Weekly News
Guiding You Through
We continue to read articles confirming that, while it certainly is an arduous task to work for decades and plan ahead to afford a comfortable retirement, what continues to unsettle many is the actual transition into a life post-workforce. For example, concerns about losing one’s routine, the fading away of
How Much is Really Enough to Retire?
How much would you consider to be “enough money to retire?” Yes, you want to have enough money to ensure that you don’t go broke, and can afford basic expenses like food, housing, and medical care, but is that really “enough?” What goals do you want to reach in retirement,
Did You Know Money is Only Half the Story?
Retirement planning seems to always be all about numbers. Your strategy centers around one question: Do your financial assets provide enough income to fund your desired retirement lifestyle? But, to quote a recent article from Kiplinger, “Ask any retiree, and they will likely tell you that it is only half
How do You Compare?
Curious about how you compare to others? The “How America Saves 2022” report referenced recently by CNBC might give you that information. The report states the average retirement savings account balances by age: For those within the 55 to 64 age bracket, the average savings account balance is $256,200. For
What Exactly Does That Mean?
There has been a lot of talk recently about a recession: whether or not one will come, what it would mean, and how it would affect each of us. A recession is defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread
How Much Can You Earn and Still Get Your SS Benefits?
Let’s start by explaining that when you begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits, you are considered officially “retired” by the Social Security Administration (SSA). You can receive Social Security checks and still work at the same time. However, since you are now “retired” there is a limit to how much
Converting your IRA
With the downturn in the market these past few months, there is increasing talk about the pros and cons of converting an existing diminished IRA account into a Roth IRA. Both types of IRAs are designed to help you save for retirement while providing a tax advantage, but they do
The Biggest Challenges of Retirement
We often think of retirement in terms of ‘having enough money.’ However, there are other considerations. This article dives into these other considerations and divides them into three categories: Regret, Health, and Identity. Interestingly, the author tells us that financial worries weren’t among the top three considerations. Over 15,000 retirees,
What if a Recession Happens When You’re Already Retired?
One consequence of a recession can be layoffs from work, but many of you may wonder what a recession has to do with you, if you are nearing retirement or are planning to leave the workforce soon anyway. Well, you should know that during a recession stock values could plunge.
De-Risking
“De-Risking.” This is a phrase you may hear more frequently as the market dips lower and lower. It is a term often used when discussing how those who are near retirement can prepare when they know their future years of employment and wages are coming to an end, and their
Refresher
We try to educate our clients on annuities. Sometimes, it’s a good idea to review the basics. Click here to visit our annuities page. We’ve outlined information such as the different types of annuities, the nature of the underlying investment, the primary purpose of an annuity, the nature of the
Adjustments
While inflation has certainly been in the news a lot lately, one topic that hasn’t been discussed all that often is private pensions. Unlike Social Security payments, they typically don’t offer cost-of-living adjustments that keep up with inflation rates. State and local government pensions do typically offer cost of living
Food for Thought
There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal this past week that discussed some interesting ideas. The current tight labor market, coupled with the remote and flexible opportunities in the job market, may make retirees think about going back to work in one form or another. Especially when
Some Things Have Changed
“On the surface, retirement planning hasn’t changed all that much over the years. You work, you save and then you retire. But while the mechanics may be the same, today’s savers are facing some challenges that previous generations didn’t have to worry about,” says a recent CNBC article. We’ve touched
Tax Rules on Retirement Accounts
Tax-advantaged accounts, or qualified accounts, allow your portfolio to grow without the impact of taxes. This is a major benefit when it comes to saving for your goals. There are multiple retirement account options to choose from, and tax rules vary for each of them. Where you end up focusing
Two Frequently Asked Questions
Two of the most frequently asked questions when considering life insurance: What financial benefits will be available to survivors after your death What will their needs be? These are the most common types of benefits: Social security and other retirement-related survivor benefits; life insurance; and other assets and resources. Having
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
“Slow and steady wins the race” is an idiom we’ve all heard. But you probably haven’t thought to apply it to planning for retirement. Taking a slower, more consistent approach often leads to a better outcome. It’s easy to forget this, and to take risks in an attempt to catch
What Every Saver Needs to Know
This week’s article focuses on the fact that while “everyone’s retirement is different, 2022 is going to have some big differences from 2021 that will affect almost every retiree and retirement saver to some degree.” The article explains the specifics of what those differences are, including: Higher social security payouts
Biggest Risks To Your Retirement
What can be done to reduce those risks? You’ve been saving for years and have finally retired. There are so many world events going on, both domestically and abroad, that the only constant now seems to be change. The news is full of commentaries about market declines and inflation but
What Does it Mean to You?
We’ve received questions from some of our clients asking what a hike in the Fed rate means to them. As a result, we reached out to an investment strategist to see what they said. “This year’s expected series of rate hikes, the first since 2015, marks the beginning of Fed
Don’t Shy Away
A recent study found that “33 percent of people don’t think they would qualify for life insurance.” We hope you aren’t shying away from discussing the topic of life insurance because you think the same way! Purchasing this type of insurance is a big deal, but most likely necessary to