Author: Monica Khalid

By DARIA UHLIG

Published March 4th, 2024

Retirement planning is a confusing but necessary financial step. There are many retirement account types that may be good for you, depending on a few key factors, like your employer and how you prefer to be taxed. Here’s a look at the top nine types of retirement plans.

What Are the Top 9 Retirement Plans?

Some retirement plans are designed for people with full-time jobs. Some are meant exclusively for business owners. Others are adaptable to anyone, no matter their situation. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks.

1. Traditional IRA
2. Roth IRA
3. SEP-IRA
4. SIMPLE IRA
5. 401(k)
6. Solo 401(k)
7. 403(b)
8. Annuity
9. Defined benefit plan

1. Traditional IRA

An individual retirement account is a savings plan that any individual with a taxable income can open and manage themselves. An IRA offers a tax advantage because once you contribute, your money will grow and you won’t pay taxes until you withdraw it.

Different financial service companies offer different IRA plans. This makes them adaptable for anyone, no matter the income, because you have the freedom to choose the investment options you can afford.

2. Roth IRA

A Roth IRA is similar to a traditional IRA. The primary difference between them is that with a traditional IRA, you pay taxes when you withdraw your contributions. With a Roth IRA, you pay taxes on contributions as you make them, but you don’t pay when you withdraw the money upon retirement.

Also, unlike some of the alternatives, a Roth IRA will allow you to start withdrawing money early under certain circumstances.

3. SEP-IRA

A Simplified Employee Pension IRA is an IRA specifically designed for people who are self-employed or run their own businesses.

A SEP-IRA plan has a similar structure to a traditional IRA. The main difference is that an employer can contribute more than a traditional IRA would allow. As of 2024, the employer is allowed to contribute 25% of an employee’s income up to a maximum amount of $69,000.

Given that the contribution is dependent on income, in years when the business makes less money, you can make smaller contributions. This is beneficial if you are the employer, but less so if you are the employee.

4. SIMPLE IRA

A Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees IRA is also intended for use by small-business owners. To qualify for a SIMPLE IRA, a business must have 100 employees or fewer.

Under this plan, the employer matches up to 3% of an employee’s salary per year. If an employee leaves the company, they keep the contributions that the employer has already made.

5. 401(k)

A 401(k) is the most common retirement plan offered by employers. A 401(k) is tax-free until you are ready to withdraw the money, at which point you pay income tax on the amount you take out. Generally, with some exceptions, you must be at least 59 1/2 to start withdrawing funds without incurring an early withdrawal tax penalty.

Many employers match contributions that you make into a 401(k). You may not be allowed to keep all of your employer’s contributions if you leave the company before you are fully vested. However, you can roll over contributions into your new employer’s 401(k) plan or into an IRA.

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6. Solo 401(k)

A solo 401(k) is similar to a standard 401(k), but it’s for self-employed individuals with no employees. This type of retirement plan treats you as both an employer and an employee. That means you can make contributions as both — which translates to potentially more tax-deferred savings than you’re allowed with a standard 401(k).

You can contribute as much as 100% of your earned income from self-employment, up to contribution limits. The limit on contributions you can make as an employee is $23,000 in 2024, plus a catch-up contribution of $7,500 if you’re age 50 or older. The limit on your contributions as an employer is 25% of your employee compensation from the business, up to $69,000, plus a catch-up contribution of $7,500 if you’re age 50 or older.

The IRS has a formula for calculating earned income for the purpose of determining your contribution limits. The formula can be tricky and mistakes can be costly, so consider talking with a financial advisor or accountant before you begin contributing to a solo 401(k) account.

7. 403(b)

A 403(b) plan is similar to a 401(k), but it’s offered to employees of public schools and certain nonprofits, such as churches and 501(c)(3) organizations.

As with 401(k) contributions, 403(b) contributions are tax-deferred, and so is the growth of funds in your account. You’re not taxed until you withdraw the money.

Some employers offer Roth versions in addition to standard 403(b)s. With a Roth 403(b) account, you make contributions from after-tax income and withdraw funds tax-free in retirement.

8. Annuity

Annuities are contracts between you and an insurance company. In exchange for your purchase, whether you pay a lump sum or in installments, the insurance company agrees to make one or more payments, and perhaps pay a death benefit, to you. You can take the payout as a lump sum or as a series of payments.

There are three primary types of annuities:

• Indexed annuity: Returns are tied to an index, such as the S&P 500
• Fixed annuity: Offers a fixed interest rate on your funds and periodic payments of a predetermined dollar amount
• Variable annuity: Allows you to invest funds, which grow tax-free at a variable interest rate

Annuities have fees and risks you should be aware of before you purchase one. While only variable annuities are considered securities, a fee-only investment advisor might be the best person to help you determine whether any kind of annuity you’re considering is the right choice for you.

9. Defined Benefit Plan

A defined benefit plan is the type of retirement plan most people probably associate with employee pensions. Recipients receive a fixed, predetermined benefit when they retire. The benefit can be a set dollar amount or a percentage of your salary, set according to your years of service. The benefits of defined benefit plans are that your employer contributes most of the funds, and you know in advance how much you’ll receive — your employer can’t retroactively decrease the amount, according to the IRS.

Most defined benefit plans are annuities that pay out for the rest of your life or your and your spouse’s lives.

Final Take

Choosing from the retirement account types that are available can be overwhelming, but it is important. If your employer offers a specific plan, that may take the choice out of your hands. If they don’t, then consider what you want out of your plan now in terms of investments and taxation, and what you expect out of it once you retire.

FAQ

• What are the most common types of retirement plans?
  • A 401(k) is the most common type of retirement plan offered by employers, edging out defined benefit plans, according to an IBISWorld analysis. However, an IRA is the most common retirement plan chosen by individuals.
• What is the simplest retirement plan?
  • A traditional IRA is the most straightforward retirement plan. Anyone who earns an income can open one, so there are fewer hoops to jump through to see if you qualify.
• What is better than a 401(k) for retirement?
  • A retirement plan is a personal choice, dependent on when you would rather be taxed and what kind of employer contributions you expect. The best plan for a business owner is not the best plan for an employee, so deciding if a 401(k) or another retirement account type is best requires research or the advice of a professional.
• What is the difference between a 403(b) and a 401(k)?
  • The primary difference between a 403(b) and a 401(k) is the type of employer that offers them. Public schools and certain charitable organizations sponsor 403(b) plans, while for-profit companies sponsor 401(k)s.
• Is a Roth IRA better than a 401(k)?
  • They’re different products, and one isn’t necessarily better than the other. Roth IRAs have the benefit of being individual plans — you don’t need an employer to sponsor one. In addition, you withdraw money tax-free in retirement. The main benefits of a 401(k) are the higher contribution limits and your employer’s ability to contribute funds on your behalf.

Source: https://www.aol.com/types-retirement-plans-choose-one-223307908.html?guccounter=1

By Patricia Amend, AARP

Published January 19, 2024

The rate of inflation fell in 2023. The Consumer Price Index, the government’s main gauge of inflation, rose 3.4 percent for the 12 months that ended in December, compared with 6.5 percent in December 2022. But that doesn’t mean that the cost of living has gone down; it’s just rising at a slower rate. What to do?

Paying less in taxes is a good start. 

Americans are dealing with inflation in many ways.  People have created budgets, reduced spending, and started taking part-time side jobs for extra income, according to a study by the financial services company Empower. And that helps: The study indicates that 68% of those surveyed said they’ll be ready for retirement when the time comes.

But don’t forget that big chunk of change you send to Uncle Sam every year. And at age 50, you become eligible for some considerable tax benefits, which can help if you’re behind on your retirement savings goals. 

Estimate Your 2023 Taxes

AARP’s tax calculator can help you predict what you’re likely to pay for the 2023 tax year.

Now you can contribute more to your traditional individual retirement account (IRA), Roth IRA or to your employer-sponsored plan or to your health savings account (HSA).

“It is enough to pick up your pace if you’re feeling behind, especially if you’ve got more disposable income and fewer expenses,” says Jacqueline Koski, a certified financial planner (CFP) in Dayton, Ohio, who serves on the board of the Financial Planning Association (FPA).

Here’s how to take advantage of the tax laws to catch up, if needed. If you’re already retired, or close to it, these laws can enable you to reduce your tax bill. That’s too good to pass up.

1. Contribute more to your retirement plan

“The most important ‘kicker’ when one is over 50, is the additional deductible contribution to a 401k or IRA,” says John Power, a CFP at Power Plans in Walpole, Massachusetts. “These are often the highest earning years, and they often synchronize with children becoming independent.” If this is your case, and your expenses are lower, then Power encourages maximizing your retirement savings.

For 2024, the contribution limit for employees who participate in 401(k) and 403(b) programs, most 457 retirement saving plans and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan has been increased to $23,000, up from $22,500 in 2023. Employees 50 and older can contribute an additional $7,500, the same as for 2023, for a total of $30,500.

The contribution limit for a traditional or Roth IRA is $7,000, up from $6,500 for tax year 2023. The catch-up amount is $1,000, the same as 2023. The 2024 catch-up contribution limit for a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) plan is $3,500, unchanged from 2023.

Unfortunately, attractive as these catch-up provisions are for folks 50 and older, a mere 16% of those who are eligible have been making these contributions, according to “How America Saves 2023,” a report by Vanguard.

At the same time, data from the National Retirement Risk Index compiled by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, indicates that about half of American households are at risk of being unable to maintain their preretirement standard of living in retirement. 

In addition to making your retirement more secure, contributing to a tax-deferred retirement plan, such as an IRA or a 401(k), will also reduce your taxable income—which, in turn, reduces the taxes that you’ll be required to pay. Increasing your contribution won’t reduce the amount of your paycheck as you might think, thanks to the reduction in taxes.

Let’s assume your salary is $35,000 and your tax bracket is 25%. Contribute 6%—$2,100—and your taxable income will be reduced to $32,900. The income tax you’ll pay on $32,900 will be $525 less than on $35,000, according to figures from Intuit TurboTax.

To be clear: Retirement contributions made to a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) are made on an after-tax basis. That is, you get no up-front tax break for these contributions, but the qualifying withdrawals that you take in retirement will be tax-free. However, when you contribute pretax money to a traditional IRA or a 401(k), it will grow tax-free. But you’ll be liable for taxes once you start making withdrawals in retirement.

Keep in mind that the tax deduction you receive may be limited if you are (or your spouse is) covered by a workplace retirement plan and your income exceeds certain limits. According to the IRS, for 2024, IRA deductions for singles covered by a retirement plan at work aren’t allowed after modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) reaches between $77,000 and $87,000. MAGI is your adjusted gross income, minus certain deductions, such as student loan interest.

For married couples filing jointly, if the spouse making the IRA contribution is covered by a workplace retirement plan, the phase-out range is increased to between $123,000 and $143,000. If an IRA contributor is not covered by a workplace retirement plan, and is married to someone who is covered, the phase-out range is between $230,000 and $240,000.

Roth IRAs also have income limits. For 2024, the income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is increased to between $146,000 and $161,000 for singles and heads of households. For married couples filing jointly, the income phase-out range is increased to between $230,000 and $240,000.

When it comes to catch-up contributions for a traditional IRA or Roth IRA, you still have time to do so for the 2023 tax year. The deadline is April 15, the filing date for your tax return, unless you file for an extension. However, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, Thrift Savings Plans and most 457 plans go by the calendar year, so you’ll be investing for 2024, and will have until the end of the year to do so.

2. Ease the pain of RMDs

Obviously, the longer you tap your retirement savings, the less you’ll have over your lifetime, and the greater the odds of outliving your money. Nevertheless, you can’t leave it untouched forever. You’ll probably have to face required minimum distributions (RMDs), the minimum amount you must withdraw from a tax-deferred retirement plan, such as a traditional IRA. Roth IRAs don’t require distributions while the owner is alive.

Under rules that kicked in 2023 under the Secure Act 2.0, you can wait until the year in which you reach age 73 before you start taking RMDs. Previously, the age was 72. For your first RMD payment, you can delay it until April 1 of the following year, but you’ll also have to pay another RMD in December of that year.

If you don’t need the RMD, consider donating it to charity. Donate your RMD to a qualified charity directly from your retirement account, up to $100,000, and you won’t owe income tax on the distribution.

3. Max out your HSA

Another often overlooked opportunity lies in Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that employers offer, says Brenna Baucum, a CFP at Collective Wealth Planning in Salem, Oregon: “For those in their 50s, HSAs offer a unique advantage. By contributing to your HSA, you prepare for future health care expenses and enjoy a triple tax benefit—tax-deductible contributions [from your gross income], tax-free growth, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses.”

Also, there’s a small catchup on the health savings account, $1,000, that Sandi Weaver, a CFP at Weaver Financial in Mission, Kansas, reminds her clients to make use of once they reach 55:  “We get an immediate tax deduction for that catchup, plus for the basic HSA contribution itself, of course.”

Plus, the account is yours: You can take it with you to a new job and use the funds in retirement.

For 2024, you can contribute up to $4,150 if you have coverage for yourself, or up to $8,300 for family coverage, plus the additional $1,000 catchup if you reach 55 during the year. However, your contribution limit will be reduced by any amount your employer contributed that has been excluded from your income.

4. Enjoy a larger standard deduction at 65

You can look ahead to an additional tax benefit down the road. The standard deduction, which reduces your taxable income and, in turn, lowers your tax bill, will be larger once you reach 65.

In 2024, when you fill out your federal income tax forms for income earned in 2023, if you’re married and filing jointly, you’ll get a standard deduction of $27,700. If you’re a single taxpayer, or a married and filing separately, the standard deduction rises to $13,850.

However, if you are 65 or older and file as a single taxpayer, you get an extra $1,850 deduction for tax year 2023. Married and filing jointly or separately? The extra standard deduction is $1,500 for each person who is qualified.  For taxpayers who are both 65-plus and blind, the extra deduction is $3,700. If you are married, filing jointly or separately, it’s $3,000 for each person who qualifies.

There is one drawback for some taxpayers with the higher standard deduction: It sets a high bar for itemizing deductions. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to go to the trouble of itemizing if your deductions aren’t higher than the standard deduction. Nevertheless, getting a larger standard deduction is a good thing.

Other deductions

What about cash gifts to qualified charities? Back in tax year 2021, single individuals could take a $300 deduction for cash gifts to qualified charities. Married couples could take $600. You could take this deduction if you took the standard deduction and didn’t itemize. But those days are gone. This charitable deduction disappeared in the 2022 tax year.

The high standard deduction means that for most people, it’s not worthwhile to itemize tax returns. But you can deduct some expenses without itemizing, thanks to above-the-line deductions, which are deductible from your gross income before calculating your adjusted gross income (AGI). For example, you can deduct student loan interest that you paid in the 2023 tax year. Other above-the-line deductions:

Teacher expenses. Individuals can deduct up to $300 in unreimbursed teaching expenses, and married couples can deduct $600, assuming both are educators.

Self-employed health insurance. If you’re self-employed, you can deduct the premiums for medical, dental, vision and long-term care insurance.

Alimony paid. The law used to allow those who paid alimony to deduct their payments. No longer. But there’s one loophole: If your divorce or separation agreement was signed before Dec. 31, 2018, you can deduct alimony paid.

Military moving expenses. Active-duty members of the military can deduct their moving expenses when they move because of a permanent change of station.

Patricia Amend has been a lifestyle writer and editor for 30 years. She was a staff writer at Inc. magazine; a reporter at the Fidelity Publishing Group; and a senior editor at Published Image, a financial education company that was acquired by Standard & Poor’s.

Source: https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-2024/tax-breaks-after-50.html

BY: JORDAN RAU, KFF HEALTH NEWS – JANUARY 2, 2024 5:30 AM

If you’re wealthy, you’ll be able to afford help in your home or care in an assisted living facility or a nursing home. If you’re poor, you can turn to Medicaid for nursing homes or aides at home. But if you’re middle class, you’ll have a thorny decision to make: whether to buy long-term care insurance. It’s a more complex decision than for other types of insurance because it’s very difficult to accurately predict your finances or health decades into the future.

What’s the difference between long-term care insurance and medical insurance?

Long-term care insurance is for people who may develop permanent cognitive problems like Alzheimer’s disease or who will need help with basic daily tasks like bathing or dressing. It can help pay for personal aides, adult day care, or institutional housing in an assisted living facility or a nursing home. Medicare does not cover such costs for the chronically ill.

How does it work?

Policies generally pay a set rate per day, week, or month — say, up to $1,400 a week for home care aides. Before buying a policy, ask which services it covers and how much it pays out for each kind of care, such as a nursing home, an assisted living facility, a home personal care service, or adult day care. Some policies will pay family members who are providing the care; ask who qualifies as a family member and whether the policy pays for their training.

You should check to see if benefits are increased to take inflation into account, and by how much. Ask about the maximum amount the policy will pay out and if the benefits can be shared by a domestic partner or spouse.

How much does it cost?

In 2023, a 60-year-old man buying a $165,000 policy would typically pay about $2,585 annually for a policy that grew at 3% a year to take inflation into account, according to a survey by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, a nonprofit that tracks insurance rates. A woman of the same age would pay $4,450 for the same policy because women tend to live longer and are more likely to use it. The higher the inflation adjustment, the more the policy will cost.

If a company has been paying out more than it anticipated, it’s more likely to raise rates. Companies need the approval of your state’s regulators, so you should find out if the insurer is asking the state insurance department to increase rates for the next few years — and, if so, by how much — since companies can’t raise premiums without permission. You can find contacts for your state’s insurance department through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ directory.

Should I buy it?

It’s probably not worth the cost if you don’t own your home or have a significant amount of money saved and won’t have a sizable pension beyond Social Security. If that describes you, you’ll probably qualify for Medicaid once you spend what you have. But insurance may be worth it if the value of all your savings and possessions, excluding your primary home, is at least $75,000, according to a consumer guide from the insurance commissioners’ association.

Even if you have savings and valuable things that you can sell, you should think about whether you can afford the premiums. While insurers can’t cancel a policy once they’ve sold it to you, they can — and often do — raise the premium rate each year. The insurance commissioners’ group says you probably should consider coverage only if it’s less than 7% of your current income and if you can still pay it without pain if the premium were raised by 25%.

Many insurers are selling hybrid policies that combine life insurance and long-term care insurance. Those are popular because if you don’t use the long-term care benefit, the policy pays out to a beneficiary after you die. But compared with long-term care policies, hybrid policies “are even more expensive, and the coverage is not great,” said Howard Bedlin, government relations and advocacy principal at the National Council on Aging.

When should I buy a policy?

Wait too long and you may have developed medical conditions that make you too risky for any insurer. Buy too early and you may be diverting money that would be better invested in your retirement account, your children’s tuition, or other financial priorities. Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, says the “sweet spot” is when you’re between ages 55 and 65. People younger than that often have other financial priorities, he said, that make the premiums more painful.

When can I tap the benefits?

Make sure you know which circumstances allow you to draw benefits. That’s known as the “trigger.” Policies often require proof that you need help with at least two of the six “activities of daily living,” which are: bathing, dressing, eating, being able to get out of bed and move, continence, and being able to get to and use the toilet. You can also tap your policy if you have a diagnosis of dementia or some other kind of cognitive impairment. Insurance companies will generally send a representative to do an evaluation, or require a doctor’s assessment.

Many policies won’t start paying until after you’ve paid out of your own pocket for a set period, such as 20 days or 100 days. This is known as the “elimination period.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Source: https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2024/01/02/a-guide-to-long-term-care-insurance/

JANUARY 2, 20241:21 PM ET

By Carmel Wroth

Sometimes trying to be healthy feels like just another item on your endless, exhausting to-do list. Here on NPR’s health team, we don’t want to add to anyone’s stress. The good news is that it doesn’t take great feats of fitness or a heroic commitment to good habits to stay well. Often small changes can make a significant difference.

In 2023, our reporters turned up the latest research on how to stay well without stressing out about it. We highlighted these in our series Living Better, on what it takes to get healthy in America.

Below are some of our best wellness tips from 2023.

1. Get healthier without even going to a gym

Hate the gym? That’s cool. Scientists now say you can get a lot of the health benefits associated with exercise just by increasing how active you are in your daily life. Think of low-effort movements like sweeping the floor, strolling through the grocery aisle, climbing the stairs, bobbing your leg up and down at your desk or stirring the pot while you cook. Researchers have studied this kind of movement and given it the moniker NEAT, which stands for this mouthful: non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Learn how NEAT can keep you healthier and how to get more of it.

2. Flip hunger into satisfaction with this cheap superfood

Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic mimic a hormone that our bodies make naturally to curb food cravings. What if we could increase levels of this hormone (called GLP-1) through our diet? Whether or not we’re trying to lose weight, many of us would like to feel sated longer after we eat and be a little less beholden to our sweet (or salt) tooth.

It turns out that, yes, you can increase satiety hormones by eating more foods with fiber — especially what’s known as fermentable fiber, which is found in foods such as oats, rye, whole wheat and many legumes. Read the full story on your body’s satiety hormones.

Get more health news from NPR

For the latest news on the science of healthy living, click here to subscribe NPR’s weekly health newsletter.

Plus, there’s a host of other reasons to eat more fiber — it helps control blood sugar levels and lower cholesterol and inflammation. And it’s linked to a lower risk of issues like obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. The good news is that foods with fiber are often cheap. And adding more fiber to your meals isn’t as hard as it sounds — we’ve got tips.

3. Little acts of joy can have a big payoff

Small moments add up. From chatting up a stranger, to taking time to reframe a bad day and find the silver lining, to noticing the beauty of nature, science shows that moments like these make a difference to your well-being. Even petting other people’s dogs can give you a boost. The recently launched Big Joy Project from the University of California, Berkeley is gathering data that shows that we can change our emotional state by embracing these “micro-acts” of happiness.

Learn more about how to up your joy quotient — plus how to participate in the ongoing citizen science project.

4. Outsmart dopamine and screens

Over the past few years, neuroscientists have started to better understand what’s going on in our brains when we can’t stop scrolling through social media or stop shopping online, eating junk food or playing video games. These types of activities trigger surges of the neurotransmitter dopamine. And it’s now becoming clear that rather than giving us pleasure, dopamine drives craving, the urge for more. It has a strong, though short-term, hold on our willpower. Understanding how this works can help shift how you manage your own or your kids’ behavior.

Here are four ways to outsmart dopamine and ease off compulsive cravings for screens or sweets.

5. Learn from the Japanese way of life

When NPR’s Yuki Noguchi visited her parents in Japan recently, she logged an average of 6 miles a day running errands with her folks by foot. That’s because Japanese cities are designed for walkability and most people take public transport and walk wherever they need to go. And that’s not all: Fresh food is highly prized there, so even convenience store meals to-go are nutritious and not packed with additives. The country has a “default design” that supports wellness, making healthy choices automatic. It’s not so easy, in many cases, to re-create that in the U.S., but there are ways to adopt parts of the lifestyle — walk whenever you can, choose fresh over packaged — and live more like the Japanese.

6. Combat loneliness through creativity

Loneliness is linked to all kinds of health problems, including increased risk of heart attacks and dementia. And forging new social connections — even with casual acquaintances — can counter that. But how do you break out of an isolated rut?

Jeremy Nobel, a primary care physician and the author of the new book Project UnLonely, has an idea: get artsy. Research shows that making art or even viewing it reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol and increases levels of the feel-good hormones, like endorphins and oxytocin. In other words, it can put you in a relaxed mood, which can help create an inviting vibe to connect.

And you don’t have to be Picasso; almost any creative act will do, including cooking, gardening, even doodling. Here are five tips from Noble’s new book for how to connect, via creativity.

7. Find a therapist you can afford

You could compare finding a therapist to apartment hunting in a crowded housing market. Demand is high; availability is limited. It requires persistence, flexibility and the knowledge that you may not be able to check every one of your boxes. Some people feel so daunted by the prospect that they give up, especially if they’re trying to find someone who is covered by their insurance or is low cost. At the same time, you may have more options available than you know. Here’s a step-by-step guide to finding a therapist who fits your needs and your budget.

8. Cut back on the ultraprocessed foods in your diet

Read the ingredients list of your favorite packaged snack, and you’ll find some things you’ve surely never stocked in your kitchen pantry, like additives that thicken, emulsify, stabilize or preserve. And that’s not to mention high levels of sugar, fat and sodium. Eating a lot of ultraprocessed foods like sodas, TV dinners and packaged sweets is linked to health problems like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

And most of us are likely eating more of these foods than we realize: Ultraprocessed foods make up nearly 60% of what the typical U.S. adult eats and nearly 70% of what kids eat.

So do you need to completely overhaul your family’s diet? Researchers say to start by cutting back. After all, there’s a reason why busy families like packaged foods: They’re convenient, tasty and affordable. So how can you make healthier choices without breaking the bank or cooking late into the night? Start by learning to recognize ultraprocessed foods and then try these easy ways to cut back, plus some smart swaps for kids’ favorite junk foods.

9. Manage back and neck pain

If you suffer from back or neck pain, you probably know that hunching over screens isn’t helping. You might have tried improving your ergonomic setup and posture, but exercise research points to another strategy: taking short spurts of movement throughout the day to release tension and stress in the body.

When the brain senses physical or emotional stress, the body releases hormones that trigger muscles to become guarded and tight. Movement breaks counter that stress response by increasing blood flow to muscles, tendons and ligaments and sending nutrients to the spine.

Here are five exercises to prevent pain, developed by fitness specialists at NASA, an agency where people work in high-stress seated positions.

And sometimes living better with back pain is a matter of making adaptations to how you do the things you love — we’ve got smart hacks for cooking with back pain and adjustments to make so you can get out and garden.