Tag: Retirement Planning

Estimating Your Retirement Income Needs

May 8, 2023

You know how important it is to plan for your retirement, but where do you begin? One of your first steps should be to estimate how much income you’ll need to fund your retirement. That’s not as easy as it sounds, because retirement planning is not an exact science. Your specific needs depend on your goals and many other factors.

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An Introduction to Estate Planning

Apr 26, 2023

Incapacity can strike anyone at any time. Estate Planning plans for it

By definition, estate planning is a process designed to help you manage and preserve your assets while you are alive, and to conserve and control their distribution after your death according to your goals and objectives. But what estate planning means to you specifically depends on who you are.

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Building a Healthy Financial Foundation

Apr 17, 2023

When you read about money matters, you will sometimes see the phrase, “getting your financial house in order.” What exactly does that mean?  When your financial “house is in order,” it means it is built on a solid foundation. It means that you have six fundamental “pillars” in place that are either crucial for sustaining your financial well-being or creating wealth. (more…)

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Creating a Retirement Strategy

Mar 29, 2023

Most people just invest for the future. You have a chance to do more.

Across the country, people are saving for that “someday” called retirement. Someday, their careers will end. Someday, they may live off their savings or investments, plus Social Security.  They know this, but many of them do not know when, or how, it will happen. What is missing is a strategy – and a good strategy might make a great difference.

A retirement strategy directly addresses the “when, why, and how” of retiring. It can even address the “where.” It breaks the whole process of getting ready for retirement into actionable steps. (more…)

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Healthcare Costs are Cutting into Retirement Preparations

Mar 22, 2023

 

health supplements on dollar bill
How healthcare costs affect retirement planning

You may have seen this statistic before or one resembling it: the average 65-year-old retiring couple can now expect to pay more than $250,000 in healthcare costs during the rest of their lives.

In fact, Fidelity now projects this cost at $285,000. The effort to prepare for these potential expenses is changing the big picture of retirement planning.

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Rehearsing for Retirement

Mar 6, 2023

Try rehearsing your retirement

 Imagine if you could preview your retirement in advance. In a sense, you can. Financially and mentally, you can “rehearse” for the third act of your life, while still enjoying the second. (more…)

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What Happens When There Are No Beneficiaries

Feb 8, 2023

Blank Book on desk
Where do these accounts and policies end up?

Some accounts have no designated beneficiary. Rarely, the same thing occurs with insurance policies. This is usually an oversight. In exceptional circumstances, it is a choice. Without beneficiaries what happens to these accounts and policies when the original owner dies? (more…)

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Talking to Your Heirs About Estate Planning

Jan 23, 2023

Scales of Justice
Using a lawyer to create an estate plan is a key component of achieving financial wellness

Talking about “the end” is not the easiest thing to do, and this is one reason why some people never adequately plan for the transfer of their wealth. Those who do create estate plans with help from financial and legal professionals sometimes leave their heirs out of the conversation. (more…)

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SECURE Act 2.0 Passed in Final Days of 2022

Jan 4, 2023

GavelCongress spent the final days of 2022 on new reforms designed to help Americans save more for retirement (SECURE Act 2.0).

You may hear the changes called SECURE Act 2.0, which is a follow-up to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act enacted into law in late 2019. (more…)

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Are You Retiring Within the Next 5 Years

Nov 25, 2022

retireYou can prepare for the transition years in advance. In doing so, you may be better equipped to manage anything unexpected that may come your way. (more…)

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More Insights

May 1, 2024

Incapacity can strike anyone at any time. Estate Planning plans for it By definition, estate planning is a process designed to help you manage and preserve your assets while you are alive, and to conserve and control their distribution after your death according to your goals and objectives. But what estate planning means to you … Continue reading “Estate Planning Intro”

Apr 29, 2024

You’re beginning to accumulate substantial wealth, but you worry about protecting it from future potential creditors. Whether your concern is for your personal assets or your business, various tools exist to keep your property safe from tax collectors, accident victims, health-care providers, credit card issuers, business creditors, and creditors of others. To insulate your property … Continue reading “Estate Planning – Protecting Your Assets”

Apr 26, 2024

It seems like we just can’t stop talking about the Federal Reserve (Fed). After an aggressive rate hiking campaign that we think ended last year, markets were expecting the Fed to start cutting interest rates as early as next month. But withan economy that continues to surprise to the upside, along with inflationary pressures that … Continue reading “Market Update – The Patient Pause”

Apr 24, 2024

A thoughtful retirement strategy may help you pursue your many retirement goals. That strategy must consider many factors, and here are just a few: your income needs, the order of your withdrawals from taxable and tax-advantaged retirement accounts, the income tax implications of those withdrawals, and sequence of return risk.

Apr 22, 2024

Losing a spouse is a stressful transition. And the added pressure of having to settle the estate and organize finances can be overwhelming. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to make dealing with these matters less difficult.

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