Should You Designate Beneficiaries on Your Financial Accounts?
The designation of beneficiaries is an often-overlooked task by many people. If you have a will, you may think you don’t need to make any beneficiary designations. But there are important reasons why you shouldn’t skip this step. The beneficiaries you name on your financial accounts supersede the heirs you have named […]
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You’re Planning to Retire. What Comes Next?
The idea of retirement at age 65 is an entrenched one. It’s the age many of our grandparents retired. The idea was to save enough money to live one’s golden years in comfort. In 2022, however, people are living longer, and the golden years may be lasting for decades instead […]
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Older Americans Fear Inflation Will Drain Their Retirement Income
For a variety of reasons, not least among them labor shortages, global political events, and the continuing specter of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. is facing once-in-a-generation inflation rates. According to Statista Research, the annual inflation rate in the United States increased from 3.2 percent in 2011 to 4.7 percent in […]
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Inflation – Back to the Future
Your financial advisor knows, inflation sometimes seems like one of those afflictions of an era long since passed into the history books. While it’s true that double-digit inflation has been absent for the last 30 years or more, you may remember the high inflation years of the 1970s.¹ Will the levels of […]
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A Living Trust Primer
A living trust is a popular consideration in many estate strategy conversations, but its appropriateness will depend upon your individual needs and objectives. What is a Living Trust? A living trust is created while you are alive and funded with the assets you choose to transfer into it. The trustee (typically, […]
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Retirement Planning – 9 Facts About Retirement
Retirement planning can have many meanings. For some, it will be a time to travel and spend time with family members. For others, it will be a time to start a new business or begin a charitable endeavor. Regardless of what approach you intend to take, here are nine things about […]
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A Brief History of Estate Taxes
Federal estate taxes have been a source of funding for the federal government almost since the U.S. was founded. In 1797, Congress instituted a system of federal stamps that were required on all wills offered for probate when property (land, homes) was transferred from one generation to the next. The revenue from […]
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Retirement Seen Through Your Eyes
Retirement Seen Through Financial Advisor Eyes How do you picture your future? Some see retirement as a time to start a new career. Others see it as a time to travel. Still others plan to spend more time with family and friends. With that in mind, here are some things to consider. What […]
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Social Security: The 64,000 Dollar Question
One of the most common questions people ask financial advisors about Social Security is when they should start taking benefits. This is the $64,000 question. Making the right decision for you can have a meaningful impact on your financial income in retirement. Before considering how personal circumstances and objectives may play into your […]
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5 Benefits of Working in Retirement
In the past, retirement has been portrayed as an ending, a grand exit from your years in the workplace. But the rules are shifting. Labor force participation among those aged 65-74 is predicted to reach 33.2 percent by 2029, up from just 25.6 percent in 2009. As the Boomer generation […]
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