Harrison Medical Center Foundation (www.harrisonfoundation.org) is offering a series of educational presentations focused on estate planning.
Presented by Tom Deichert, a certified financial planner, the “Wealth to Legacy” series is designed to provide attendees with a comprehensive overview of a disciplined approach toward connecting heartfelt goals with appropriate tools and techniques to both optimize and protect family wealth. Participants will receive a binder to assist in plan design, organization and management that they can then use as a foundation for discussions with their family and other advisors. read more »
School is back in session. If you have school-age children, you’re probably busy getting them acclimated to another year of hitting the books. But the school years go by quickly, so it won’t be long before your kids are ready to head off to college. Will you be financially prepared to help them? read more »
As you’re well aware, we’re living in difficult economic times. Consequently, you may be forced to make some financial moves you wouldn’t normally undertake. One such move you might be considering is taking out a loan from your 401(k) plan — but is this a good idea?
Of course, if you really need the money, and you have no alternatives, you may need to consider a 401(k) loan. Some employers allow 401(k) loans only in cases of financial hardship, although the definition of “hardship” can be flexible. But many employers allow these loans for just about any purpose. To learn the borrowing requirements for your particular plan, you’ll need to contact your plan administrator. read more »
Social Security is the “third rail” of American politics warning any politician brave (or stupid) enough to touch it they will be ousted from office. The same could certainly be said of Social Security’s sister program, Medicare. With Boomers in or nearing retirement, taxpayers are rightly concerned about rising health costs. Many are questioning whether Medicare will be available when they need it, though no proposal affects anyone over age 55.
Regardless of the political consequences, Medicare has become a major issue in this year’s presidential campaign with the selection of Paul Ryan as the vice president candidate on the GOP ticket.
Ryan’s proposals for Medicare are interesting, if for no other reason because they have started a long overdue debate. The future of a program that tens of millions of Americans will depend upon in the decades ahead needs an abnormal amount of clarity from Congress. read more »
As you construct a plan to generate a lifetime of inflation-adjusted income, one of the items you should pay close attention to is how and when to begin taking your Social Security benefits.
Maximizing your Social Security benefits is an important part of an overall income plan for retirement for several reasons. First, Social Security benefits are tax-advantaged because in a worst case scenario, only 85 percent of the income you receive from Social Security is taxable. Second, Social Security income is adjusted for inflation so over the years your income will increase to keep up with it. And third, Social Security provides survivor benefits when one spouse passes, allowing the surviving spouse to continue to receive income guaranteed for life. read more »
Wealth creation. Wealth management. Wealth strategies.
These buzzwords have been popular over the years to entice people to start saving, investing, and managing money for retirement. While all noble objectives, perhaps we need to do a little better job of defining wealth. On the surface, wealth means money. If you are creating wealth, you are making money, right? If you are managing wealth, you are making that money work for you to make more money.
I don’t believe the definition of true wealth is money. I think it’s something more visionary, yet very important to one’s motivation to creating wealth. Here is my definition of true wealth… read more »
Over the past few years, if you’ve taken out a mortgage or another consumer loan, you’ve probably welcomed the low interest rates you may have received. But as an investor, if you’ve kept any retirement savings in fixed-rate investment vehicles, you may have seen low rates in a less favorable light. And that’s why it may be time for you take a closer look at your financial strategy for working toward the retirement lifestyle you’ve envisioned.
Of course, you can always hope that interest rates will rise, and perhaps they will. As you may know, the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at record lows in recent years to stimulate lending and thereby boost the economy. read more »
Imagine to yourself the following situation: The real estate market is in the toilet and the stock market is performing poorly (that wasn’t hard to do was it?). So you think to yourself “when prices are low it is a great time to buy.” You begin dreaming late at night about buying real estate, being a landlord and then when this market turns around you will sell your dirt cheap properties for a hefty profit.
So you stay up late at night indulging in beverages that contain too much sleep inhibiting chemicals trying to hatch a plan to fund your new real estate empire. Banks are a hassle these days (again not hard to imagine). So it hits you like a ton of bricks: “I will use my IRA to buy the property!” read more »
Could you end up paying higher taxes in retirement? Do you have a lot of money saved in a 401(k) or a traditional IRA? If so, you may be poised to receive significant retirement income.
Those income distributions will be taxed. As federal and state governments are hungry for revenue, you may see higher marginal tax rates in the near future.
Poor retirees with meager savings may rely on Social Security as their prime income source. They may end up paying less income tax in retirement, as up to half of their Social Security benefits won’t be counted as taxable income. read more »
