According to the US Census Bureau, about 1 in 5 people over the age of 60 have married at least twice. However, all marriages are not created equal. The Schwab Center for Financial Research lets us know that “Unlike those just starting out in life, many older individuals have adult children, substantial assets, and established financial habits that may not easily mesh with those of another person.” One area that bears particular attention relates to how marriage may affect sources of retirement income, such as Social Security. For example, generally, you can collect 100% of your own benefits or up

According to many experts, knowing your cash flow is the most important piece of information you will need in order to tell if you are not only living within your means, but if you have financial stability. Financial stability in retirement becomes increasingly important the older you get. The reason for that is as we age, our ability to supplement our income by, for example, back to work part-time, will eventually disappear.  Once we are fully in retirement, most of us will have already factored in possibilities like obtaining money by selling our home, and we will have moved past

We’re inundated with so many changes to rules related to retirement, that we oftentimes tell ourselves we can just ignore them and “focus on them later.” However, there are some changes you might want to pay attention to now. For example, the changes made by the Secure Act:  Firstly, the Secure Act interest and penalties for missed RMDs from an IRA account, which could go on indefinitely. Currently, there’s a three-year statute of limitations beginning with the filing of the income tax return for the relevant year, which means that the IRS can’t impose a penalty for an RMD you

Continuing on from last week, did you decide what kind of retiree you are? Regardless of whether you think of yourself as the Dynamo, the Philanthropist, the Homebody, or the Adventurer, it is recommended that you start building your strategy early.  Along with newfound freedoms, retirement can also mean confronting uncomfortable topics and scenarios. The most common complaint amongst retirees is that they did not anticipate how derailing long-term care costs could be, nor did they confront the possibility of suffering through a short-term medical situation that would require round-the-clock nurses to avoid having to move into an assisted living

“What kind of retiree are you?” An interesting concept that we had some fun diving into, and wanted to share it with you.  Are you “The Adventurer”? Do you want to stay active, are you in good health, and have you always wanted to fill up your passport pages?  Are you “The Philanthropist”? Do you enjoy giving back and want to dedicate more of your time to worthy causes?  Are you “The Dynamo”? Do you love your career and pride yourself on being productive and useful?  Are you “The Homebody”? When you’re done with work do you dream of gardening,

How should couples save for retirement if only one is working? Saving for two when one is the primary or sole breadwinner can be challenging. It takes proper strategizing that goes beyond just watching your spending. Often, couples think that there will never be a time when they can actually just enjoy life. Thankfully, that’s not necessarily true.  There are strategies and options that can help you protect and save more income for retirement–or potentially even retire early. We know of some options you might not have even considered. Get in contact with us to learn more.

Sometimes there is value in knowing. Social Security was never meant to cover all your expenses in retirement, and, unless you work in the public sector, pensions are rare. Knowing there’s another payment coming in like clockwork every month, or that your savings have some protection from a volatile market, can ease possible worries about not having enough to support yourself, especially during times of economic uncertainty. If you’d be interested in learning about some alternative sources of retirement income, get in contact with us. We know about some options that might fit the bill.