My Comments: I became a follower of Don Graves, the author of the following article, a number of years ago. His ideas about paying for retirement are very similar to what I’ve attempted to tell clients for almost four decades. As he says below, we pass through different psychological phases during our lives, and especially …
Continue reading Navigating the Three Economic Phases of Retirement
My Comments: As someone licensed to sell life insurance policies for over 4 decades, I know for a fact that many of them go missing. People move, people die, there are no records for family members, sometimes a house burns down. These and for probably dozens of other reasons, a life insurance company is never …
My Comments: This is not a Holiday Season question, but one that perhaps should be addressed as soon as the New Year arrives. Life expectancies are steadily increasing but that doesn’t mean a continued ability to look after yourself without help as the years pass. From the day we reach adulthood, there have been bills …
Continue reading Should your retirement plan include long-term care insurance?
My Comments: I’ve dealt with inherited IRA accounts many times over the years. However, every time I encounter another example, the rules have changed for the worse. Yes, the IRS is under pressure to generate more revenue for the country, and this is one way to make it happen. Right now, I have a family …
My Comments: If you are 65 or older, chances are very good you're enrolled in Medicare. If your physician(s) have you taking prescription drugs, some of which can be very expensive, you need to take advantage of the open enrollment period that ends on December 7. At the very least read these words by Lennie …
Continue reading How to nail down the Medicare Part D plan that will save you the most money
My Comments: A family member is thankfully near the end of a 12–15-month process to successfully complete an inheritance. The person who died had some assets in a revocable trust but many were not. The effort to complete what is often a long probate process has been complicated by an IRA owned by the deceased …
Continue reading Four Reasons Retirees Need a (Revocable) Trust
My Comments: These words come from Suze Orman who is a recognized and highly published woman whose focus is financial matters for all of us. The message from both Suze Orman and myself is that we have to elect people to Congress who will act on behalf of all of us if Social Security is …
My Comments: This is Part Three and the last one in this series. My hope is you’ve read Part One and Part Two and ready for Part Three of the series and for it to end. I’ve attempted to provide the reader with a comprehensive and somewhat detailed overview of annuities and how they can …
My Comments: Two days ago I posted Annuities: Part One. In this post my attempt is to expand on a readers understanding of annuities in general so that if anyone sees this as a viable way to set aside money for the future, they’ll have a better understanding of the variables involved and how they …
My Comments: Over the years I’ve had many opportunities to help people plan how they want their money to both serve them during retirement and where it should go, or be used when or if, they become goofy and ultimately die. This is a little long, but a good read for any of you wondering …
Continue reading Revocable trust vs. will: A guide to estate planning
Helping Define Your Financial Future 