An effective tax strategy to minimize the taxes you pay is a critical component to anyone’s overall financial plan.
One of the most common concerns expressed by retirees in financial planning sessions is the fear of running out of money in retirement. As you near the time when you are no longer in the workforce, you might worry about whether your savings will be enough to sustain you once you stop working. The possibility [...]
"Knowing who you are with regard to money is a critical component of becoming more successful in life."- Angie Politarhos. Attributed variously to Plato, Socrates, or Aeschylus, the saying, "Know thyself," has popped up in self-help books for hundreds of years. When applied to a person's finances, "Know thyself" has an intrinsic self-help appeal. I [...]
"Building an expert team to guide you through the often bewildering and frustrating financial landscape is a crucial task if you are a pre-retiree or already retired."-Eric Coons "Do-it-yourself" retirement planning is certainly possible, even if it's probably not a great idea. The current IRS tax code, for example, is around 2,600 pages long. Then [...]
Over the years of our life span, we are increasingly seeing changes occurring at a faster rate, which affects our lifestyle. Here in 2020, since the official start of Covid-19, we now have two or maybe three vaccines to combat this disease. What would normally have taken four to six years to complete has been [...]
"Happily ever after" is typically the ending to a fairy tale. But it's more than that. It's also the way we want to retire. What does it take to have a long and happy retirement? This has been the subject of study by Ph.D.'s in countries around the world. Before I go on, how would [...]
Are you a woman who tosses and turns at night, worrying about money? Insurer Allianz surveyed women in 2019 found that 67% of female survey respondents reported worrying about their current financial situation versus 57% of males interviewed. Nearly 40% of women surveyed reported thinking about money on a daily or least weekly basis. A [...]
“Going into 2021, retirees should understand that investment-only retirement income plans are not as efficient and profitable as integrated plans that include transfer of risk through life insurance and income annuities." Jerry Yu For the first time in a while, Americans are less concerned about how the presidential race outcome will shape the future economy [...]
Let me just say that all of America knows where to find Safety—CD’s, money markets, and treasury bonds. All of America knows where to find an opportunity—the stock market. However, many do not know where to find safety, an opportunity for growth, liquidity, and income on the same dollar, at the same time, with no [...]
As people get close to their retirement years, objectives and goals must adjust from accumulation to income distribution, and portfolio investment risk must be also be addressed accordingly. There is no good reason for investors at or near retirement to have stock or bond market risk, especially in the current low-interest-rate environment. So, where can [...]
"Index investing" is a passive investment strategy used by some investors in an attempt to generate returns comparable to a broad market index. Proponents of index investing believe that it's impossible to beat the market once you take fees and taxes into account. Many people involved in index investing find index funds to be more [...]
