Fall Financial Reminders The year is coming to a close. Have you thought about these financial ideas yet? As every calendar year ends, the window slowly closes on a set of financial opportunities. Here are several you might want to explore before 2015 arrives. Don’t forget that IRA RMD. If you own one or more traditional IRAs, you have to take your annual required minimum distribution (RMD) from one or more of those IRAs by December 31. If you are [...]
The Market’s Wild Swings A hugely volatile week concludes. What’s next as earnings season gets underway? During this past trading week, volatility ruled Wall Street. In fact, stocks either fell or rose 1.5% or more on three consecutive trading days. That had happened only 54 times since 1928.1 What prompted these ups & downs? Several factors. The International Monetary Fund just cut its global and Asia growth forecasts for 2015 and stated that the eurozone could soon slide into another [...]
Couples Retiring on the Same Page Agreeing about what you want from retirement is crucial. What does a good retirement look like to you? Does it resemble the retirement that your spouse or partner has in mind? It is at least roughly similar? The Social Security Commission currently projects an average retirement of 19 years for a man and 21 years for a woman (assuming retirement at age 65). So sharing the same vision of retirement (or at least respecting [...]
Gauging Your Financial Well-Being Six signs that you are in good shape. How well off do you think you are financially? If your career or life takes an unexpected turn, would your finances hold up? What do you think will become of the money you’ve made and saved when you are gone? These are major questions, and most people can’t answer them as quickly as they would like. It might help to think about six factors in your financial life. [...]
Debunking a Few Popular Retirement Myths Certain misconceptions ignore the realities of retirement. Generalizations about money & retirement linger. Some have been around for decades, and some new clichés have recently joined their ranks. Let’s examine a few. “When I’m retired, I won’t really have to invest anymore.” Many people see retirement as an end instead of a beginning – a finish line for a career. In reality, retirement can be the start of a new and promising phase of [...]