If you’ve been living in your home for any length of time you have probably accumulated a lot of STUFF in your garage, basement or attic. You may have saved items for a future that never came, or just hung onto things for sentimental reasons. The trigger for cleaning up our act is usually… Read more »
Today’s retirees face a radically different landscape relative to previous generations. When Social Security was enacted in 1935, the full retirement age was 65. This is an arbitrary number set by legislation, but now is engraved in the consciousness of the working population as the age when they can “get out.” Retirement has been… Read more »
What is the best strategy to achieve your charitable giving goals? That question makes some generous people feel uncomfortable. But considering things like long-term charitable giving budgets, estate planning, and tax ramifications doesn’t make your gifts any less genuine. In fact, a comprehensive giving strategy can help you and your heirs make a sustainable… Read more »
It should come as no surprise that Christmas is the make or break season for the retail sector of our economy. With Halloween barely over, stores transformed with holiday decor begin their relentless push to buy, buy, buy. If you didn’t know what to buy, you could tune in on Thanksgiving to the three hour… Read more »
An important part of your retirement plan is a discussion of the benefits of working, regardless of age. Retirement is no longer an event––it is a segue into an altered definition of life as you know it. One definition of “work” is that it consists of actions that bring value to others and meaning… Read more »
When it comes to investing, the current standard of return on investment (ROI) can be self-limiting, adding pressure that is counterproductive. So much of ROI is not within our control. We can diversify investments––always a good strategy––but we cannot control how the markets perform or how global events affect the markets. Just as meteorologists can… Read more »
While annuities can be an integral part of a financial plan, if misused, they can have unexpected consequences. For those unfamiliar with how annuities work, you are giving the insurance company your money in return for an income stream, typically for the rest of your life. In the event you die, the insurance company may keep… Read more »
Whether you’ve been told you should retire at 62, 65, or some other age, only you can decide what is right for you. In fact, you may want to reconsider retiring at all––at least in the traditional sense. Many of us don’t like the circumstances we find ourselves in––and look at retirement as the… Read more »
Update: Congress reached a deal in early October to raise the debt ceiling through December. While this action avoided the first-ever default of U.S. debt, it merely kicked the can down the road. Democrats and Republicans remain very far apart on a longer-term solution. The U.S. faced a debt ceiling crisis very similar to… Read more »