(MoneyWatch) 

The Super Bowl is over and baseball season hasn't yet begun, so you know what that means -- it's tax time! Hold the groans, please. Maybe you thought your tax prep would get less complicated once you stopped working, but preparing taxes in retirement can be quirky.

First the good news: Uncle Sam is giving everyone two extra days to file. Taxpayers will have until Tuesday, April 17, to file their returns

(MoneyWatch)  U.S. taxpayers may be on the hook to bail out big banks -- again. The Financial Times is reporting that taxpayers will subsidize a large portion of the $25 billion mortgage settlement, which was broken down into two distinct pieces:

1. $5 billion in cash payments, of which $1.5 billion would go directly to approximately 750,000 borrowers who were wrongly or illegally foreclosed on between September 2008 and December 2011. This is

(MoneyWatch) 

For the first time in at least 20 years, Zurich ranks as the world's most expensive city, overtaking Tokyo, which had held the top spot for most of the last two decades, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's latest global survey.

In what should be something of a relief to Americans, no U.S. city ranked among the world's most expensive places to live -- and only New York cracked the top 15.

(MoneyWatch) 

Women, it's time to take charge of your retirement planning! That's the strong message we're getting from the third brief in the Society of Actuaries (SOA) research series, Managing Retirement Decisions.

According to the brief, women face special challenges when it comes to retirement planning:

-- They typically have lower Social Security, pension and 401(k) benefits than men because of intermittent work histories and lower salaries.

-- Their career and retirement

(MoneyWatch) 

With tax season upon us, you might be trying to decide whether to contribute to a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. You have up to your tax filing deadline -- April 17 this year -- to contribute to an IRA for 2011, and reduce your 2011 taxable income if you use a traditional IRA.

To see which type of IRA might work best for your situation, we'll need to look

(MoneyWatch) 

Valentine's Day can be about more than just giving roses and a nice card to your sweetheart. You can use romance to improve your life expectancy and brain health in your later years.

Studies have shown that individuals who consume a diet rich in anti-oxidants, enjoy a rich social life, and constantly challenge their bodies and brains in pleasurable ways often live longer -- and happier -- lives than their counterparts who

(MoneyWatch) 

What happens when an insurance company fails? This is one question it's important to know the answer to if you're considering the purchase of an immediate annuity to generate retirement income. As I've advocated in prior posts, unless you have significant lifetime income from your employer's defined benefit retirement plan, you should consider purchasing an immediate annuity for your retirement income portfolio. An immediate annuity pays you a lifetime retirement income, no matter

(MoneyWatch) 

Even the most organized people hate tax season, but this year Uncle Sam has a special present: two extra days to prepare. Taxpayers will have until Tuesday, April 17 to file their 2011 tax returns because April 15 falls on a Sunday, and Emancipation Day -- a holiday observed in the District of Columbia -- falls on Monday, April 16. According to federal law, D.C. holidays impact tax deadlines in the same way

(MoneyWatch) 

If you're retiring from a company with a cash balance retirement plan, take the time to analyze your payout options. While many people take a lump sum payout, the annuity option might be best for you. Let's take a look to see why.

Cash balance defined benefit plans are offered by many large employers; according to a recent survey by Towers Watson, 25 percent of the Fortune 100 offer these retirement plans