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This emergency relief package is intended to assist individuals and businesses during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and accompanying economic crisis. Major relief provisions are summarized here.

This long-awaited legislation expands savings opportunities for workers and includes new requirements and incentives for employers that provide retirement benefits. Here are some of the changes that may affect your retirement, tax, and estate planning strategies. All of these provisions were effective January 1, 2020, unless otherwise noted.

The maximum amount you can contribute to a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA in 2020 is $6,000 (or 100% of your earned income, if less), unchanged from 2019. The maximum catch-up contribution for those age 50 or older remains at $1,000. You can contribute to both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA in 2020, but your total contributions can’t exceed these annual limit

By one estimate, a 65-year-old couple who retire in 2019 may need about $300,000 in savings to pay their health-care expenses in retirement. This includes premiums for Medicare Parts B and D, supplemental (Medigap) insurance, and median out-of-pocket prescription drug expenses, but not other health expenses such as long-term care, dental care, and eye care.

What is the Medicare Open Enrollment Period?

The Medicare Open Enrollment Period is the time during which Medicare beneficiaries can make new choices and pick plans that work best for them. Each year, Medicare plan costs and coverage typically change. In addition, your health-care needs may have changed over the past year. The open enrollment period is your opportunity to switch Medicare health and prescription drug plans to better suit your needs.

Conflict in the Persian Gulf has spurred modest oil price volatility in recent weeks, but prices didn’t spike to high levels seen during some past conflicts. That’s partly because rising U.S. oil production has shaken up the global oil market since 2010. Crude oil prices still react to geopolitical events and other unplanned supply disruptions.

Large-scale data breaches are in the news again, but that’s hardly surprising. Breaches have become more frequent — a byproduct of living in an increasingly digital world.

The newest reports, released on April 22, 2019, discuss the current financial condition and ongoing financial challenges that both programs face, and project a Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2020.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), most people with Medicare who receive Social Security benefits will pay the standard monthly Part B premium of $135.50 in 2019. People with higher incomes may pay more than the standard premium.

As summer quickly approaches we all see the increased ads for getting that summer body bathing suit ready.  Now, the target for these ads of course is to sell diet programs, gym memberships, and appeal to the psychology of self-image to make you act now!  What if I told you there is a financial advantage to maintaining a healthy physique?