December 31, 2013 8:06 am
Published by alexhouse
The figgy pudding has been given, the presents unwrapped and Christmas goose consumed (In my household it was ‘Leg of Lamb’ on the Grill… benefits of living in Florida!). You watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Vacation” so many times that you yell at George Bailey to get off the bridge and go home and for Clark to plug in the lights already! Now that Christmas Day has come and gone, it’s time to look toward 2014 and the various resolutions we will...
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December 30, 2013 3:07 pm
Published by alexhouse
Surrender fees for Fixed and Fixed Index Annuities can be very high and should be avoided at all costs; especially with your retirement funds. The surrender fees could be as high as 18% or more for some annuities. This would put a real dent in your nest egg if you have to pay it in the event you ever had to liquidate an annuity. Fortunately, there is a very easy way to not have to worry about surrender fees… don’t use annuities for short term...
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December 30, 2013 8:00 am
Published by alexhouse
When most people hear the term Philanthropy they picture the Gates, Buffets, Rockefellers and Carnegies of the world; or maybe the person with a wing of the local hospital or the business school of the college named for them. This is true of course, but it’s not the whole picture. Every time you leave a check in the collection plate at church or send that annual donation to the Cancer Society, Heart Association or your Alma mater, you too are a Philanthropist. Most major charities...
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December 27, 2013 8:12 am
Published by alexhouse
I recently read an article from an advisor referral website that claimed the only type of advisor one should use is a fee-based (or fee-only) financial advisor. Not only is that reasoning weak, but also very short-sided. Let’s examine. We live in a free-market capitalist economy. Someone creates a product or service to sell. The entrepreneur incurs expense to market the product or service. He or she also has potential other cost to incur before the product or service is sold, among those are, but...
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December 26, 2013 9:28 am
Published by alexhouse
In the years before Indexed annuities were offered (pre 1995), fixed annuities had only one rate you needed to know to compare policies; the fixed interest rate. Assuming the companies had similar financial strength ratings it was pretty easy to pick the best annuity for your needs: Who was offering the highest interest rate? Fortunately (or unfortunately if you long for simpler times), annuities today come with many moving parts. Riders that provide guaranteed lifetime income, long term care benefits and enhanced death benefits are...
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December 24, 2013 9:22 pm
Published by alexhouse
Shoppers are busying themselves with last minute deals and savings with less than a week left until Christmas. This flurry of consumer activity, both online and in person, should result in happy gift recipients on the 25th and a review of your financial statements on the 26th as we all look forward to the next season…planning season! OK, there is no official planning season, but should there be? Now is the time to look ahead and start the process of planning for the future. There...
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December 23, 2013 8:15 am
Published by alexhouse
Here’s a question I have been getting more and more lately. With the bulk of Americans retirement money in qualified plans such as 401ks and IRAs, it makes sense. So let’s go through this bit-by-bit and give you some examples: When you turn 70 ½ Uncle Sam and his buddy the IRS will force you to start taking money out of your IRA or 401k regardless if you want to or not. It’s called the Required Minimum Distribution. You can read a table for calculating...
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December 20, 2013 10:40 am
Published by alexhouse
Written By: Ike Ikokwu, CFP, CPA, CTC, MSPFP in Atlanta, GA In Part 1 of this article, I talked about how exciting a time it is to be an investor; that is, assuming you are currently invested in the market (click here to read Part 1). As of that writing, both the DOW and S&P 500 hit major milestones by crossing over 16,000 and 1,800 respectively. Well, the NASDAQ, decided it too would not be left out of the party and during the week of...
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December 19, 2013 4:50 pm
Published by alexhouse
The Indexed Annuity market is very convoluted and voluminous. As mentioned in a previous article (Goldilocks Syndrome), the insurance companies design them to have something unique, so to differentiate themselves from other products in the market. By definition, they are challenging to understand, but once you get the basics down, you will find them to be much simpler than you would expect. The term “Indexed”, refers to market indexes, and they could be stock market or bond markets, US or International markets, precious metals markets,...
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December 19, 2013 10:59 am
Published by alexhouse
In my 33 year career, my clients have always been inquisitive of the tax consequences of moving money from one account to another. As we review current and prospective clients’ annuity contracts and they come to realize that there may be a better solution, they all seem to want to know the answer to that all important question of “Will I pay taxes if I exchange my annuity for a better one?” My answer is always the same: “No!” Even though the IRS always seems...
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