Medicare IRMAA in 2026: Surcharges, Income Limits, and How to Appeal Originally posted May 2023 / updated September 2026 Planning for Medicare is an important part of retirement planning, but the cost of Medicare is not the same for everyone. Higher-income Medicare beneficiaries may pay an additional surcharge on their Medicare Part B and Part…
Oregon PERS IAP Member Choice: Should You Change Your Target-Date Fund? If you’re an Oregon PERS member, September brings a retirement-planning opportunity that’s easy to overlook: the annual IAP Member Choice window. From September 1 through September 30, eligible members can choose a different target-date fund for their Individual Account Program (IAP). For elections made…
Long-Term Care Planning in Retirement: How to Pay for Care (Insurance, Medicaid, or Self-Funding) In financial planning, I often get to walk alongside my clients as they dream about the good parts of life — travel, generous gifting, buying a long-anticipated home, or feeling confident enough to finally retire. But there’s another part of planning…
2025 Tax Law Changes for Retirees: Top 10 Provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Last week, Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) — a sweeping 800+ page piece of tax legislation. While most people haven’t made it past the table of contents (and who could blame them), it includes some…
Can You Keep Working After Oregon PERS Retirement? Here’s How It Works I hear from Oregon PERS members wondering: “Can I keep working after Oregon PERS retirement without it impacting my pension?” The short answer is yes—but with some important rules and caveats. In fact, I was just at my daughter’s school music performance a…
Where’s My Refund? Tax Planning for Retirees and Oregon PERS Members The question “Where’s my refund?” is on many of our minds as taxpayers search for answers and monitor their refund status. For retirees and members of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), the tax landscape includes unique factors that can significantly influence…
The Duality of Creating Financial Freedom For many of us, managing money and building financial security is a nagging concern. We know we should be making progress, but nothing changes. What keeps us from experiencing the financial life we desire? What keeps us from using money as a tool for achieving our goals rather than…
This month, I started taking an online course to deepen my expertise in a field near and dear to my heart: serving as a thought partner for my clients as they age. The course will leave me with an “Elder Care Specialist” designation and, ideally, equip me with better ways to serve my client families,…
What is Diversification? Almost everyone has heard that diversification is important in building portfolios. However, many people don’t understand what it is, why it’s important, or how to maximize its benefits. Diversification means spreading the assets in a portfolio among different investments. The goal is to smooth out the returns of the portfolio. For most…
Traditional retirement income planning aims to build a “nest egg” of personal savings and investments that will supplement Social Security and pension benefits. Together, these three sources of retirement income have long been referred to as the proverbial “three-legged stool”—a solid and well-balanced foundation for building financial security in old age. However, Social Security benefits…