12 Retirement Planning Tips for Millennials |
March 26, 2012 |
Retirement Planning
Tough economic conditions over the recent past has led many in the millennial generation to focus more on funding near term needs than on retirement planning. This generation is mostly comprised of children from Baby Boomers with birth dates ranging somewhere from the early-1980s to the late-1990s. According to a recent survey, more than half of those under the age of 30 are unemployed. This includes 14% of those who graduated from college between 2006 and 2010. A recent article posted by Paula Aven Gladych...
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Who Inherits Your Debt? |
March 23, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
Imagine that a family member just listed you as the sole heir to his/her estate which included extensive credit card bills along with a house with negative equity. Where does that leave you? Well fortunately the personal debt of a deceased most often cannot be passed along to their loved ones. However, there are many dependencies which could allow for some debt to pass through to family or loved ones. These dependencies include how the specific assets are titled as well as the state in...
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8 Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid |
March 21, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
Estate planning is an arduous task which unfortunately can be prone to mistakes. Even using a professional planner to facilitate the process will not guarantee an error-free result. Fortunately, a CFP named Ed McCarthy recently posted an article (linked here) which highlights the 8 most common mistakes that were brought up from survey of experienced advisors. Here is the list of most common mistakes from his article: 1. Improper beneficiary designations – We frequently see advisors improperly completing beneficiary designations. Examples: not changing the beneficiary...
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Is Early Retirement Without a Fortune Possible? |
March 19, 2012 |
Retirement Planning
For the many who have realized lackluster returns in the volatile stock market over the past 10 decade, the thought of retirement brings feelings of anxiety due to worries of having enough money to have a comfortable lifestyle in retirement. Financial experts often recommend that workers postpone retirement as wages stagnate, 401(k) portfolios underperform, and pension plans are mostly a thing of the past. However, some people have discovered that the anxiety can be alleviated with a bit of careful planning and dedication. In an...
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Boost Your Social Security Knowledge: Eight Key Things to Know |
March 16, 2012 |
Income For Life, Retirement Planning
The basics about Social Security such as age of eligibility and lifetime payments are well known by most of us, but a surprising few are aware of many important aspects of the program which could lead to a more fruitful retirement if utilized smartly. “When you scratch beyond the surface, the knowledge really plummets,” said Jean Setzfand, vice president of financial security for AARP, which recently polled older adults on their Social Security knowledge. “I don’t blame people for not knowing and understanding the details....
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US Workers Willing to Trade Pay for Better Retirement Benefits |
March 13, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
According to a survey of more than 9,200 workers by global professional services company Towers Watson, an increasing amount of U.S. workers say that they are willing to trade some of their pay for more secure and generous retirement and health care benefits. The findings of this survey are efficiently described in a recent post from Bill Coffin where it is evident that the worries about the economy, recent volatility in the market, and fears of unsustainable benefits have resulted in individuals having a much...
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The Truth About Buy And Hold |
March 3, 2012 |
Annuity Basics, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
To begin, none of this can be construed as investment advice as we never give any investment advice or stock recommendations. What we strive to do is bring education and solid content to our readers. This week we came across an incredible read from CNN Money called, “Why Buy and Hold Doesn’t Work Anymore“. The title jumped out at us right away because that is usually the opposite of what CNN and many of their peers publish. Not to mention, it is the mantra that...
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How To Annuitize Your 401k |
February 27, 2012 |
401k and IRA Blogs, Annuity123, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
For many years annuities have received some bad press. Big names such as Suzi Orman and Dave Ramsey have made negative comments on certain types of annuities. And even many financial planners bashed using traditional annuities like SPIA’s due to annuitization. You see, annuitization basically means forced income and in some instances your beneficiaries might lose out if you passed away early. There are so many misconceptions about annuities due to these SPIA’s (single premium IMMEDIATE annuities). For instance, the average Joe hears “annuity” and...
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The Sandwich Generation – Part One |
February 24, 2012 |
Annuity123, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
Dorothy Miller created the the term “Sandwich Generation” in 1981, to describe middle aged adults who found themselves responsible not only for their active children, but also for their aging parents who increasingly needed help with health and daily living challenges. Since then, their numbers have increased. It is true that in other cultures and in the past, multigenerational living arrangements were common, but post-war and mobile societies in western nations are generally centered around the single family unit. Now the current levels in unemployment,...
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