Weekly News

Lost 401k

As we approach year end we are frequently being asked about what we call “Lost 401k” accounts. Perhaps you changed jobs, or your employer went out of business or merged with another company, or maybe you’ve just put the memories of a workplace that you left years ago far, far

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Americans Are More Afraid of Retirement Than Death

According to a national survey for LiveCareer in June, about 61% of working Americans are more afraid of retirement than of death. Why is this? The survey suggests the reason is that many Americans are financially unprepared to retire. About 20% of Americans ages 50 and older were shown to

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Why? 

We were recently asked why we believe that an annuity can help with your retirement strategy. Three reasons come readily to mind.  The first reason is that they can be used as asset protection. Fixed annuities, for example, are safer for your money than volatile investment options. The second reason

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Before You Click 

Some scams are run on a daily basis, and are so intricately made, they can trick even the smartest of us. The scams we’re talking about come in the form of emails where the sender shows up in your email box as purportedly coming from an entity you recognize, such

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Retirement Paycheck 

Retirement is different from your working years–you’re no longer putting in time and collecting a paycheck regularly. Creating a sustainable paycheck in retirement is, however, an art worth mastering. Without a full-time employer, retirees are left with the task of cobbling together a sustainable cash-flow strategy that will not only

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Social Security and Working In Retirement 

Have you ever wondered if working in retirement reduces your Social Security benefits? If you are younger than your full retirement age for the entire year, your benefit will reduce by $1 for every $2 you earn in excess of the [current] annual limit of $22,320. If you start working

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Back to Basics

An annuity is a financial product designed to provide a regular, guaranteed income stream (backed by the claims-paying ability of the carrier) over a specified period or for the rest of a person’s life. Essentially, it’s a contract between you and an insurance company in which you make a lump-sum

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Limits on Deductibility 

We’ve spoken in the past about annual contribution limits into qualified accounts, but have not focused on the nuances of the income limits for tax deductibility of those contributions.  It’s very important to speak with your tax preparer, as specific limitations will apply. For example, in the scenario where a

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Financial Stability

According to many experts, knowing your cash flow is the most important piece of information you will need in order to tell if you are not only living within your means, but if you have financial stability. Financial stability in retirement becomes increasingly important the older you get. The reason

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Pay Attention! 

We’re inundated with so many changes to rules related to retirement, that we oftentimes tell ourselves we can just ignore them and “focus on them later.” However, there are some changes you might want to pay attention to now. For example, the changes made by the Secure Act:  Firstly, the

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Wait a Minute!

Wait a minute! Is it 62, 65, 70 or 73? Let’s start to unravel this question. Social Security can be taken at any time between the age 62 and age 70. At the younger age, the SS administration will re-calculate your benefits and make them lower than if you waited,

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So, Did You Decide? 

Continuing on from last week, did you decide what kind of retiree you are? Regardless of whether you think of yourself as the Dynamo, the Philanthropist, the Homebody, or the Adventurer, it is recommended that you start building your strategy early.  Along with newfound freedoms, retirement can also mean confronting

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What Kind of Retiree Are You? 

“What kind of retiree are you?” An interesting concept that we had some fun diving into, and wanted to share it with you.  Are you “The Adventurer”? Do you want to stay active, are you in good health, and have you always wanted to fill up your passport pages?  Are

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How Do You Do It? 

How should couples save for retirement if only one is working? Saving for two when one is the primary or sole breadwinner can be challenging. It takes proper strategizing that goes beyond just watching your spending. Often, couples think that there will never be a time when they can actually

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Knowing

Sometimes there is value in knowing. Social Security was never meant to cover all your expenses in retirement, and, unless you work in the public sector, pensions are rare. Knowing there’s another payment coming in like clockwork every month, or that your savings have some protection from a volatile market,

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A Bridge

We’ve spoken in the past about the financial benefits of delaying the claiming of Social Security benefits. However, what happens if retirees decide to leave their jobs before reaching age 70 and need to “bridge the gap” of income until they do start to claim their Social Security benefits?  Most

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Full Retirement Age

You’re eligible for the unreduced Social Security benefit (referred to as your Primary Insurance Amount) once you reach your full retirement age. If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67.  You can start taking Social Security retirement benefits as early as 62, but the

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Retirement Spending

Many people nearing retirement make the mistake of just “guessing” their retirement income needs rather than actually calculating what they’ll need to support their retirement spending. This is because many people don’t put enough thought into their financial needs when they are working, either.  However, given that you don’t have

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Best Places to Retire in 2024

We read an article recently examining more than 800 locations in America, comparing everything from housing costs to taxes to health care, air quality, and natural hazard risk. What they found were some of the best places to retire in 2024.  The town of Las Cruces, for example, a town

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How Would You Answer the Question? 

Nobel laureate, the late Daniel Kahneman, proposed a question; “How does the experience of a loss compare with the experience of a gain?” There were four possible answers to choose from:  Which answer would you choose? Kahneman’s research study concluded that losses are twice as painful as gains are pleasurable: 

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Financial Stability

A big part of planning for your retirement future is accounting for the “what-ifs.” No matter how careful anyone is, unexpected changes can occur: accidents, illness, and deaths.  That’s where insurance comes in. Life insurance and the features it offers are definitely worth considering, and not only to provide for

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