stinky durian. Smiling vendors slice up the fruit into bite-sized chunks and hand it to you in a plastic bag with a bamboo skewer. For about 80 cents, you get a bag full of fresh and healthy fruit to go.

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Alcohol in Thailand

While Thailand is a very affordable place to eat, drinking can be expensive. Prices for alcoholic beverages are inflated thanks to import duties and taxes. Beer can be affordable if you drink locally produced brands such as Singha, Chang and Leo, which sell for about 30 baht (86 cents). Foreign brands that are licensed to be produced in Thailand like Heineken, Tiger and San Miguel Light are available for slightly more. More exotic imports can cost as much as $5.50 each. The biggest import duties are slapped on wine, causing outrageous prices. An average Australian table wine that would cost about $8 in the United States is $27 in Thailand. Many foreign restaurant owners offer by-the-glass wine promotions to attract diners.

The Cost of Health Care in Thailand

Quality health care is widely available in major Thai cities at affordable prices. Patients are flown from all over Asia for life-saving and one-of-a-kind procedures that can only be performed in Bangkok. Bumrungrad International Hospital hosts a million medical tourists per year. Professional athletes come to Piyavate Hospital for orthopedic surgery critical to their careers. Health professionals here are trained all over the world, including Germany, France, Switzerland and the United States. A visit to the dentist that includes a cleaning and cavity filling is less than $30. Most surgery costs 30% to 40% less than in western countries.

[See: The Best Places to Retire in 2020.]

Language in Thailand

Even for the linguistically talented, Thai is difficult to learn. It's a tonal language with a lot of dialects that make it even harder to understand than it is to speak. Many Thai people speak English. However, do not expect to find English to be spoken or understood everywhere you go. You should learn how to count at least to 10, direct a driver, order food and ask directions to the bathroom. Just those few phrases will make life much less stressful.

Part-Time Retirement in Thailand

While the weather is hot and humid year-round, some months of the year are hotter than others. And in some parts of the country, farmers burn their fields from the middle of March through May to prepare for the next planting, creating air-quality concerns. For these reasons, Thailand can be a top choice for part-time retirement overseas. You could create a retirement overseas plan that allows you to enjoy the best months of the year in Thailand.

More From US News & World Report

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How to Retire in Thailand - Yahoo Finance

If you are at least five years away from retirement, investing in stocks is a great way to build wealth for your eventual transition out of the working world.

Ideally, for a retirement nest egg, you'd do well to pick stocks that you can hold for 10 years or more. Given that perspective, you'll want to select companies that are playing into long-term trends and have a solid reputation for growth. Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Mastercard (NYSE:MA), and Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) are three stocks that check both those boxes. Let's find out a bit more about each of these companies and why they might make good investments to build retirement wealth.

Note: Chart starts on July 1, 2015, when Teledoc went public.HD data by YCharts

Home Depot has been helping homeowners and professionals buy supplies to build and maintain their homes and offices since 1978. It has 2,290 stores across North America and is growing despite the threat of online retail competition.

With its "One Home Depot" initiative, the company is striving for excellent customer service regardless of whether you shop online or in stores.

Capabilities such as using its app to help find items inside the store, returning items bought online to a physical store, and picking up items from the store that were purchased online are all ways it's making it easier for consumers to make transactions.

Image source: Getty Images.

The company just finished its 2019 fiscal year in record-breaking style. Sales topped $110 billion on a year-over-year growth of 3.5%, with comparable same-store sales hitting an impressive 5.3%.

Digital ordering grew 21.4% over the previous year, and more than 50% of its online orders are picked up in the store. Over the last five years, it has grown same-store sales in excess of 5% every year, full-year earnings per share have increased 88% to $10.25, and the stock has more than doubled.

With almost 80% of U.S. homes over 20 years old, many will turn to Home Depot to help refresh or repair the place where they live for years to come. Combined with impressive stock growth, the company has been paying out a growing dividend over the last 11 years. Add in a dividend yield of 2.56% and a Dividend Reinvestment Program, this stock is a great way to build a solid foundation for your retirement portfolio.

Mastercard is a global payment processor that issues credit cards to consumers and businesses. Its cards were used 108 billion times last year to purchase almost $6.5 billion of goods and services in 210 countries and territories. Impressively, that's a 19.9% year-over-year growth in transactions and a 9.6% growth in dollar value.

Mastercard makes money primarily by taking a small piece of every transaction it processes. It racked up $12.8 billion in transaction processing and cross border fees in 2019,up 10% from the previous year. But it's also expanding into other businesses such as data analytics, cyber and intelligence products to detect fraud, loyalty and rewards services, and program management services. This segment made up $4.1 billion of its total $16.9 billion top line last year and grew at an impressive 23% clip year-over-year.

The stock is up over 200% in the last 4.5 years and has been paying a rising dividend for nine yearswith a dividend yield of 0.45%. Since cash is still the primary way commerce is done around the globe, this company has a bright future ahead, and its stock could help fund your retirement years.

Twenty years ago, working from home was really not an option with slow-speed dial-up internet connections and expensive laptops. But since then, technology has advanced and is making remote work easy and more productive.

Today, this same technology is making it possible for doctor visits to happen remotely too. Even though you might not have used Teledoc's services to connect with a medical professional from home or your mobile device, telemedicine is an undeniable trend that is here to stay.

Teledoc started in 2002 in Texas, went nationwide in 2005, and today serves patients in more than 175 countries and 40 languages. Last year, Teledoc facilitated 4.1 million telehealth "visits," which was up an impressive 57% from 2018.

The company captured $553 million in full-year revenue, growing 32% over the previous year. Most of its revenue (87%) comes via business-to-business subscriptions for insurers and corporate customers on behalf of their insured employees. The remaining revenue comes from fee-only visits where a client isn't part of a larger group program.

Although it's not paying a dividend, the stock has grown over 300% since its IPO in 2015. But it's not done growing, and the best days for this company may be yet to come. Global Market Insights estimates the total telemedicine market could be $130 billion by 2025, giving this market leader plenty of room to run. Looking back 20 years from now, it's likely that your future self will be happy that you added this stock to your retirement account.

Whether it's a solid dividend payer like Home Depot, a growth company taking advantage of technology like Teledoc, or Mastercard, which offers both growth and dividends, any of these three stocks could be a great way to start or add to your retirement portfolio.

With many brokerages offering free trades and the opportunity to buy fractional shares of stock, it's easier now than ever to get started (even with as little as $500).

Excerpt from:
3 Stocks to Help You Build Retirement Wealth - Motley Fool

If you're invested in any of the funds in our "Magnificent Retirement Mutual Funds" list, congratulations on owning some of the best managed and top-performing mutual funds. If you are lucky enough to discover our list of Top-Ranked Funds for the first time, it's never too late to start investing with the best, especially when it comes to your retirement.

How can you tell a good mutual fund from a bad one? It's pretty basic: if the fund is diversified, has low fees, and shows strong performance, it's a keeper. Of course, there's a wide range, but using our Zacks Rank, we've found three mutual funds that would be great additions to any long-term retirement investors' portfolios.

Let's break down some of the mutual funds with the highest Zacks Rank and the lowest fees.

Baird Midcap Investor (BMDSX): 1.06% expense ratio and 0.75% management fee. BMDSX is a Mid Cap Growth mutual fund. These funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. With annual returns of 11.2% over the last five years, this fund is a winner.

Dreyfus Appreciation Fund (DGAGX). Expense ratio: 0.9%. Management fee: 0.55%. DGAGX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, and these mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a "buy and hold" mindset. This fund has managed to produce a robust 10.87% over the last five years.

Franklin DynaTech A (FKDNX) is an attractive large-cap allocation. With a much more diversified approach, FKDNX--part of the Sector - Tech mutual fund category--gives investors a way to own a stake in the notoriously risky tech sector. FKDNX has an expense ratio of 0.85%, management fee of 0.46%, and annual returns of 15.25% over the past five years.

So, there you have it - if your advisor has you invested in any of our "Magnificent Retirement Mutual Funds," they are certainly earning their keep. If not, you may want to look elsewhere.

Do You Know the Top 9 Retirement Investing Mistakes?

Investing in underperforming mutual funds is just one of the key errors that can derail your retirement plans.

To learn more, read our just-released report: 9 Retirement Mistakes You Need to Avoid.

This report can help you sidestep these costly mistakes and potentially achieve your retirement goals. Get Your FREE Guide Now Get Your Free (BMDSX): Fund Analysis Report Get Your Free (FKDNX): Fund Analysis Report Get Your Free (DGAGX): Fund Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research

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Make the Most of Your Retirement with These Top-Ranked Mutual Funds - March 06, 2020 - Yahoo Finance

The 36-year old Hayden swam the 4th-fastest time of his career on Saturday in his 3rd meet back from a nearly 8-year hiatus from the sport. Archive photo via Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com

36-year old Canadian swimmerBrent Hayden hit his Olympic A time on Saturday in the 50 free, swimming a 21.97 to finish 3rd on Saturday at the Pro Swim Series meet in Des Moines.

Hayden, the Canadian Record holder in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles, swam his first race since returning to training in January, where he swam 22.34 in the 50 free. Then in February, in Vancouver, he swam a 22.31.

On Saturday, Hayden blew the doors open and slid under the Olympic A time of 22.01.

The time does not officially select Hayden for the Olympic Team. Unlike some countries, Canadian swimmers must hit the Olympic Qualifying Time and finish in the top 2 at the Canadian Olympic Trials to guarantee a spot on the Olympic Team. If nobody hits the A standard at the Canadian Swimming Trials in April, the top ranked swimmer who hits the Swimming Canada Olympic Nomination Time of 22.12 will earn an invite. Beyond that, the Swimming Canada High Performance Director has sole discretion to add swimmers who have FINA A times where places are still available.

Haydens time is the best by a Canadian this year or last, ahead of Yuri Kisils 22.23 from the 2019 Canadian Olympic Trials.William Pisani was 22.30 at that meet, and both swimmers are over a decade younger than Hayden.

This 22.97 is the 4th-best time of Haydens career. In 2009, he swam 21.73 and 21.94, and in 2010 he swam 21.89.

Hayden also swam a 49.46 in a 100 free time trial on Friday.

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet,

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After Almost 8 Years of Retirement, Brent Hayden Hits Olympic "A" time - SwimSwam

Editor's note: This article is part of our Women and Investing special report.

Among researchers, theres an active debate about whether theres a retirement crisis in the United States. Despite sobering statistics about average 401(k) plan balances, researchers point to Social Securitys high level of income replacement for lower-income workers as evidence that undersaved workers wont run out of money during retirement.

Yet one aspect of retirement preparedeness is a settled matter: Women are in worse shape than men on nearly every important metric.

The reasons are manifold, but a few factors loom large. Women have lower lifetime earnings than their male counterparts, due to both wage inequality and the fact that women are more likely to stop working or maintain a reduced schedule to devote time to caregiving for children, elderly parents, or both. Lower lifetime earnings translate into fewer opportunities to fund retirement accounts.

In addition, women must stretch those smaller average balances over a longer time frame in retirement, as 65-year-old women outlive their male counterparts by two years, on average. That convergence of lower retirement balances and a longer retirement period helps explain why women are much more likely than men to be poor in retirement and to rely exclusively on Social Security for their living expenses. And thanks to those lower lifetime earnings, womens Social Security checks are also smaller than their male counterparts'.

Theres no easy fix for the problem, but women should consider the following steps to help stave off a shortfall.

Maximize Contributions Before, During, and After Work Disruptions Much of the gender gap in lifetime earnings, and in turn retirement savings, owes to women reducing their paid work schedules or quitting work altogether to devote time to unpaid caregiving for children or elderly parents. Women are much more likely than men to cut back on paid work or quit altogether to shoulder caregiving responsibilities for children or other family members.

Those life decisions are about more than money, and women dont always have complete control over their employers or when their caregiving responsibilities will begin or end. But to the extent that it is possible, women who anticipate that their work trajectories could be affected by caregiving should prioritize employers with family-friendly policies such as paid parental leave and flexible work hours. As roughly 60% of family caregivers are employed, companies are recognizing the importance of policies that support them. The number of companies offering paid family leave has increased substantially in recent years.

The data also show that womens earnings tend to peak earlier than mens, no doubt in part because of caregiving responsibilities for many. That accentuates the merits for women of maximizing contributions in the early years of employment, when they can best benefit from compounding, and taking maximum advantage of retirement savings opportunities in those early-to-peak earnings years.

Married women who arent earning a salary can contribute to an IRA provided their spouse has enough earned income to cover the contribution. Doing so can help minimize the retirement-savings shortfall that can accompany work interruptions/reductions.

In addition, women who have reduced or stopped working to care for children, elderly parents, or both have the option to play catch-up, provided their caregiving obligations eventually cease and they have the extra income to contribute at a high rate. If they re-enter the workforce later in life, they may have the opportunity to contribute more to their retirement accounts during the empty nest years; additional catch-up contributions to IRAs and company retirement plans such as IRAs are available to people over age 50, and health savings account catch-up contributions are available after age 55.

Get Off the Sidelines Research on womens investing behaviors is all over the map: Studies have pointed to women investing more conservatively than men, trading less, being more patient, or being more goals-oriented. Other research indicates that once you control for income, womens investing behaviors are very similar to mens.

A few findings are consistent, though. One is that women tend to be more reticent than men to get their money invested. As Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and co-founder of the Ellevest investing service for women, put it, Our rival is really cash. You know, that's our biggest competition. It's cash and inertia. That tendency, combined with the fact that women live longer than men, on average, contributes to the likelihood that women will have a shortfall in retirement.

Additionally, women in 401(k) plans appear more likely to seek out help in the form of professional management; they use target-date funds and managed-account solutions more than their male counterparts, for example.

Automating investments into an age- and situation-appropriate investment mix such as a target-date fund helps address both tendencies. While many investors take advantage of automatic investments through their company retirement plans, investments into IRAs and taxable accounts can be readily automated, too. Using a multi-asset product like a target-date fund takes the guesswork out of how to invest the funds.

Work Longer Many factors affect how long well work--lifestyle and health considerations, as well as being able to stay employed and caregiving obligations. The fact that our retirement dates may be out of our control is why Morningstar contributor Mark Miller has referred to working longer as a worthy aspiration, not a retirement plan. And research from Morningstar Investment Management head of retirement research David Blanchett indicates that retirees who expect to work longer--past the traditional retirement age of 65, for example--are often unable to do so. Our retirement dates are less in our control than we might like to believe.

That said, the financial (and possibly other) benefits of working longer are undeniable: Additional retirement-plan contributions, delayed portfolio withdrawals, a shorter drawdown period, and delayed Social Security can all help bolster the viability of a retirement plan. The benefits of delaying retirement are especially great for women, in that interrupted work trajectories (for caregiving, see above) and longer life expectancies compound the stresses placed on retirement assets. For women hurtling toward retirement shortfalls, delaying retirement will be the single-most financially impactful decision they can make. That argues for maintaining work skills through investments in continuing education, being mindful of the incidence of ageism and staying alert to combat it, and making investments in physical health.

Its also worth noting that working longer doesnt necessarily mean sticking it out in a job that makes you miserable. If you can tick a couple of the working longer benefits outlined above--for example, delaying Social Security and portfolio withdrawals even if you arent earning enough to make additional retirement plan contributions--that can still be incredibly impactful for your plan.

Make Smart Social Security Claiming Decisions Social Security plays an outsize role in womens retirement plans: It composes 47% of income for women age 65 and older, whereas it is 32% of income for males who are 65 and above. Womens heavier reliance on Social Security, combined with the fact that women live longer than men, on average, accentuates the value of maximizing the lifetime value of Social Security for women. Women who expect to have longevity on their side have every reason to delay Social Security claiming to enlarge their eventual benefit. And married couples should focus their decisions on maximizing lifetime income over both partners lives. For women who will claim a spousal benefit (because half of their partners benefits will be higher than their own benefit), that argues for the higher-earning spouse delaying Social Security, if possible, to maximize the eventual benefit for the surviving spouse.

Lay a Plan for Healthcare Costs Because of their longer life expectancies, women have higher lifetime healthcare outlays than men and a greater need for paid long-term care. Women are often the caregivers for their spouses; when their spouses predecease them, they require paid long-term care at a greater rate.

That accentuates the virtue of maximizing retirement savings, of course, but women can take additional steps to ensure that high healthcare and long-term-care costs dont imperil the sustainability of their retirement plans.

Health savings accounts can be valuable as a long-term investment vehicle for women who would like to raise assets for their inevitable healthcare outlays. In contrast with retirement savings vehicles like IRAs and 401(k)s, HSAs enjoy tax breaks every step of the way: Pretax dollars go in, money compounds on a tax-free basis, and qualified withdrawals for healthcare expenses are tax-free, too. In contrast with assets in a flexible spending account, HSA assets can be invested in long-term assets like mutual funds and exchange-traded funds and roll over from year to year. Worst-case scenario and someone oversaves in an HSA--the withdrawals for non-health-care expenses after age 65 are treated like traditional IRA withdrawals, taxed at the investors ordinary income tax rate.

In addition, greater long-term-care usage suggests that women should be especially thoughtful about developing a long-term-care plan. Assets in health savings account can also be used to pay long-term-care insurance premiums or out-of-pocket long-term-care expenses.

Read more here:
5 Steps Women Can Take to Improve Their Retirement Readiness - Morningstar.com

The most important step in retirement planning is simply getting started, one financial expert shared in a conversation with Yahoo Finance.

The key to long-term retirement savings is just starting with any amount and signing up for your employers program, said Harry Dalessio, head of institutional retirement plan services at Prudential Financial. So you potentially have the opportunity to get a match.

Dalessios comments come when nearly a quarter of Americans dont have any retirement savings, according to the Federal Reserve. But even among those who do, 3 in 5 have little or no comfort managing their investments.

Confusion over the differences among retirement accounts is also relatively common, Dalessio said. But an adviser or financial firm should have educational materials to help guide you, he said.

Read more: 401k plan and how it works: The full breakdown

That means new retirement savers shouldnt get hung up on the differences between traditional 401(k)s that require pre-tax contributions and Roth 401(k)s that are funded by post-tax dollars.

The first step to retirement saving is to just start, according to one financial expert. (Photo: Getty Creative)

The first part is just to save, Dalessio said, pre or post tax.

One of the two most common questions, according to Dalessio, is just how do I get started?

So, life gets in the way of savings, said Dalessio who noted that Americans are juggling not just saving for retirement but other financial goals and challenges as well, such as coming up with a budget, paying down student debt, and creating an emergency fund.

Read more: Retirement planning: Everything you need to know

Thats why many employers are turning to financial wellness programs to help Americans get a handle on all their money concerns and not just saving for retirement.

Start with a bigger financial picture rather than taking a more siloed approach, Dalessio said.

The other popular question is: What do I do?

A financial advisor or firm can help you figure out how much to save for retirement and how to invest, one expert said. (Photo: Getty Creative)

Dalessio said people want to know where they should put their money and how much do they need to save for an adequate retirement. Fortunately, there are many more resources and tools available to guide people along the way.

Because most people are savers, not investors, he said.

Dhara is a writer for Yahoo Money and Cashay, a new personal finance website. She can be reached at dhara.singh@yahoofinance.com. Follow her on Twitter @dsinghx.

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Expert details the 'key to long-term retirement savings' - Yahoo Money

WESTON, W.Va. Long-time Mon Health Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital employee Robert Thomas was honored with a retirement reception on Thursday, February 27. Thomas began his tenure at Stonewall Jackson Memorial in July 1959.

Thomas was surprised by several announcements made at the celebration. SJMH CEO, Avah Stalnaker, declared the hospital Laboratory would be renamed the Robert R. Thomas Laboratory. Stalnaker also announced that Mon Health President and CEO, David Goldberg, and his wife donated a scholarship in Thomas name for SJMH Laboratory employees.

Stalnaker noted, Any retirement is special, but a retirement from the same organization for 60 years of service is extraordinary. I dont think this milestone will be reached by any other employee.

Thomas five children and families surprised Bob and wife Jackie with their attendance. Other former and current SJMH employees were also present to honor Thomas, who was the first employee and department head of the SJMH Laboratory.

During the reception SJMH Laboratory Director, Angela Cedeno, provided a decade-by-decade timeline of the changes in the Laboratory during Thomas tenure.

In her final tribute Cedeno explained, Most important Bob was always there for all of us. He was a confidant, leader, stern dad or just someone to joke with. He means more than he will ever know, and he is loved.

Former SJMH Administrator, David Shaffer, shared stories and former SJMH Pharmacist, Gerald Wood, spoke of working with Bob at the original City Hospital in Weston before SJMH was built in 1972.

Bob explained at the old Hospital he even filled in as a radiology technician when necessary. Unfortunately, not always with expertise.

A dentist brought in X-rays for me to develop and there were three bottles for me to use a developer, a fixer, and a wash, I think. I didnt know which was which, so I thought I developed the film and they came out completely gone, Thomas laughed.

In addition to renaming the SJMH Laboratory in honor of Thomas, Stonewall Jackson Memorial will also have a wall display with Bobs contributions to the hospital in the Laboratory waiting area.

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SJMH employee Bob Thomas honored for 60 years of service at retirement reception - My Buckhannon

Mark Christman resented being thought of as a wimp.

As a kid growing up in Indiana Township, hed always felt more like a tough guy, with the inner tenacity, drive and work ethic of a competitive athlete. Christman loved playing sports, but getting picked last on nearly every team was frustrating.

Around age 14, tasks like running laps and picking up a shovel to clean up after the family horse became unnervingly difficult. Hed lift weights for months and gain little to no muscle. And despite being relatively skinny, he had a small pot belly protruding from one side of his stomach.

In 10th grade, Christman joined the wrestling team at Fox Chapel Area High School. He got bigger but not stronger. He couldnt keep up.

He wondered what could be wrong with him.

Several months later, Christman rode the family horse without a saddle. The horse darted off at full speed, knocking him off while tangling his arm in the reins. He told his doctor about other issues the worsening weakness in his arms and legs, his lopsided belly and winged shoulder blade. The doctor sent him to a neurologist.

At age 16, Christman got a diagnosis he didnt know hed been waiting for.

Christman had been born with facioscapulohumeral disease, or FSHD, a rare form of muscular dystrophy that affects about 1 in 8,000 people. A genetic defect causes the overproduction of a protein that kills muscle cells.

The diseases severity can vary widely, from causing total blindness, hearing loss and leg and arm immobility, to people who show few to no symptoms. It has no known cure.

My parents had a really tough time with it, recalled Christman, now a 59-year-old retired business attorney, Whitehall zoning board member and board member of Trib Total Media. For me, I was almost relieved to know: OK, now I know what this is.

I grew up thinking I was a wimp, and I know Im not.

A disease with no cure yet

Christman didnt let the progressive disease get in the way of cultivating a successful professional and personal life.

After marrying his college sweetheart and passing the bar exam, he embarked on a decades-long career in business law while adapting to overcome challenges along the way, from getting around the office and climbing stairs to opening drawers and filing paperwork.

He appreciated the support of his wife, Renee, an elementary school ESL teacher, along with colleagues and strangers who stopped to help him get on the elevator, reach an item on a shelf or get up from a fall. After he opted for a wheelchair, his father drove him from the South Hills to his law firms office every day from 2002 until his retirement in 2015.

But Christman couldnt help feeling misunderstood.

Hed smile politely but felt irked when even close friends asked him, Hows your MS? in reference to an entirely different, nerve-related disease, multiple sclerosis.

A room full of strangers, a room full of friends

For 41 years, Christman never met anyone else who had the same disease as he did. A 2014 event in Boston changed that. At the FSHD Societys Connect Conference, he recalled feeling overcome with emotions when he encountered hundreds of people with varying levels of the FSHD.

The FSHD Society is a nonprofit advocacy and research grant-making group based in Lexington, Mass.

Christman, whos typically an introvert at large gatherings, still gets teary-eyed remembering it.

It was a room full of strangers, and I felt like they were my friends, he said.

Until that cathartic moment, Christman said hes not sure even he realized how isolated hed felt.

My wife is just the best thing that ever happened to me in my life, and I love her dearly but I still felt alone, he said. Everyones experience of the disease is different. But having someone whos shared some of your experiences is a really special thing.

Christman is on a mission to share that gift of connection and empowerment to others across Western Pennsylvania and neighboring states. Last year, he formed Western Pennsylvanias first chapter of the rapidly burgeoning FSHD Society. The organization hopes to accelerate getting promising treatments that could halt the diseases progression to market in as soon as five years.

Christman is searching for more participants and their loved ones to join the group, with at least four dozen believed to be living in the Pittsburgh area.

I want to maybe help other people have that same experience that I had meeting people, said Christman, but also do something to raise money and push this along to find a treatment and a cure.

Christman held the chapters first meeting in June at the National Aviary in Pittsburghs North Side. Seven people attended, including two people with FSHD and their spouses. He expected everyone to want to know the latest research and tips for practical things to make life easier, like how to get an insurance company to approve a more sophisticated, joystick-controlled scooter like his.

Instead, a former coal miner told the group how hard it was for him when he was diagnosed, and a former Aviary employee lamented that her condition forced her to stop working.

All anyone wanted was to talk, Christman said. It was all about sharing.

If you really loved her, you wouldnt marry her

Christman sees the group as a chance for people to discuss things that those who dont know of the disease cant relate to, including its emotional and psychological toll.

Like how his wifes parents reacted when he proposed.

They went on a campaign to stop her, Christman said. They were worried that I wasnt going to be able to support her, and that she was going to have a terrible life. They got me aside and said if I really loved her, I wouldnt marry her.

The week of the wedding, Renees parents called and asked to attend, and did.

They never said anything again, and theyve since apologized, said Christman, adding hes gotten along well with his in-laws ever since. They know they were wrong.

At a recent FSHD event, Christman met a man who feared his children would think less of him for having the disease. Christmans now-adult son reassured the man that wouldnt be the case, that to his kids hed just be dad.

Christman said he may not have been able to play catch, but he made plenty of time to be actively involved in the lives of his three children and never felt like he let them down because of his condition. One of his daughters is a registered nurse, the second is a Hasbro engineer. His son is a teacher.

Theres a 50/50 chance of passing on the gene to a child. But some people have the disease and show few or no symptoms. Christman hasnt identified anyone in his family known to have it.

As a lawyer, Christman sometimes wondered whether his visible physical handicap impacted his clients perception of his mental capabilities.

He wasnt sure whether colleagues thought of him as overly grumpy because of partial facial muscle loss that gives him a half-frown resting face and slightly crooked smile. Hes grateful he hasnt lost his ability to smile, like many people with FSHD do.

Finding patients, expediting treatments

Once the disease gets too far along, the muscles disappear, and theyre replaced by, essentially, scar tissue, said Dr. Paula Clemens, Christmans UPMC neurologist. Once that happens, theres not really a lot of hope in treatments, unless you were to come up with a treatment that would make new muscle, such as by using stem cells an idea thats still a long way from materializing.

The FSHD Society is hoping to expedite the approval of a pill that could stop the disease from getting worse. Formed in 1991 by two patients who have FSH muscular dystrophy, the FSHD Society has focused primarily on raising money for research.

In 2014, newly hired CEO Mark Stone decided that to help expedite the development and approval of newly emerging treatment options, they needed to form local chapters in as many places as possible and get more patients involved and aware of clinical trials.

An estimated 40,000 Americans live with FSHD. But the society is only aware of about 3,500 of them. People may be living with it and not have a formal diagnosis, either because they havent sought one or their doctors havent recognized it.

This is a disease where youve got to also have a very active community, branch coordinator Beth Johnston said, so that if treatments do come to light, they do get to people and you have a disease community who can support it.

The society now has 48 local chapters in 24 states. Its goal is to raise $5 million toward treatment efforts this year.

In addition to providing education and support groups, the society is working directly with medical researchers and officials at the Food and Drug Administration to lobby for expediting clinical trials that appear promising.

Theyre helping us to understand how to accelerate the process that they have in order to get the drugs on the market, Johnston said. Weve got to activate our community. This is such a critical time in therapy development, its super important.

You just adapt

Christman continues to struggle with some tasks on a daily basis, but he has managed to work around his limitations.

You just adapt, he said.

These days, his wife helps him shower and get dressed.

His dad, 85, still drives him to Giant Eagle.

He loves using his iPad and other devices that are operated via voice control, since he has trouble punching keyboards or touch screens with more than one finger. He has a hard time lifting his hands, so hell lean in to do so instead. He can move his right leg to the side, but cant extend it forward.

Alexa, tell Delta to pour one cup water, hell say to the Amazon device beside the kitchen sink that controls the hard-to-reach faucet.

Hes thankful for the work of Carnegie Mellon University students who helped to build him a special tool to use the oven.

A few months ago, Christman and his wife completed a full kitchen renovation that includes an oven with a door that opens sideways as opposed to outward, plenty of reachable cupboard space and a special pull-out feature for him to use his Kitchen Aid mixer.

He has a passion for cooking, especially baking bread. His Whitehall homes bookshelves are stocked with titles like The Bread Bakers Guide, Baking with Julia, Bernard Claytons New Complete Book of Breads and, for meals with an extra kick, The Sriracha Cookbook.

I love it when he cooks dinner with me, said Renee Christman, recalling a recent meal featuring her husbands homemade pizza crust.

In addition to his municipal and board roles, Christman enjoys taking courses through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at CMU. Some of his favorites so far include the masters of architecture, the role of food in history, psychology of decision-making and a course on cybercurrency. Hes participating in a CMU pilot project to build more accessible video games.

Even though its getting tougher, hes determined to do tasks like putting on his own coat for as long as he can.

My theory is, if I just let someone else do it all the time, Im not going to be able to do it anymore, Christman said.

But Christman said hes also getting better at accepting help when he needs it. He regrets delaying getting a wheelchair for years, only to realize how much more freedom it gave him.

I want to empower patients, because a lot of people dont know a lot about their disease and whats happening to them, he said. They want to learn and be with people who have gone through similar things. They want to tell their story.

The next meeting of the FSHD Societys Western Pennsylvania chapter is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. April 5 at the Carnegie Library branch in Pittsburghs Squirrel Hill neighborhood. For more information, go to FSHDSociety.org, email WesternPAChapter@fshdsociety.org or visit the group on Facebook.

Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Natasha at 412-380-8514, nlindstrom@tribweb.com or via Twitter .

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