Sometimes it is fun to take a moment and participate in a quiz about retirement. Answering questions and then comparing our responses to others gives us new opportunities to think about the choices we are making, and how we are planning for the future. This week’s article does just that. Can you answer the retirement questions it poses? Call us when you and done to talk about your plans for the future. We are always here to help. Click Here to Read Full Article

I thought you might like this week’s article because it contains several videos aimed at raising your “Retirement IQ”. Did you know that “A startling number of baby boomers don’t know how much money they need to live comfortably during retirement, and without a target in mind, have ended up saving very little. In fact, 1 in 4 baby boomers have less than $5k saved for retirement.” The good news is “it’s easy to raise your retirement IQ. Start with the basics of estimating costs, get a balanced portfolio in place, and research financial products that offer a guaranteed stream

This week’s article tells us that “One of the biggest fears among retirees and soon-to-be retirees today is that they will outlive their retirement savings. With life expectancies in developed countries at unprecedented highs, this is a justified concern. Many senior citizens will live to see their eighties and nineties, but they may have only saved enough to fund a lifetime equivalent to their own parents’ – perhaps up to their late seventies. Thus, the demand for a retirement “security blanket” is high.” Call us if you are interested in learning more about using an annuity to help fund your

As we come to the end of the year I thought to share with you a group of articles that I have found to be informative, each of them reflecting on different issues relating to planning for retirement that you may want to reflect on. Ranging from “11 Money Lies to Stop Telling Yourself” to “20 Things You Can Learn From Your Parents’ Retirement”, you will find pointers that may help you. Call us if you would like to discuss any of the ideas you read about. We are always here to help. Click Here to Read Full Article

“Imagine sitting down on the day of your retirement to plan your financial future. You know what your annual expenses have been and you want to maintain your current standard of living. So, you consult a recent mortality table and find that if you’ve made it to your 65th birthday, you can expect to live to 85 years old. You perform a little calculation and find that, together with your Social Security monthly payments, you have just enough savings to maintain your current standard of living and spend all of your savings and future expected earnings by the time you

This week’s article states that “Individuals engaged in financial planning for retirement have no shortage of resources available to provide guidance on how much to save and how to invest those savings. If one does a Google search on the term “retirement planning,” the lion’s share of the over 1.2 million hits appear to guide one to websites that discuss various features of the saving and investment decisions. Given the dominant focus on saving and investment, the typical worker could be forgiven for believing that “retirement planning” is synonymous with “wealth accumulation.” While wealth accumulation is an important ingredient in

This week’s article, found in an issue of the Harvard Business Review, was of interest to me because it described very simply the difference between and shift from Defined Benefit retirement plans to Defined Contribution plans and it discussed that “more dangerous yet is the shift in focus away from retirement income to return on investment that has come with the introduction of saver-managed defined contribution plans”. We have always liked products that provide an income in retirement that you can’t outlive. If that is something of interest to you, give us a call and we can tell you about

After what I hope was a hearty Thanksgiving day meal, I thought you would enjoy this article which suggests that you “consider throwing a new recipe onto your menu. Ingredients like contributions to an employer sponsored 401(k) program or to fixed indexed annuities can create a deliciously balanced portfolio that can keep you and your family financially full for many Thanksgivings to come.” Call us if you’d like to explore what ingredients are needed to make this “recipe” for you and your family. We are always here to help. Click Here to Read Full Article

I read an article this week that was directed toward teachers who were revisiting their retirement plan “for when they are no longer lesson planning.” One section of the article in particular caught my eye because it addressed in a very simple way two topics that we always discuss with our clients who purchase Fixed Indexed Annuities, how you don’t lose your principal, and how you do make money. The article states “An FIA uses a unique formula to calculate annual interest based in part on the performance of a stock, bond or commodity index. While the index is used