You have worked hard for your money, because you have a bigger goal than just paying the monthly expenses. You have a long term goal that is important to you. For some, that goal is to be able to retire comfortably, while others have other dreams that they are putting away money to be able to achieve. Whatever your goal, your savings are being set aside for a reason. Savings Are Not Enough However, if you are just putting your money into savings, you are really not getting the biggest bang for your buck, so to speak. Although rising, interest …

Retirement should be a time of rest, relaxation, and play. It should be about focusing on those pursuits that you wanted to do when you were younger, but you have yet to cross them off of your bucket list.  Failing to plan for a comfortable retirement, however, can be a major stressor in the life of someone facing their golden years. Recreational hopes and dreams can quickly be squashed in the wake of news that you haven’t set up things to be nearly as prosperous as you’d hoped. Learning what to do, and what NOT to do, as you plan …

When planning one’s last will and testament, one always hopes that the people they will be passing on their hard-earned wealth to will be responsible enough to handle it well and if possible, carry on their legacy. This is a hope which can be difficult to keep alive, especially in cases where the heirs have issues such as bad spending habits, drug addiction, gambling problems, and other weaknesses which compromise their judgment. When passing your estate to an imperfect heir, you need to make sure that you have put in place measures to control the manner in which they will …

Life insurance is one of those things that many people prefer to avoid thinking about because it often conjures up dark images.  Many people are jarred into realizing the importance of buying life insurance after a close friend or family member has passed away or even after hearing a news story about a tragic death that hit close to home. The reality is that it is better to be prepared and know that our loved ones will not be left to fend for themselves. Consider these important questions to determine your need for life insurance. How Will Your Loved Ones …

It may seem as if the end of the year is very far away and that there is no need to start making end of the year financial plans as of yet. However, the reality is that the end of the year, and the activities which surround it are busy.  At times, with all the festivities going on, it becomes close to impossible to do anything sensible where financial planning is concerned. You should consider starting your end of year plans now because early plan may spare you the heavy fines. Here are a few things that you should consider …

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday, August 31, that proposes asking for reviews on changing certain rules for tax-deferred retirement savings such as 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts, or IRAs. Trump signed the order during a scheduled visit to Charlotte, N.C., and asked the Treasury Department to push forward several bipartisan changes to how retirement plans operate. Here are the big initiatives: Review Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) rules with an eyes towards starting them later than age 70 ½ and/or reducing them once they start; Consider the creation of pooled Multiple Employer Plans, which would allow companies to offer financial …

The average individual can spend less during their retirement due to a budget. One exception can be giving to charitable causes. A study by the WPI or the Women’s Philanthropy Institute looked at the way households in America spent money as they retired. The study revealed both single women and married couples maintained the same level of giving to charities both prior to and after they retired. The charitable giving of single men decreased once they retired. The report from the WPI also showed both married and single women have less confidence regarding their financial health upon retirement than men. …

The way we work and save for retirement has changed and the old rules no longer apply to every individual’s situation. There are many professionals with the resources to retire early, but continue working until retirement age just to avoid paying penalties to the IRS. However, there are ways to retire early that you might want to consider. You Can Pay the Penalty The most obvious solution is to bite the bullet and pay the 10% penalty for early withdrawal. Most people are motivated to avoid paying the early withdrawal penalty and will wait until the legal retirement age of …

In retirement it’s not always about the money you have, it’s about how much you are spending.  As you prepare or revise your retirement plan, one of the most important steps that you can take is to ensure that your projected future budget is accurate. Any oversights or poor estimations can unfortunately lead to financial shortage in retirement. However, the flip side of this is that overestimating expenses may lead to unnecessary financial anxiety. It could cause you to scale back your lifestyle so dramatically now that you cannot maintain a comfortable lifestyle. In some cases, it could cause you …

Achieving a high income and net worth is half the battle in the quest for financial security. The other half is trying to keep and grow your assets once you have them. While this latter half is perhaps a nice problem to have, it has been the cause of many a headache. One problem some people make is the proverbial “putting all of their eggs in one basket.”  In the investing world, even just putting too many eggs in too few baskets can be enough to sink a financial battleship. Too often, people make this mistake in a misguided effort …