Understanding Your Risk Tolerance
The recent success of Chinese megacompany Alibaba’s IPO (Initial Public Offering) has sparked many investors’ interest. But before jumping in with both feet and opening your checkbook, there are many factors to consider. How’s your ability to withstand short-term losses? This is the question at the core of any discussion of risk tolerance. Some people […]
Women, Longevity Risk and Retirement Saving
Will you live to be 100? If you’re a woman, your odds of becoming a centenarian are seemingly better than those of men. In the 2010 U.S. Census, over 80% of Americans aged 100 or older were women. Will you eventually live alone? According to the Administration on Aging (a division of the federal government’s […]
3 Reasons to Wait Until You Retire to Make a Roth IRA Conversion
One of the most commonly asked Roth IRA questions is: “Should I make a Roth conversion?” While Roth conversions can make sense at any age, depending on your particular circumstances, generally speaking, the younger you are, the more it makes sense. Converting at a young age gives you the longest amount of time to let […]
Asset Location and Timing to Reduce Taxes in Retirement
Location, location, location. It matters when it comes to real estate, and it also matters when it comes to the way you hold and invest your retirement savings. You can’t control what happens with the tax code, but you can control how your savings are held. As various types of investments are taxed at varying rates, […]
Should You Apply For Social Security Now or Later?
When it comes to the question of Social Security income, the choice looms large. Should you apply now to get earlier payments? Or wait for a few years to get larger checks? Here are some factors to keep in mind when making your decision: Consider what you know (and don’t know). You know how much retirement money […]
Retirement and Your Budget: Credits and Debits
Just like any major life event, retirement brings about a lot of unexpected changes. Many of these changes will be in lifestyle, hobbies, or location, but the most worrisome for retirees are the unexpected changes with their financial situation. If you are like most of our clients, you have planned well for your retirement, but […]
Obamacare and the Cost of a Healthy Retirement
Ever since the 2008 presidential elections, America has been in a whirlwind of discussions over our healthcare system. Any American that has paid attention has had healthcare in the forefront of their mind at some point over the past four years. And, once the Affordable Care Act legislation went into effect on October 1, 2013, it has […]
Planning for New and Impending Social Security Changes
From middle-aged wage earners to current retirees, just about everyone is eager to know what they can expect of Social Security in the coming years. People are living longer lives and requiring longer-term sources of income, yet rising health care costs, government deficits and a still-shaky economy could jeopardize their retirement prospects. Despite the consistent […]
Fast Forward: How Retirement Is Changing
Predicting the future is not an easy task, particularly in a world that’s begun changing more and more rapidly with every passing day. Unfortunately a lot of people on all sides of retirement find themselves having to do this very thing, having to try and figure out what directions the world will be taking them in […]