Let The Shopping Begin!

2010-11-29The flip side of your saving and investing plan is your spending plan – otherwise known as your budget. Few things challenge our best expense-control intentions than the holidays and the desire to give our loved ones, our community an… Read more »

Year-End Is The Time To Review Risk

2010-11-18Start the new year off with some peace of mind with an insurance checkup. Today we will take a closer look at homeowners insurance, an important component of your holistic financial picture.Has your homeowners coverage kept up with your hom… Read more »

Important Tax Deadlines

2010-11-09It’s almost time to throw away that 2010 calendar. As you put birthdays, anniversaries and other important dates on your new calendar, you might want to include reminders about certain retirement tax deadlines throughout the year.Dec.… Read more »

Heirs Can Be Ill-Prepared to Receive an Inheritance

2010-11-09A 2007 survey by Putnam Investments found that most people who inherit money or property had no previous indication they would receive anything from a relative or friend’s estate, and less than 20 percent knew what to do with it when … Read more »

Working Longer Has Its Benefits

2010-10-29The number of retirees feeling “very confident” that they have sufficient assets to maintain their lifestyle in retirement has dropped by approximately 50 percent in the past two years, from 41 percent to 20 percent, according t… Read more »

No Cost of Living Adjustment For Social Security Recipients in 2011

2010-10-22The Social Security Administration announced last week that for the second consecutive year, the nation’s 58 million Social Security recipients will not receive an automatic inflation adjustment or cost of living adjustment (COLA) to … Read more »

Gift Tax Changes Uncertain

2010-10-15As the year of no estate tax nears to a close with no action from Congress, we face the possibility that the Bush tax plan will be allowed to play out and the estate tax will return with a vengeance in 2011 with a 55 percent rate and $1 mil… Read more »

Time To Prepare Your Tax Planning Strategies

2010-10-11The fourth quarter has begun! Time to start getting your financial information in order to prepare your 2010 tax return.As the end of the year approaches, you and your tax advisor will be looking at your earned income, capital gains and los… Read more »

Your Life Insurance Needs Will Change

2010-09-24September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, a campaign coordinated by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation in response to growing concern about the number of Americans who lack adequate life insurance protection. According to LIFE, approximately … Read more »

Health Care Costs: Estimating Your Financial Need During Retirement

2010-09-14Premiums for Medicare prescription drug coverage, known as “Part D,” will increase only about $1 to an average of about $30 a month in 2011, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. By contrast, AARP rep… Read more »

Managing The Flow Of Your Retirement Funds

2010-09-14During your working years, your retirement planning is fairly straight forward. The name of the game is to earn money, set it aside and nurture it to make it grow. Usually, the bigger your pool when you retire, the better. Our job as your f… Read more »

Your 401(k): Don’t Be Tempted to Borrow From Your Future

2010-09-14A recent report from Fidelity Investments found that in the second quarter, 2.2 percent of participants in its 401(k) plans took hardship withdrawals, up from 2 percent a year earlier. Of those who took a hardship withdrawal a year ago, 45 … Read more »

Talk With Your Financial Planning Coach About Your Goals For The Second Half of 2010

2010-06-07If you look at one year as a single game of finances, we’ve reached half-time. Time for a pep talk from your financial coach, a check of your goals and possibly some game plan adjustments for the second half.Retirement: Have you kept … Read more »