Life insurance is one of the most complicated of financial products for consumers. Should I buy a policy that builds cash value? Should I stick with term insurance? Should I buy insurance on my spouse? How about my children? What follows is an excerpt from my (co-authored) recently published book, “J.K. Lasser’s New Rules for […]
Life Insurance Refresher Course – Part I
4 Tips for Saving for Retirement
Recent research suggests that a full one-third of working Americans have no retirement savings. Another third have saved under $50,000. Thirty percent had saved more but fall far short of being on track to fully funding retirement based on their current lifestyle. Only about 4% were on (or above) track to accumulate enough wealth to […]
Avoiding Probate – Part II The Living Trust
In last week’s column, I answered a reader’s question about how he could avoid probate. The key, I stated, was to make a list of every asset you own and then make sure each asset would transfer by either title or beneficiary designation. For example, if you owned a piece of real estate in your […]
How to Avoid Probate
Reader Question: How can I avoid probate at death? Answer: Probate is a court administered process whereby at death, the court oversees the transfer of your probate property from your name to the persons or organizations designated in your will. If you die without a will, your probate property is transferred according to state law. […]
Are Charitable Gift Annuities a Good Idea? – April 19, 2015
Reader Question: I have seen many advertisements for Charitable Gift Annuities, and I have always passed over them, partly as “too good to be true.” My husband received information from an organization and the numbers interested him. The annual payout for someone who is age 70 to 74 is 5.8%. For ages 80 through 84, […]
Should I Dump My Bonds?
Reader Question: I am 66 years old and my wife and I are debt free. She is the beneficiary of a $5 million trust that is 100% invested in a number of bond funds including 20% in a high yield bond fund. My question is, “Should I sell the bond funds and buy stocks or […]
Are Annuities a Good Idea?
Reader Question: I’m 39 years old and have money in an IRA annuity which is invested 100% in the guaranteed interest account earning 3%. Should I change to a more aggressive mix? Answer: I have often written about the disadvantages of owning an annuity in an IRA. An annuity’s biggest advantage is tax deferral of […]
No Heirs, Lots of Money… What to do?
Reader Question: Do you have any advice for a 68 year-old widow who is contemplating purchasing a hybrid long-term care/life insurance policy? The policy requires a one-time up-front deposit of $58,000 and will pay up to $3,000 a month for long-term care services (pays for up to 5 years). If you die before using the […]
The Art of Divorce – Part II
Last week we began a discussion about the cost of divorce; what type of assets are subject to division; and the use of mediation versus the traditional divorce process where both sides choose an attorney and square off and fight it out… often resulting in higher attorney fees and significant emotional stress. The rules for […]
The Art of Divorce – Part I
Fortunately, I do not have intimate knowledge of divorce proceedings (I’ve been married thirty-five years…I think!) but I recently heard a presentation by an attorney who specialized in divorce law and she confirmed a number of observations I’ve had over thirty-something years of practicing as a financial advisor and she opened my eyes to several […]