News & Updates
Tax Refunds
We are well into tax season, which means more and more individuals are beginning to think about their tax refunds and what they can do with them. The solution relates to how healthy the individual’s cash flow is. If you like the feeling of getting a “windfall” in the form
How is Social Security Taxed?
With tax season approaching, some of you have asked if the social security payments you receive are taxed. The answer is yes, if your annual income is above a certain amount when you’re receiving those payments. And because that income threshold is relatively low, it’s likely that some of your
Not Enough Time
We often think of retirement in terms of years. We think about how there isn’t enough time left in our lives to do all the things we planned on doing. That same thought of ‘not enough time left’ also comes to mind when we lose some of our life savings.
Social Security Survivor Benefit
We are often asked, “When is the best time for a widow or widower to collect the social security survivor benefits, they have become entitled to?” If you or someone you know have questions about this, we may be able to help. There is a process of applying for those
Retirement Can Sneak Up on You
We’ve all read so many articles reminding us to start early with our retirement savings. But, considering all of the different financial obligations that seem to happen along the way, some of them expected and some not, sometimes retirement sneaks up on you. Before you know it, you may realize
Reevaluate Your Budget
A new year often means a fresh start! Reevaluating your financial needs, budget, and savings is also often done now. Building a budget or adjusting the one you already have is one step, as is looking honestly at any debt. Another important step is making sure that your emergency savings
The Psychology of Saving for Retirement
If you have ever wondered why saving for retirement feels so difficult, this week’s article may be helpful to you. The article explains, “Psychology is often just as important in personal finance as are the numbers – the way we save, spend and invest are all influenced by the way
Avoiding Risk With Your Retirement Strategies
While you may know that you cannot avoid risk in your life, you can prepare for it with your retirement strategies. Depending on your stage in life, there are specific risks you may want to think about and incorporate into your planning. We read about three key retirement concerns and
Independent Living
Sometimes when we think of our later years in retirement, we forget to reflect on what savings we will need beyond the monthly costs of healthcare, rent, food, etc. at an independent living facility. We need to remember to consider the larger sum of money needed to “buy in” to
Retire In 10 Years
“If you want to retire in 10 years it might be possible. But it’ll require some work.” The opening sentence of this week’s article caught my eye as getting finances in order now to meet goals later on takes planning. We are aware of some options that not only can
Tips for Saving Money After Retirement
We thought to share this week’s article with you because it discusses 27 tips for saving money after retirement. It’s important to remember that “it’s never too late to save, even after retirement.” The author of the article tells us how to “get on track once you’re retired” based on
Capital Gains Taxes Explained
We’ve received calls asking to explain capital gains taxes so we thought this week’s article might be of interest. It tells us, “There are two categories of capital gains: short term (assets held for a year or less) and long term (assets held for longer than one year). The day
Savings By Age
We enjoyed reading this week’s article because it provides useful information that applies to the different generations in any family. Saving money is an interesting conversation because while it usually involves the idea of needing to have retirement money in the future, we often forget to think about saving money
Saving Vs. Spending
This week’s article asks the question, “When do you stop saving and start enjoying the fruits of your labor?” We could help you understand at what age you can start to transition from saver to spender. It could mean the difference between: A retirement of constant penny-pinching and being stuck
We Have An Idea
This week’s article includes 4 ways for us to prepare and save enough to retire in 10 years. But we have the 5th idea, not mentioned in this article! As you accumulate savings meant to carry you through retirement (alongside your social security), we suggest putting some or all of
Eliminate the Guesswork
A survey released in 2019 found that 46% of Americans are guessing at how much money they need for retirement. With increasing life expectancies and financial uncertainties, guesswork is playing a big part in determining whether Americans have enough saved to make the decision to stop working and cross over
The Best Day to Start Saving
This week’s article tells us: “The best day to start saving is today, even if you can save only a little bit.” The math is very interesting and worth the read. The article explains, “If two people put the same amount of money away each year ($5,000), earn the same
Rethinking Retirement Savings
We came across an article written in the Harvard Law Review and thought to share it with you all. This article discusses rethinking retirement savings and puts into context how much money we have in retirement accounts ($35 trillion collectively!), where it comes from, and what ‘buckets’ exist that provide