If you are 56 today, you will likely live to age 86, according to the Social Security Administration life expectancy calculator. That is an average, so half my readers will live longer than age 86. How can you be sure that you have enough saved at retirement to last as long as you do? It’s a …
Legacy Planning
What Should I Look for in a Financial Planner?
So your youngest kid just graduated from college. You just realized you have 30 years of work history. You found a notebook from your first year at work and you notice a goal you wrote down: “Retire by age 50.” This year you will celebrate your 55th birthday. You’ve been saving into the 401(k) at …
Is a Roth 401(k) right for you?
In the Revenue Act of 1978, the 401(k) retirement savings plan was born. This law gave employees the choice to receive a portion of their earnings as deferred compensation held in a special account. The employees did not pay tax on that money in the year it was earned. They would pay income tax in …
How am I doing on retirement savings?
“How am I doing on my investment or retirement goals?” is a question I get pretty often, most often from acquaintances, not clients. The questioner is usually looking for a comparison to other people her age to gauge whether the she’s ahead of or behind her peers. And my answer is typically some variation of, …
Father’s Day Advice
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry With Father’s Day coming soon, I reflect as a father, and a son, on the opportunity I have to help my children have a better life. So I thought I would offer some life-changing advice. Here it is: “A goal without a …
Aren’t I Too Old for Life Insurance?
Growing up on the farm, we would get a surprising number of unwelcome visits from insurance salesmen. One of the least complimentary things you could say about somebody was that they reminded you of a life insurance salesman. Of course, times change. I now have extensive training in life insurance and understand what a useful …
