Part of my job is to help families think about—and prepare for—bad things. It can be tricky because humans mostly don’t like to think about bad things. After all, they’re bad and it’s unpleasant to think about them. The point is not really that you must do this one thing in response to the bad stuff. The …
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5 places to get retirement income
For many families, the entire point of saving for retirement is to create an “income engine” that produces income to pay for life in retirement after the wages stop. But creating that engine can be tricky because of how hard it is to answer the following questions: How long will you need the money? How …
How should I start preparing for retirement?
As a financial advisor, I don’t think it’s ever too early to start planning for retirement. Ideally retirement planning starts as soon as an individual starts earning money, even on their very first job. However, specific planning really ramps up in the years and decades just before retirement. That’s when it’s important to start visualizing …
Tax savings for 2018
The new federal tax law takes effect for tax year 2018. One of the biggest changes is a near doubling of the standard deduction to $12,000 on single returns, $18,000 for head-of-household filers and $24,000 on joint returns. That’s up from $6,350, $9,350 and $12,700 in 2017. Individuals age 65 or older and blind people …
How to have enough money in retirement
One way to be sure you don’t run out of money in retirement is to carefully plan in advance. I like to talk about the Retirement Red Zone, the five years before you retire and the 10 years after. This window is when a lot of important choices and adjustments can be made to increase …
What Should I Do with My Savings Bonds?
Sometimes a client tells me that they have a portion of their savings “invested” in savings bonds. Usually I get a bellyache when I hear this. Here’s why: Savings bonds are savings vehicles, like money market accounts and CDs. They pay a safe, low rate of interest that competes with money markets and CDs. Savings …