If you have adult children then you know that it’s more than just credit limits and investment accounts that have been affected by the slow economy; companies also are tightening their belts, and people of all ages are finding it harder to get (or keep) jobs. As a result, more and more adult children have been moving back in with their parents.

Of course every parent wants to do what’s best for their child, but Ruth Mantell of the Wall Street Journal writes in her article that in this case, being tough may be what’s best. This isn’t to say that you should refuse if your out-of-work child comes to your door asking for help, but that parents or grandparents need to do what’s necessary to protect themselves before they welcome their adult children back home. “With job losses continuing to mount, older Americans’ wallets are being stretched by their own children,” Mantell writes, but having your adult children back in your home can actually be a good experience for all—if you know what to expect and take the right steps first.

In her article Mantell offers five useful tips to help keep the peace and keep your finances secure, including suggestions such as making sure everyone knows who is boss (you as the homeowner), asking for household contributions (even if all your children can afford is a token financial contribution or a contribution of manual labor), and especially preserving your retirement plans at all costs.

Although the practice has fallen out of style, multi-generational households used to be the norm. It may not be the ideal situation today, but with the right communication, and with everybody on the same page, temporarily sharing the house with your adult children can be an acceptable—and maybe even rewarding—experience.

People used to think that retirement was a time of placidity and relaxation, a time when all of life’s big surprises were behind you and most days and years would now bring an unchanging idyllic existence…

It seems unlikely that this was ever an accurate portrayal of any phase of human existence, including retirement, but people seemed satisfied to believe it at the time. Recent events, however, have put retirement under some serious scrutiny, and what has been found is that (especially lately) retirement is just as fraught with losses, gains, and unexpected changes as any other time of life—perhaps more!

In retirement, as with anything else, foreknowledge and preparation can make all the difference. This recent article in U.S. News and World Report entitled 5 Big Financial Changes for Retirees in 2010 can help prepare retirees for what’s ahead. And in spite of what general opinion would have you think, the news isn’t all bad! New Roth IRA rules and a suspension of mandatory retirement plan withdrawals are two changes that will work in retirees’ favor. But taking advantage of these changes could have a negative effect on your 2009 tax return if you don’t take precautions.

Contact your financial advisor or estate planning attorney for the low-down on how to best use, protect and preserve your retirement income. With the right preparation, you just may be able to have that relaxing (if not completely care-free) retirement after all.

How are you feeling about your retirement these days? According to Chuck Jaffe’s article in MarketWatch most people’s answer to that question is not so good. According to Jaffe, Americans are losing confidence in the market’s ability to support their retirement (with good reason), and the most common reaction to this lack of confidence is to reassess their future and plan to put off retirement a few years. But what if your retirement date isn’t a matter of choice?

The tagline of Jaffe’s article is “Raise Retirement Satisfaction By Lowering Your Standards”, but what Jaffe really seems to be saying is not so much “lower your standards” as be educated about the market and realistic about your standards. “Getting a better handle on your future — so that you can either say today you’ll be able to live comfortably in retirement or make plans that raise your comfort level in time — requires sound knowledge of where you actually stand today. That requires taking inventory of your assets, expenses and plans.”

This is sound advice not just in retirement planning, but in any kind of planning—including estate planning. There is a lot of conflicting information out there, and a lot of assumptions; our firm can help you navigate the terrain and make an informed choice about your future.

A bill that has passed the U.S. House and Senate, and which is expected to be signed by the President, allows taxpayers to not take their Required Minimum Distributions out of their IRA’s or other retirement accounts in 2009.

Typically, in the year when a person who has IRAs or other retirement accounts turns 70 ½ they must begin to take Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) from those accounts.   Each year thereafter they must take a slightly larger percentage of their assets out of those accounts.   If the person with the IRA doesn’t take their RMD, they are assessed a hefty penalty.   The bill that recently passed the U.S. House and Senate, H.R. 7327, eliminates the penalty for not taking a RMD in 2009.   The intent of HR 7327 is to help taxpayers by not forcing them to withdraw money from their retirement accounts which may have lost significant value because of the recent downturn in the economy.   Additionally, people who were subject to the “five-year rule” for withdrawals, and are within their “five years,” will not be forced to withdraw funds in 2009 and the timeframe to complete their withdrawals will be extended by one year.

This law provides and opportunity for people who don’t need to take an RMD, but are required to because of their age, to allow their retirement accounts to recover during 2009 before taking their required minimum distributions again in 2010.   Please remember this important change before determining whether or not you will take money out of your IRA or retirement account in 2009.

Lastly, this change is only for 2009, not for this year, so don’t forget to take your RMD for 2008.