Author: Jeff Christian

Greetings! I trust that this will find you well and enjoying life! Speaking of enjoying life, so so much hype around the election. I feel like I’m being taken advantage of by the media, how about you? I’m often asked my opinion on how either a republican or democratic winner…

I trust that this will find you well and enjoying life. I have a question for you and I want an honest answer. Do you know where you stand financially at any given point in time? To be more specific, do you know within a few thousand dollars what your…

Greetings! I trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Someone asked me a long time ago how they could learn more about money. My response was for them to make a habit of reading the money section of the Times Picayune every day. A lot has changed hasn’t…

Greetings! I trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. You may have assets in accounts that are taxable (e.g., CDs, mutual funds), tax deferred (e.g., traditional IRAs and 401(k)s), and tax free (e.g., Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s). Given a choice, which type of account should you withdraw…

Greetings! I trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Last week I wrote about distributions from traditional IRAs. This week let’s examine the particulars of withdrawing from Roth IRAs. You are free to make withdrawals at any time from your Roth IRA, but only qualified distributions receive tax-free…

Greetings! I trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Let’s examine rules and considerations involved in distributions from IRAs. Once you reach the age of 59 ½, you are allowed (but not required) to take distributions from your traditional IRA without being subject to the 10 percent premature…

Greetings! I trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Here are seven common retirement mistakes everyone should know about. • Investing in retirement as though you are still working. • Not protecting yourself and your nest egg from significant market declines. • Not structuring your basic (non-discretionary) retirement…

Greetings! I trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. As you near retirement age, you may be offered early retirement by your employer who may refer to the offer as a golden handshake or a golden parachute. The offer usually consists of severance payments and post-retirement medical coverage…

Greetings! I trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. As you grow older, housing issues become an integral part of your retirement plans. You may be living on a fixed income and want to get additional cash by borrowing against the equity in your home. You may feel…

Greetings! I trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. During your retirement years, it’s important to pay close attention to the income tax consequences of your investment decisions. If you receive a great deal of investment income when retired, for instance, the taxation of your Social Security benefits…