Back to the Basics Social Security Planning 101
Just a Few Drops Into the Ocean One of the core building blocks of a retirement income plan is Social Security. Earned over decades of working and paying taxes into the system, Social Security recipients have turned the corner and are now extracting income from this unique asset. But what’s so surprising is how nonchalant many retirees are about this …
Briefcase Study
When 2018 came to a close, the month of December was not without drama. The stock market was suffering meaningful declines. There were quite a few days of 500, 600, and 700-point losses. With this much volatility, it leaves a retired or retiring investor to ask, “Who am I, as an investor? How should I be investing when markets can …
‘Golden Decade’ Offers Golden Opportunity to Get Taxes Under Control
If you are between the ages of 60 and 70, the time could be right to pump some money out of big, fat 401(k)s and traditional IRAs into tax-free Roth accounts. If a financial professional planned your 60th birthday party, the balloons and streamers wouldn’t be black. They’d be gold. Some advisers even refer to the ages between 60 and …
Lack of Financial Information Is No Longer the Problem. Knowing How to Process It Is.
The key to good financial decisions is knowing how to sort through the flood of information out there. How do you do that? Ask the right questions. Specifically, these five. Thanks to new technologies, investing is more accessible than ever. You can buy stocks, bonds and mutual funds with a click of a mouse, or even with an app on …
C.A.N. You Handle It? Dialing in Your Investment Risk
Your risk tolerance can be boiled down into three words: capacity, attitude and need. Getting a grip on those concepts is the key to designing an appropriate portfolio for your retirement. “In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” So says investment adviser to PIMCO, Robert Arnott. While there’s certainly truth to this, most investors would be wise to consider just …
You’re Just 5 Steps Away from Achieving Your Ideal Retirement
First off, do the math to find out if you have enough saved to actually retire. It’s no mystery that building a successful retirement requires planning. What can be mysterious, however, is what the process actually looks like, leaving many aspiring retirees to guess, hope and essentially throw darts and pray a few land at least near the bull’s-eye. This …
Death of ‘Stretch’ IRAs Would Mean Loss of Flexibility for Beneficiaries
If part of your estate plan is to leave a hefty IRA to your children or anyone else other than your spouse, you may want to start thinking about backup strategies now. Finding a way to leave a legacy to your loved ones without increasing their tax burden has always been a complicated matter. And, unfortunately for those planning to …
5 Financial Roadblocks to a Secure Retirement
Preparing yourself for these potential pitfalls can help ensure that you’re able to afford the life you want after you retire. Everyone considers, at one time or another, what it would be like to know the future—optimistic that knowing would enable them to make good decisions and avoid common pitfalls along the way. In retirement planning, this is especially true. …
