Tips for Increasing Your Social Security Income |
August 15, 2012 |
Income For Life, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
Given the 76th birthday of Social Security this week, Emily Brandon was nice enough to post an informative article highlighting tips for increasing your social security payments. Although you may believe that the impacts to these factors may be hardly noticeable when looking at a monthly impact, the overall impact realized over multiple years can be surprisingly large. Below are the tips that she revealed in her article called How to Increase Your Social Security checks: • Work for at least 35 years: benefits are...
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Balancing Risk versus Growth in Retirement Plans |
August 13, 2012 |
Income For Life, Index Annuities, Jeremy Smith, Member Posts, Retirement Planning
Written By: Jeremy Smith | Amerishield Everyone has their own idea of what they want their lifestyle to be like when they retire, how much money they’ll need, whether they will travel, and even where they will live. If you’re approaching retirement, this stage of your life could last for 20-50 years or more! Knowing that can’t you count on an unpredictable stock market or economy to provide your income over that lengthy period of time, how will you make it through your retirement? A...
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Running out of money? |
August 13, 2012 |
Member Posts, Robert Zimmerman
Written By: Robert Zimmerman | H&R Advisory Service, LLC One of the main concerns in retirement years is: ‘Will my money last me as long as I live? When you look at the low interest rates available for ‘safe money’ accounts, it is quite apparent that there is a legitimate reason for this concern. After all, if inflation runs at 3% and your savings receive 1.5%, you lose purchasing power even if you simply let the money sit in your account. How is it, then,...
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The Tortoise vs. the Hare |
August 12, 2012 |
Annuity Basics, Index Annuities, Jeremy Smith, Member Posts, Retirement Planning
Written By: Jeremy Smith at Amerishield I just finished reading a blogged article titled “What is the Right Age to Buy an Annuity?” In this article the author hypothesized that fixed or indexed annuities need to be held for the length of the contract in order to realize the full opportunity for growth. I strenuously disagree. He also explained that in many of the policies there is a penalty for withdrawing more than the allowed amount during the contract period. In some cases this can...
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Survey Results: ‘Anxiety Index’ is Highest among Baby Boomers |
August 11, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, The United States Economy
A recent AARP survey has revealed that baby boomers are most concerned with the following issues: inflation, taxes, the opportunity to eventually retire, financial security during retirement, and the affordability of health care. These five factors are what drives the new polling feature called the “Anxiety Index”. In this survey of 1,852 registered voters found that non-retired 50-64 year olds (baby boomers) scored a 70 percent on the Anxiety Index. This score is much higher than the 59 percent score from 18-49 year olds and...
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What is the problem with annuities? |
August 11, 2012 |
Member Posts, Robert Zimmerman
Written By: Robert Zimmerman | H&R Advisory Service, LLC While annuities are great places to deposit your safe money, they are not tax free accounts, any more than IRA or 401k accounts. Yes they do offer higher interest rates on a guaranteed basis, and they have some attractive side benefits, they are still a ‘tax deferred’ account. Many people don’t realize that annuity values do not pass tax-free to heirs. All the interest gained through the years is taxable income to the heirs. Even if...
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You Don’t ‘Buy’ Annuities |
August 2, 2012 |
Annuity Basics, Member Posts, Robert Zimmerman, Your Retirement
Written By: Robert Zimmerman | H&R Advisory Service, LLC Most people are lead to believe that annuities are a purchase –same as buying a candy bar. Or an automobile! The problem is that you can immediately use your sense of touch to evaluate such a purchase. You cannot do this with a bunch of words on a piece of paper. Give up the notion of buying an annuity, and think of it in the same way as you think of having money in a checking...
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