Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Please see the following article from the Wall Street Journal on big things happening with Social Security. And remember, once an increase is applied it’s permanent. By Eric Morath and Anne Tergesen Updated Oct. 11, 2018 2:49… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. It’s easy to get caught up in complacency when conditions are good, the sun is shining and the market is rising without interruption.  But, as we know intuitively (but often still forget), such conditions aren’t realistic or… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. I believe that it is very important to be aware of and to examine the consensus of our society as a whole in ways that impact us as individuals. Every year the Employee Benefit Research Institute provides… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Investment planning during retirement is not the same as investing for retirement and in many ways is more complicated. Your working years are your saving years. With luck, your income increases from year to year as you… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Asset allocation and diversification are both an art and science. Getting it right goes a long way toward insuring success with your portfolio. The following are the necessary considerations for developing effective asset allocation and diversification in… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Week before last President Trump proposed changes involving Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from IRAs. In a nutshell the proposal extends the age in which a retiree must begin to take withdrawals. This is a positive and favorable… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. When you change jobs, you need to decide what to do with the money in your 401(k) plan. Should you leave it where it is or take it with you? Should you roll the money over into… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Being named as the executor of a family member’s estate is generally an honor. It means that person has been chosen to handle the financial affairs of the deceased individual and is trusted to help carry out… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Are health insurance premiums taking too big of a bite out of your budget? Do you wish you had better control over how you spend your health-care dollars? If so, you may be interested in an alternative… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Often overlooked in our retirement plans (and our working years, for that matter) is what I like to call a “rainy day fund” for emergencies. Most people don’t have one. That can be a problem for many… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Many Americans realize the how important it is to save for retirement, but knowing exactly how much you need to save to be secure is another matter entirely. Everyone’s situation is unique and it’s sometimes challenging to… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. You may hope to live to an old age, but a longer life means that you’ll have even more years of retirement to fund. You may even run the risk of outliving your savings and other income… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. Most Americans will receive Social Security and Medicare benefits at some point in their lives. For this reason, workers and retirees are concerned about potential program shortfalls that could affect future benefits. Each year, the Trustees of… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. In general we tend to drive more in the summer season than at other times of the year. I saw the following this week on gas prices and thought it might be of interest to you. The… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. To further our discussion about investing basics and your retirement, this week let’s examine asset allocation. The combination of investments you choose for your retirement portfolio can be as important as your specific investments. The mix of… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. To further our discussion about investing basics and your retirement this week let’s examine mutual funds. You can invest in all three major asset classes of cash, stocks and bonds through mutual funds. In this form of… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life.     To further our discussion about investing basics and your retirement this week let’s examine cash and cash alternatives. In daily life cash is all around you, as currency, bank balances, negotiable money orders, and checks.… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life.   To further our discussion about investing basics and your retirement this week let’s examine bonds. How do bonds work? A bond is basically an IOU. Bonds, sometimes called fixed-income securities, are essentially loans to a corporation… ...

Greetings! I hope and trust that this finds you well and enjoying life. To further our discussion about investing basics and your retirement this week let’s examine stocks. When you buy a company’s stock, you’re purchasing a share of ownership in that business. You become one of the company’s stockholders.… ...

Greetings! I hope that this finds you well and enjoying life. Over the next few weeks I’m going to write about investing basics as they pertain to retirement. Nowadays most folks have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. So I will address the benefits of saving in an employer-sponsored retirement… ...