Author: Marvin Dutton

Veterans Affairs Life Insurance (VALife) will be launched in January 2023, and it will give the guaranteed acceptance of full life insurance coverage to veterans aged 80 and under with any level of a service-connected disability. Some veterans aged 81 and up may be eligible as well.

What is Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Insurance, and how does it work?

Guaranteed acceptance is a policy that covers you for the rest of your life and does not require a medical exam or health inquiries. It also does not have a two-year registration period. Whole life insurance covers the rest of your life as long as the premiums are paid on time. Premium rates are fixed for the policy’s life and do not increase as the policyholder matures, unlike term insurance.

What advantages does it provide?

The new program, established by Public Law 116-315, covers the requirements of service-connected veterans who may not have previously qualified for VALife insurance. VALife offers whole life insurance with the assured acceptance that lasts for the rest of a person’s life and includes the following features:

• All services are interconnected. Veterans aged 80 and under with a VA disability rating of 0% to 100% are eligible.

• Online enrollment is fully automated, with quick approvals.

• Premiums are competitive – or better than what is offered in the private sector, and coverage is available in $10,000 increments up to a maximum of $ 40,000. Full face value coverage takes effect after a two-year waiting period.

• There are no medical criteria for participation.

• After the first two years of enrollment, the policy’s cash value grows over time.

• The earlier you join up, the better the rates. Premiums will never go up after they’ve been locked in.

Who is eligible to participate?

Veterans who are 80 years old or younger and have a VA disability rating of 0% to 100% are eligible for VALife, and there is no time limit on when they can apply.

Veterans aged 81 and over may apply for VALife within two years of getting a new service-connected disability rating if they meet the requirement.

What effect will this have on other VA life insurance programs?

More service-connected veterans than ever before can now get life insurance via VALife. VALife, unlike Service-Disabled Veterans Life Insurance (S-DVI), has no medical qualifications and a two-year waiting period if a veteran is under age 80.

Veterans with an S-DVI policy can keep their coverage or apply for VALife when available. If the application is submitted between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2025, veterans can keep their S-DVI policy until the full coverage of VALife begins two years following enrollment.

After December 31, S-DVI will no longer accept new students. Even if they plan to register for VALife in the new year, veterans interested in S-DVI should apply by this date.

How do you go about applying for both?

On January 1, 2023, the VALife application will be available. Keep an eye out for updates on VALife and the application process. The application will be available online at https://www.benefits.va.gov/insurance/VALife.asp once the program is launched.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementing a sound plan for your retirement. We are committed to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at MarvinDutton.com . Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected].

The primary reason we contribute to our Thrift Savings Plan account is so that we can begin withdrawing from it at some point in the future. In addition, most of us view our TSP balance as a source of monthly income to augment our government annuity and Social Security (both of which are also paid monthly).

If we want to replace 80% of our pre-retirement income (as many financial advisers recommend), the great majority of us will fall short of that objective if we rely only on an annuity and Social Security. As a result, many retirees choose to receive TSP payments regularly.

In fact, over half of the separated employees choose a TSP withdrawal option that offers recurring income. Two income-generating withdrawal options are available: installment payments and a TSP life annuity. Installment payments can be made monthly (most common), quarterly, or annually. With installment payments, your money will stay in the TSP, where it’ll (hopefully) grow. A TSP life annuity involves withdrawing money from your TSP account and using it to buy a single premium immediate annuity (paid monthly) from MetLife; you can use all or part of your TSP balance to buy the annuity.

So, what’s the distinction between installment payments and a life annuity? Though both options allow us to collect recurring payments, the rules are significantly different. The most significant distinction is that a TSP Life Annuity is an irrevocable option, whereas installment payments can be altered frequently. Individuals who use installment payments can start and stop payments at any time and adjust the amount of the installments many times per year.

The TSP life annuity ensures that you won’t run out of money over your lifetime; you won’t have to look after your investments. But unfortunately, there’s no guarantee with installment payments, and you must watch after your withdrawals to verify that you continue receiving payments.

Both installment payments and life annuities allow you to receive payments based on a certain amount of money (level payments) or your life expectancy (increasing payments).

The Thrift Savings Plan has various calculators, including the TSP Payment and Annuity Calculator, with which we came up with the following examples. Due to the ongoing repercussions of the Thrift Plan’s new system, this calculator is no longer available on TSP’s website (as of July 2022). In our calculations (completed in April, before the new system’s implementation), we estimated that a 57-year-old retiree had $350,000 in their TSP when they started withdrawals upon retirement. We also assumed they would live to be 90 years old and that any money remaining in their TSP account would grow at a rate of 5% per year. The annuity interest rate index was 2.075% – the rate for TSP annuities in February 2022.

Level monthly payments of $1,750 would remain until death at 90, leaving a $4,244 balance in the TSP account.

Monthly benefits would begin at $1,045 and would have reached $2,247 at 90, according to the IRS life expectancy chart. As a result, $295,069 would stay in the TSP account.

A monthly annuity with a basic level payment would earn $1,394 and keep paying that amount throughout the individual’s life. At death, there would be no funds left.

A basic increasing payment annuity would have started at $998 and grown to $1,887 at 90. At death, there would be no money.

Which option is most popular among separated federal employees? Monthly payouts are significantly more common than life annuities. Separated employees appear to prefer the opportunities for continuous development and the freedom to adjust their payouts that monthly payments provide over the certainty of the Life Annuity.

According to recent research, there are 1.2 million fewer workers than before the pandemic. However, it also said that if the pre-pandemic worker growth rate had remained, there would be 3.5 million more employees in the workforce today.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementing a sound plan for your retirement. We are committed to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at MarvinDutton.com . Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected].

All TSP participants will need to create a new login for the new My Account after the transition in June. This one-time setup process will guide you through the steps of verifying your identification, creating a username and password, updating your contact information, and securing your account. You’ll notice a new design, additional tools, and expanded functionality to help you manage your account once you log in to My Account:

– The configurable, user-friendly homepage will provide rapid access to the information you want to see first.

– You’ll be able to see all the information for both accounts in one spot if you have both a civilian and a uniformed services account. This includes your overall total amount.

– You’ll have the option to use your device’s identification software, such as fingerprint access and facial recognition, to add an extra layer of security when you access My Account from your mobile device.

– If you need tailored assistance, you can utilize our virtual assistant, AVA, to ask account-specific inquiries and connect directly to a Thrift Line Representative for a live chat session during business hours.

The window for mutual funds

TSP participants who want more investment freedom may look into the mutual fund window. You can choose from a pool of over 5,000 mutual funds if your account fulfills specific qualifying conditions. This flexibility comes at a cost, as it does with most mutual funds:

TSP participants who do not utilize the mutual fund window pay a $55 yearly fee to ensure that using the mutual fund window does not increase TSP administration expenses.

The annual maintenance charge is $95

Distributions and withdrawals

The process for requesting a withdrawal or distribution will be more efficient and time-saving with the improvements coming in June:

– We’re providing the opportunity to use electronic signatures and submit many requests online, just like we do with other transactions.

Support choices have been expanded.

With our increased support options, you’ll have more opportunities to have your issues answered starting in June:

– On our website and in the TSP Mobile App, you’ll have 24/7 access to help through AVA, a virtual assistant (coming in June). AVA will provide a secure place for you to ask questions regarding your account and, if necessary, will link you to a live ThriftLine agent through chat during office hours.

Online transactions that are quick and easy

We’re providing new ways to perform most transactions and requests online to save you time and reduce paperwork:

– You’ll be able to request transactions, upload forms and documents, and electronically sign your name in the new My Account.

Other useful information

You’ll be able to submit beneficiary information online through a new tool in My Account or by calling the ThriftLine. There will be some modifications to the way beneficiaries are designated:

– You’ll be asked to confirm beneficiary information once a year to ensure it’s accurate.

– You can easily designate equal distribution to beneficiaries using the online option for providing beneficiary information through My Account, without having to list precise percentages unless you choose to.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementing a sound plan for your retirement. We are committed to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at MarvinDutton.com . Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected].

Despite the necessity of focusing on day-to-day operational concerns, many firms need help to build a practical and realistic Technology Strategy. The inability to examine essential components of an IT strategy can have disastrous effects on a company’s ability to compete in the marketplace and effectively address infrastructure and data security concerns.

  Technology Leaders are well-versed in industry best practices, and their wide variety of experiences servicing customers of all sizes offers us the benefit of providing you with an informed and impartial perspective to help you find opportunities and avert catastrophes.

We are professionals in assisting loan clients in comprehending the significance of the right software, a solid and secure infrastructure, and a competent support team in achieving overall objectives. So whether you define success in terms of sales, cost savings, risk mitigation, or better company efficiency, we will happily provide a business case for each of our recommendations.

The Thrift Board has determined its objectives by considering the following five visions:

• Our procedures are executed without a hitch;

• We assist participants in making informed decisions;

• We are careful with the money contributed by participants;

• We make the FRTIB a wonderful place to work and an environment in which outstanding work may be accomplished and

• We cultivate fruitful partnerships with those with a stake in the TSP.

The Thrift Board has decided to focus on the following three goals in terms of the consequences that plan participants would experience:

• Make it easier for participants to make decisions by giving information specific to their needs;

• Investigate and put into practice any improvements in plan design and benefits policy; and

• The percentage of participants that carry out a predetermined goal due to FRTIB outreach is increased.

Concerning the achievement of another aim, the provision of services, more time is spent on the participants. The following are the four goals that fall under the participant services goal:

• Raise knowledge about how the services supplied by the TSP compare to those provided by other defined contribution plans, providers, and financial institutions;

• Work in collaboration with employment agencies and payroll offices to provide participants with more seamless service;

• Understand the requirements and expectations of participants and respond to them;

• Open up the opportunity for mutual funds. This task was finished a couple of months ago.

They also wanted the TSP to move toward a managed services strategy, another of their objectives. This shift occurred in May and June, and it needed to measure up to preserve program performance while also maintaining the participant satisfaction that the Thrift Board had set for itself.

 The TSP, as of late, has been more user-friendly and proactive than it was in its earlier days. This contrasts with how it was in its earlier days. Their strategic plan will make it possible for them to enhance the services they provide for the benefit of participants who are both employed and retired.

The Target Date Fund (TSP) employs the IRS Single Life Table to calculate life expectancy-based distributions for participants who have yet to reach the age at which they are obliged to begin receiving RMD payments when those payments commence.

 These participants are eligible to transition to the Uniform Lifetime Table once they reach the age for RMDs, which is presently 72 years old. 

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementing a sound plan for your retirement. We are committed to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at MarvinDutton.com . Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected].

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) evaluates the impact of inflation and other variables each year to determine the maximum contributions for tax-advantaged retirement plans. They have been the same for some years. However, on occasion, the IRS modifies the amount that can be saved to your 401(k) and individual retirement account (IRA) to reflect the cost of living adjustments (COLAs).

The modifications for 2023 are significant. Here is all you should know about 401(k) and IRA contribution limits for 2023 and how to maximize your retirement savings.

What Is the Maximum IRA and 401(k) Contribution?

The IRS increased the annual IRA contribution cap from $6,000 to $6,500 for 2023. The contribution cap applies to all your IRAs combined, so if you have a conventional IRA and a Roth IRA, your contributions to both accounts cannot exceed $6,500. The $1,000 catch-up payment for people over 50 is not subject to COLA increases.

The 401(k) contribution cap will rise to $22,500 in 2023 from $20,500 in 2022. The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) of the federal government, most 403(b), and some 457 plans are all subject to this contribution cap. The catch-up payment for people over 50 increased from $6,500 to $7,500.

How to Understand IRA Income Restrictions

You can frequently deduct contributions from your income if you have a conventional IRA. However, depending on your income and tax status, the ability to deduct your IRA contributions goes away if you or your spouse participate in a retirement plan at work. You can still deduct, but not fully, when your income reaches a particular threshold. You cannot deduct any IRA contributions after you have reached the top phase-out limit.

The income limitations in 2023 are:

• For single taxpayers: phase-out starts at $73,000 and ends at $83,000.
•  Married taxpayers making payments to a spouse’s workplace plan: phase-out starts at $116,000 and ends at $136,000
•  Married taxpayers who do not have a workplace plan but whose spouse does: phase-out starts at $218,000 and ends at $228,000.

You have a stronger chance of being able to deduct payments to an IRA if you have a corporate retirement plan, most likely a 401(k), which encourages you to use more than one kind of tax-advantaged retirement account.

It’s essential to note that for 2023, the income thresholds for Roth IRA contributions have also been slightly raised.

Depending on your income and tax status, you can make contributions to a Roth IRA with income phase-outs:

• Individuals or heads of households: $138,000 to $153,000
• Married couples filing jointly: $218,000 and $228,000

For Roth IRA contributions, the income phase-out range remains zero to $10,000 if you’re married and filing separately.

Limits on 401(k) and IRA contributions: Using All Available Means

There is at least one benefit to living in inflationary times if you can take advantage of the higher IRA and 401(k) contribution limits and the additional catch-up amounts for individuals over 50.

You can boost the amount you set aside if you aren’t making the maximum contribution to your retirement account. Discuss with your human resources department the possibility of having a small portion of each paycheck deposited into a 401(k) or IRA. Even though it might not seem like much now, compounded returns over the years can significantly impact the performance of your whole portfolio.

If you are eligible, another strategy is to think about funding a Health Savings Account (HSA) to benefit from those tax advantages. Your HSA can also help you cover medical expenses when utilized as a part of a retirement plan; it may even act as a backup IRA after you turn 65.

Taking charge of your overall retirement plan

Consider consulting a retirement expert to learn how to maximize your future based on the types of accounts you are eligible to contribute to. In some circumstances, a plan that utilizes a 401(k), Roth accounts, and both traditional and Roth accounts can improve the overall tax efficiency of your retirement portfolio.

You can ensure that your retirement goals align with your other financial goals by taking a holistic approach. Think about talking with a retirement expert to get their opinion on your strategy and help you stay on course.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementing a sound plan for your retirement. We are committed to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at MarvinDutton.com . Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected].