News & Updates
Late Boomer’s Retirement
A study from the Center For Retirement Research looked into the decline in wealth for late boomers, and explored what may have contributed to it: “The results show that two factors were at play – a shift in the population towards lower-wealth households and, more importantly, a weakening of the
It Isn’t Just About Savings
When we think of retirement, we often focus on how much money we have in savings. We often forget that retirement doesn’t necessarily mean having to deplete our savings, it means creating a retirement income strategy off of those savings. Call us, we have some ideas that could allow you
Solid
We often look for ways to get a solid financial footing during the decade before retirement. For years, we save diligently and carefully follow a long-term strategy. But as retirement approaches, your priorities may shift. When retirement is on the horizon, pre-retirees may start to question the choices they have
What Can Life Insurance Provide?
According to a recent survey from Forbes (Which you can read about here) a relatively small number of Americans actually view life insurance for all that it can provide. Most have a limited view of what it can be used for, believing it’s only a means of protecting their families
You Only Live Once
You may have heard the adage “you only live once” as it applies to pursuing opportunities and taking risks. But what does this saying really mean? While we agree that “you only live once”, you could also take it to mean that you should think wisely and avoid mistakes. Preparing
Safety is Key
We found an article recently from AARP that might interest you. It referenced a “safety-first” approach, which is something we have always believed in. The idea is to cover all of your essential expenses with guaranteed sources of income, meaning sources like Social Security, pensions, and annuities that pay you
Stash Your Cash
Whether you are approaching retirement age or are decades away, you need to be thinking about what the safest place is to keep your money. Too many times retirees are left empty-handed because they put all of their savings into a risky investment, or failed to ensure they had the
Growth for Beneficiaries
Life insurance can be complicated. There are several different types of life insurance, and finding the right type for your needs is important. Term life insurance, where coverage expires after a certain number of years, is one type. Permanent insurance, like whole and universal life insurance policies, keep coverage in
Our Future Selves
Remember to think about yourself in future terms. Many of us feel little connection to the person we’ll become years from now, and that can lead to shortsighted behavior that can actually hurt us in the long run. It’s certainly food for thought. Are you holding back on retirement savings
What Does it Actually Mean?
We often hear that the market is “up” or “down” and think that we’ve either made money (or lost out on making money) or that we’ve lost money. But “up” and “down” don’t have much tangible meaning to us, personally. When a stock broker tells you us “You’re doing great,
At Your Most Vulnerable
There has been an uptick in what regulators call “romance fraud.” This refers to a type of online deception where individuals create fake identities and develop fraudulent romantic or otherwise close relationships with unsuspecting people to exploit money out of them. Studies have been done to try to pinpoint when
Risk Taking
“You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Perhaps there’s more truth to this saying than we want to admit. This year has been tumultuous, with markets declining and interest rates increasing. Were we all soothsayers, we would be rich beyond our dreams. But we aren’t. And it’s disingenuous
Did you forget and leave it behind?
We’ve spoken in the past about the benefits of saving money for retirement by having automatic transfers from your checking account into a savings account. But, what is often forgotten is that workplace retirement account when you leave one job and move on to another. If you leave a job,
Recycling RMDs
One potential way to save money consistently is to arrange automatic transfers from your checking to your savings account on paydays. This idea can be also applied to RMDs as we get older. While we may be forced to take required minimum distributions out of qualified accounts, there are no
Follow the Steps
Sometimes it’s best to start with the basic steps when planning for retirement. Are you contributing enough to your 401(k) to get your company’s full employee match? Have you paid off any high-interest-rate debt you may be carrying? Eliminating a monthly credit card or auto loan with a high-interest payment
A Dangerous Decade
The five years before you retire and the next five after retirement are among the most important and vulnerable for a retiree’s savings. The reasoning is that, as you approach retirement, there are far fewer years left to correct or recover from a mistake. The consequence of a misstep during
Factor in Healthcare Costs
In the past, we have noted that when planning your retirement finances you need to factor in healthcare costs. Not doing that may cause a depletion of your retirement savings that you did not anticipate. There has been some discussion about the Affordable Care Act and the indication that, for
“Fair” Meaning “Equal”
We frequently receive inquiries regarding who the beneficiaries should be for the financial products we recommend. And, if the division among multiple beneficiaries should be equal. This brings up an interesting point. When making this decision, people sometimes place descriptions on their offspring that relate to their current needs or