More than 60% of Americans don’t have a will, much less a full-blown estate plan. It’s understandable. It can feel morbid to think about what happens after you die.  Yet many of those same people have life insurance, precisely to safeguard the finances of loved ones should they pass away unexpectedly. People sometimes use the… Continue reading →

It is incredibly hard to lose a lifelong spouse, and the weeks following a funeral are undeniably tough for the surviving partner.  Yet that’s exactly when many recently widowed people are expected to make consequential decisions about their finances, choices that could set them back thousands of dollars in income each year during retirement. The… Continue reading →

Traditional home buyers should think through the implications of buying a house with cash and fully understand the long-term effects of such a decision. Today’s housing market clearly has buyers coming to the bargaining table with an offer that’s hard to ignore: Cash offers with no delays and no hassles for the seller. Offering to… Continue reading →

Thousands of people retire every day, either stepping away from long-term careers or downshifting into either full retirement, a second act that pays less, perhaps a fledgling business idea, or a passion project that pays nothing at all. Retirement is a glorious transition that should be celebrated, but too often this change of life creates… Continue reading →

Most people entering retirement naturally would prefer to continue to collect a paycheck, much like when they worked for a living.  That regular income is likely to come from Social Security, a pension if you have one, as well as from money in tax-deferred retirement plans such as your 401(k) and IRA accounts. The goal… Continue reading →

The decision to go from working to fully retired is a big one, potentially fraught with uncertainty. And the last thing anyone wants is to go broke in retirement. After all, you have to go from making, spending, and saving money to not making it all and just spending it.  So where does the money… Continue reading →

Picking a date to retire is a big decision, even in the best of times. What does one do in an environment of rapidly rising inflationary pressures? After all, being retired means living on an income that is likely to be the same or less than you had when working, and there will be no… Continue reading →

For many folks, retirement planning comes down to their personal “number,” the savings level at which you can leave work behind and relax in a folding chair on a beach. That milestone number for many of us seems to be $1 million. If we can get to $1 million in the bank, well, that’s plenty… Continue reading →

A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline, as the saying goes. So what does your dream of retirement life look like, and I mean really look like? Making a commitment to your retirement goals requires getting your financial life in order today. That means writing down a financial plan, and I… Continue reading →