Have we hit bottom? As far as the stock market goes, I mean. It’s hard to tell, but the critical thing to remember is that the recession of 2008 started the week ending 12/31/2007; the market was 13,264.82. It didn’t hit that mark again until the week ending 8/17/2012. Four and a half years later! [...]
Many people stay in the market too long because they want to increase their earnings by just another bit. This particular strategy can have a nasty ending.
Today I was thinking, “What if it was me?” I’ve always tried to run my company and business by running my decisions or recommendations through that filter. What if it was my family? The Mission Statement for SAFE Harbor Financial is: ”Our goal is to conscientiously provide Estate & Retirement Financial advice consistent with what [...]
Did you DO something? Make a bad choice? A poor Decision? Surely you did SOMETHING to cause your mutual funds, stocks, or 401K to lose value! As I write this, the market has dropped over 1000 points. Why? Something out of our control happened: the Corona Virus became a pandemic. You didn’t have anything to [...]
What drives your financial decisions? Is it Greed? Fear? Common sense? Some Psychologists say that most people make most financial decisions in that order. First, the highest percentage starting with Greed, then Fear, and finally, common sense. It has been my experience that that order may very well be correct. Let's discuss each of [...]
Stop! Drop what you're doing and check your beneficiaries! If you have a testamentary trust, it might be a smart move not to name the trust as a beneficiary of certain assets such as annuities, life insurance, bank accounts, a brokerage account or a qualified retirement account. Please check your policies and if you [...]
Retirement is a time for looking back at our accomplishments, and then looking ahead to the next exciting chapter of our lives. Retirement will bring new challenges, and the adventure becomes dealing with these new challenges. You need to enjoy your golden years with a sound retirement plan. It's never too late.
How to deal with your retirement in uncertain times.
The big difference between the Roth IRA and other retirement accounts is that rather than receiving a tax break for monies placed into the account, you receive the tax break when you withdraw the money. Why is this difference important? Like any other choice based around tax issues, the more funds that have a tax advantage, the better the net results. Using a Roth IRS’s long term accumulation allow for blending this tax free income with other assets which may have more tax liability.
Someone once said that to know where you're going, you must know where you are NOW. That will change as often as circumstances change. What sorts of changes? Well, the death of a spouse is indeed a life-changing change that affects everything. Deaths of trustees/executors are important to consider. The housing crisis a few years [...]
