A recent study indicates that the typical family loses an average of $111,000 due to poor choices of when to begin taking Social Security retirement benefits. With Social Security retirement payments making up an average of one-third the average retirees’ income, making the right decision is vital to your financial well-being. Let’s start with the […]
Best Strategy for Claiming Social Security Retirement Income
New Strategies for Your IRA
New Strategies for Your IRA
Last week I discussed how Congress is potentially stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from your IRA by enacting the SECURE Act which eliminates the long-held ‘Stretch IRA’ by forcing non-spousal IRA beneficiaries to withdraw all funds within 10 years. In my example, a 10-year-old inheritor of a grandparent’s IRA, under current ‘Stretch’ rules, could […]
Stretching Your IRA
Is Congress Stealing a Chunk of Your IRA?
The backbone of every family’s retirement planning is, well, their qualified retirement plan, whether it be a 401k, IRA, Roth, or similar plan. We’ve been told we need to invest in a qualified plan because: Often you receive a matching employer contribution. You put in $200 per pay period, and they match it with $100 […]
Moving vs Remodeling
To Move or Remodel
At its foundation, my job as a wealth manager is to help clients effectively allocate their hard-earned capital. While there are many important decisions along those lines, the decision to remodel an existing home, or move to a new home, is one of the biggest as it can prove costly if not well thought-out. When […]
Secrets to A Perfect Credit Score
My long-time assistant, Roxie, is the master of managing her credit score. This began as a game to her and she wondered if she could ‘manage’ her way to a perfect ‘850’ score. Her Discover card provides (for free) her score each month so she began experimenting with changes to how she handled her finances […]
5 Secrets to Having a Perfect Credit Score
Financial Protection for Your Elderly Parent
This story opens with a 103-year-old parent who was sold two new HVAC units for his home costing $24,000. These were top-of-the-line units where competitive units would have cost $14,000. When his 70-year-old son found out, he was furious and felt the company had taken advantage of him. The son had tried to protect his […]