Free Online Class – Best Retirement Investments

Free Online Class – Best Retirement Investments

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Published: March 23, 2020

Our next online retirement planning class, Best Retirement Investments, will be Thursday, April 9, 2020. About the Class The type of plan you need isn’t one that tries to predict recessions. That’s akin to roulette. It either works, or it doesn’t. Instead, the type of plan you need is one that acknowledges that recessions will come along during your retirement years.   Rather than the constant guessing game of trying to avoid them, you make an action plan,so you know how to power right through.   You Will Learn: • How to make a plan that protects your retirement standard of living from the impact of

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IRA Rollovers, IRA Transfers and 15 Other IRA Basics

IRA Rollovers, IRA Transfers and 15 Other IRA Basics

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Published: March 3, 2020

Individual Retirement Accounts, called IRAs, are one of the most common and accessible ways to save for retirement. Over the years, rules about IRAs have changed. Many people think they know how an IRA works or what they can do with it, but every week I still surprise people with some of the IRA facts I share below. 1. What is an IRA? An IRA is an Individual Retirement Account. When you contribute to an IRA, you are putting money aside for your future so you will have some money when you retire. Think of an IRA as a type of savings account

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Should You Be a Landlord in Your Retirement?

Should You Be a Landlord in Your Retirement?

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Published: February 18, 2020

In 2005, everyone I knew was buying real estate. With no experience and no money, they bought properties they couldn’t afford and were convinced they were going to make a fortune. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way, and most of them now have a foreclosure or short sale in their past. Does that make real estate a bad investment? No. It’s an investment. The good or bad part comes from how you approach it. What’s good for one person can be bad for another. To find out how to make real estate investments work, I decided to talk with a few experienced

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Retire At 55? Maybe. If You’re Up for a Challenge

Retire At 55? Maybe. If You’re Up for a Challenge

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Published: February 18, 2020

Can you retire at age 55? Sure, if you’re 25 years old and contemplating retirement 30 years away, an age 55 retirement is possible – if you start planning now. Put away at least $350 per month and plan on increasing that amount of savings each year. However, if you’re approaching age 40 (or older) and you’d like to retire by 55, it may be a bit more challenging. It may still be possible – if you’re willing to commit to the changes needed to make it happen. Of course, there is a third option that doesn’t get considered as often as

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Don’t Get Pinged by the Social Security Earnings Limit

Don’t Get Pinged by the Social Security Earnings Limit

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Published: February 13, 2020

I’d like to introduce you to Peggy. Born in 1957, Peggy reached age 62 in 2019. She has worked in retail her whole life, with the past twenty-five years spent in management. Peggy divorced from her husband 14 years ago, is still single, and has no children. According to the Social Security Administration, Peggy’s Full Retirement Age (FRA) will be age 66 and six months which is when she will be entitled to full Social Security retirement benefits. FRA is a government set limit that varies based on your year, month and day of birth. FRA is gradually rising, and for

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Required Minimum Distributions – Here’s How They Work

Required Minimum Distributions – Here’s How They Work

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Published: January 31, 2020

You’ve been putting money away in your IRA for much of your life. And through some mixture of discipline, good fortune and wits you find that you don’t have to use your IRA savings the moment they become available to you at age 59½. Good for you. Now, upon reaching age 72, (previously age 70 ½ prior to the passing of the SECURE Act in December 2019) you must completely change your mindset because the U.S. Government requires you to start withdrawing money at that point. It’s called Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). At first, it may feel like a tax on getting

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How to Find a Fiduciary Financial Advisor

How to Find a Fiduciary Financial Advisor

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Published: January 24, 2020

Not all financial planners or advisors have to consider what is in your best interest when they make investment recommendations. A large number of them make recommendations that they think are appropriate, but they don’t have to have supporting documentation or research to show why this recommendation is in your best interest. In many cases, these advisors are trained salespeople and are unaware of other options that may be a better fit for your financial circumstances. However, new rules are beginning to change this.  A “fiduciary” is someone who legally and ethically must act in their client’s best interest. Attorneys, for

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10 Tips on How to Find the Best Financial Advisor

10 Tips on How to Find the Best Financial Advisor

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Published: January 24, 2020

The last thing you want to find is a cheap financial advisor. The most important thing you want to look for is competency. Competency is different than trust. Yes, trust is important, but it is a feeling. It is entirely possible to trust someone that is not trustworthy. Competency, meaning someone who knows what they are doing, should be the number one criteria you look for. How do you find a great, competent financial advisor at a price that is reasonable? The ten factors below should help you out. 1. Understand the Difference in Service Offerings The term doctor is pretty broad, right? Yet,

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My 2020 Market Predictions

My 2020 Market Predictions

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Published: December 12, 2019

As a financial planner, my life is about projecting unknowns. I often tell clients the only thing I can guarantee is once we put the numbers on paper, they’re wrong. Life doesn’t work in a nice linear fashion the way projections do. But by using projections, we can establish a range of possible outcomes, and plan based on that range. As many unknowns as there are, I realize when it comes to the financial markets and human behavior, there are some things that are quite certain. Human beings want to believe someone out there knows the future. Normally, I shy away

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Best Retirement Investments for a Steady Stream of Income

Best Retirement Investments for a Steady Stream of Income

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Published: December 12, 2019

At some point you will transition from your prime earning and saving years to a period of time where you get to enjoy the “fruits of your labor,” a.k.a retirement. We call this segueing from accumulation to decumulation, the period when you will be drawing from your accumulated nest egg. Before you enter the decumulation phase, you’ll need to find the best retirement investments; ones that generate regular income. Here’s an overview of the most popular income-producing retirement investments. 1) Immediate Annuities Immediate annuities provide guaranteed income immediately (hence the name). They are a form of insurance rather than an investment (but

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