How to Fund Your Early Retirement
Is early retirement a part of your plans? If you can afford it, early retirement certainly has its advantages. You get to leave the working world [...]
[Webinar] Tax Advantaged Wealth Accumulation & Retirement Planning:
In this month’s episode of our “Lunch & Learn” webinar series, we will be covering some valuable information to help you [...]
Will Your Spending Go Up or Down After You Retire?
Many people assume their spending will go down once they stop working. Some financial professionals even make this assumption while calculating [...]
3 Important Questions About Disability Protection – Answered
Any solid financial plan is built on a foundation of risk protection. It is much more difficult to reach your financial goals if you are [...]
May 17, 2017 /
Financial Planning
Estate Planning With IRAs: Exploring Beneficiary Options
Beneficiary options with retirement assets can be more involved than initially thought. Usually, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) pass by [...]
5 Tax Law Changes for 2017 That Could Impact Your Finances
Tax season is just around the corner, but even if you have already filed your 2016 taxes, you may be wondering what new changes to the tax law [...]
Could Your Job Change Derail Your Retirement Savings?
Starting a new job is always a very exciting time. Your new job may bring a sizable raise or a new title. It could mark the beginning of a new [...]
3 Common Questions About Estate Planning – Answered
Many of our clients have estate planning needs and often ask us questions on this topic. Local estate attorney, Dirk Winkler, answers three of [...]
Do You Have a Health Care Funding Strategy for Retirement?
Are you nearing retirement age? If so, you may have some big decisions to make regarding your health care plans. Many retirees assume Medicare [...]
Should You Use Life Insurance to Pay For College?
A recent article in U.S. News & World Report discussed the recent rise in the use of life insurance policies as college savings vehicles. [...]
3 Signs You Should Review Your Retirement Plan This Year
Most people made some New Year’s resolutions last month, but many of them may already have fallen by the wayside by now. However, one [...]
How to Pass Your Roth IRA to Your Loved Ones
In 2013, the Roth IRA officially became the IRA of choice for those saving for retirement. That year, contributions to Roth IRAs topped $6 [...]
A Smarter Giving Strategy This Holiday Season
Well, the holiday season is here. Your calendar is probably full of seasonal activities, like buying gifts for loved ones, attending holiday [...]
December 21, 2016 /
Financial Planning
4 Reasons Not to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early
If you follow financial “gurus” such as Dave Ramsey, you’ve probably heard the advice that “all debt is bad debt,” [...]
December 1, 2016 /
Financial Planning
How Will the Election Affect Your Retirement Plan?
Regardless of which side of the aisle you find yourself on, the recent election results have thrown many things into question. While the markets [...]
5 Retirement Planning Tips for Millennials
The generation known as “Millennials” is facing many potential challenges when it comes to retirement planning. In general, young [...]
Danger Ahead: What You Don’t Know About Retirement Can Hurt You
You have probably heard lots of news stories and statistics about how Americans are not saving enough for retirement. But even if you are one of [...]
5 Savvy Ways to Retire With More Money
With longer lifespans and skyrocketing healthcare costs, saving plenty of money for retirement is more important than ever. However, inflation, [...]
Why You May Want to Consider a Reverse Mortgage
If you’re like many older Americans, you’re probably working hard to pay off your mortgage before you retire. While this is a [...]
Are Social Security Benefits Taxable?
We work with a lot of clients nearing retirement, so we get a lot of questions about Social Security. Social Security can be an important piece [...]
5 Smart Ways to Spend Less & Save More In Retirement
It’s no secret that most Americans are woefully unprepared for retirement. Statistics show that most Americans nearing retirement have less [...]
Interview With Author of Guaranteed Income: A Risk-Free Guide to Retirement
One of our favorite financial authors is Barry James Dyke, and we frequently provide his books to our clients or other interested parties in [...]
7 Factors That Can Wreck Your Retirement
When planning for a secure retirement, you can do everything right and still hit unexpected hurdles that can derail your retirement plans. [...]
How To Save $1 Million By The Time You Retire
While you may look at saving in general and saving for retirement as two separate things, in fact, they are (or can be) one and the same. [...]
5 Unique Tax Benefits of Life Insurance
Happy Tax Day! Hopefully you got everything done in time, and now you can just relax and start planning for next year… If you’re [...]
5 Social Security Myths That Could Hurt Your Retirement
Social Security is a complex creature, and one that is misunderstood by many. Deciding when and how to claim Social Security benefits can be [...]
4 Frugal Spring Break Rules
Spring Break is upon us, and like Christmas, though it comes around every year, many people don’t have a dedicated savings plan to cover [...]
March 18, 2016 /
Financial Planning
5 Reasons to Beware of Retirement Planning Tools
The right tools can make any job easier – including planning for retirement. But there are some pitfalls you should look out for if you are [...]
Are You Behind On Saving For Retirement? Here Are 5 Simple Ways to Catch Up
You probably know that the earlier you start to save for retirement, the better off you will be when it comes time to use those savings. [...]
2 Ways to Eliminate Debt Without Changing Your Lifestyle
Debt can be stressful, embarrassing, and sometimes downright crippling, yet the unfortunate fact is that most Americans will end up in debt at [...]
January 20, 2016 /
Financial Planning
The Wrong Retirement Withdrawal Strategy Can Cost You (A Lot)
We all know how important it is to have enough money saved to live on in retirement (although unfortunately far too many of us procrastinate a [...]
Real Estate Investing With Bank On Yourself
If you Bank On Yourself, you may have used your policy for purchasing cars, vacations, weddings, or for emergencies that arise, but did you know [...]
December 2, 2015 /
Financial Planning
How To Plan For (& Manage) Your Spending In Retirement
You may have heard that in retirement you will only need about 75% of your current income to live on. Have you ever wondered why that is so? [...]
Will You Outlive Your Money?
One of the most troubling concerns you will face as you near retirement age is whether you will have enough money saved to live on for the rest [...]
4 Steps To Creating a Student Loan Repayment Plan
You spent your college years studying hard, learning a lot, and having some fun. Now you’re out of school, and it’s time to face [...]
8 Ways to Avoid Excessive Credit Card Costs
The truth is that you pay for convenience. It’s easy to whip out a credit card to pay for something on a whim. Too easy, in fact. Having [...]
October 8, 2015 /
Financial Planning
The Missing Key to Retirement Security
We’ve all heard the stories about the lottery winners who win millions of dollars and are flat-broke a few years later. Or what about [...]
[Infographic] What You Should Know About Life Insurance
Sometimes just talking about life insurance can make people uncomfortable. While this is understandable, considering that we humans never like to [...]
Did You Know We Do This?
Many of our clients and contacts are aware that we help families financially plan for college. After all, the cost of college these days can be [...]
6 Financial Moves Millennials Should Make Before Summer’s End
The nights are cooler, the days are noticeably getting shorter, and a hint of fall is in the air. While 20-somethings may not be heading back to [...]
August 20, 2015 /
Financial Planning
Is Your Family Protected? 40% of Parents Say No
According to a new survey by Bankrate.com, many young parents are neglecting a very important area of financial planning. The survey showed that [...]
July 23, 2015 /
Financial Planning
5 Things You Need to Do Right Now If You’re Nearing Retirement
Most of us plan to retire someday, but often that “someday” comes sooner than we expect. Whether an unexpected medical issue arises, [...]
4 Tips for Eliminating Debt
Last week, we discussed some of the problems that can arise when people become desperate to get out from under crushing levels of debt – so [...]
June 25, 2015 /
Financial Planning
Got Debt? Watch Out for These Debt Relief Scams!
As this article points out, debt is a problem that is not going away anytime soon. With the average American adult carrying nearly $16,000 in [...]
Retirement Quiz: Can You Answer These 4 Questions?
One of our most important goals is to financially educate our clients, and a very important part of this education is asking thoughtful questions [...]
Estate Planning: Don’t Neglect This Important Piece of Your Retirement Plan
According to a recent article in USA Today, most Baby Boomers are neglecting a very important aspect of retirement planning: setting up an estate [...]
5 Things to Start Saving For Right Now
With the holidays behind us (for a while), and tax refunds arriving, you may find yourself with a little bit of extra cash. Whether it’s a [...]
3 Common College Money Mistakes
While we often discuss the high cost of college, and how to prepare for it, another important topic to discuss is what students can do to manage [...]
4 MORE Money Saving Tips Every Women Should Know
As we discussed in our recent post, saving money should not be complicated or laborious. There are simple and easy tips to follow that will help [...]
April 29, 2015 /
Financial Planning
4 Money Saving Tips Every Women Should Know
You’ve heard it a million times – create a budget and stick to it. But some times that’s easier said than done. Life can get in [...]
April 22, 2015 /
Financial Planning