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Build Your own Financial Literacy…and Pass It On

Helping Family Doesn’t Have to Mean Breaking the Budget

Five Common Financial Concerns

Your Story, Your Financial Strategy

Early Exit - Retirement

Thinking of retiring early? Here’s what you need to know: When you get to a certain age, you may find yourself daydreaming about retiring early, or at least before the “traditional” age of 65. It’s only...

Considerations When Purchasing Life Insurance

Discussing the importance of owning life insurance can be a sensitive topic — after all, few people like to talk about death. However, if others depend on your support, or if you have substantial assets that you wish to transfer...

Making Sense of Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D

Medicare is available to virtually all U.S. citizens and legal residents 65 years of age and over who have previously worked and paid U.S. taxes or who are/were married to someone who did. There are four key parts to Medicare —...

Wealth Building Strategies While Raising a Family

Raising a family is rewarding ─ and expensive. Consider taking these steps to support your family financially through a program of smart investing. Building a career and raising a family requires management skills. Juggling your time,...

Small Business Money Tips

There are practical steps you can take to improve your company’s financial health. Running a small business carries with it unique financial planning challenges. With money concerns an ongoing burden for those who work for...

Managing a Budget During Your Retirement

Retirees face a critical task in managing their income and expenses to ensure that they can support their lifestyle and any healthcare costs. Unless you have accumulated substantial wealth where money is not a concern, you face a...

Seven Age Milestones that will impact your Retirement Planning

A Date with Destiny Seven age milestones that will impact your retirement planning As you travel the savings road toward retirement and beyond, certain key dates will pop up. Some of these dates are critically important to your...

Retiring Debt When You Retire

When it’s time to retire, it’s important to find ways to minimize your debt. Credit card usage is ubiquitous for Americans. Online purchases are just a click away when paying with a card, while other transactions —...

Deciding To Retire

What should you try to do within five years of deciding to retire? Here are five things to think about: Estimate the monthly income you will need. It may be less than you need now, as your monthly expenses may decline. You may need to...

Budget Planning for Success

Creating a budget in order to manage your cash flow is essential for maintaining your lifestyle expectations. We offer a few key tips for tracking income and expenses and even allocating money for savings. Reach out to your local...

Teaching Children Financial Responsibility

Are your children prepared to maintain and enhance the family wealth? You’ve tried to prepare your children intellectually and emotionally, but have you taught them financial responsibility? Financial literacy should start early....

Planning for the Cost of Long-Term Care

HANDLE WITH CARE - Planning for the Cost of Long-Term Care Is an Important Part of Retirement Planning. Thinking about how you’ll pay for long-term care should be a part of everyone’s retirement planning process. A recent study...

Budgeting for a Family

Starting a family is one of life’s most rewarding experiences. However, it will also profoundly impact your financial picture, with a list of expenses that grows by the year. (One estimate pegs the total expenses for a...

Common Retirement Investment Mistakes

Only one-in-four Americans (27%) feel very confident that they will have enough money to live comfortably when they retire, according to the 2020 Retirement Confidence Survey Summary Report.⁠11 While the number is up slightly from the...

Beyond Retirement: Consider Your Other Goals

When it comes to financial stability, people tend to focus on paying off debt and saving for retirement. In reality, many other financial goals beckon to individuals during their lifetime. Because of this, it’s important to look...

Investing for the Future

For years, you’ve diligently invested in your retirement portfolio, accumulating wealth that you hope will sustain you throughout your Golden Years. To help see that your assets are sufficient to help you support your lifestyle...

Caring For Aging Parents

Many adults have aging parents who are in need of living and health care assistance. There are a number of resources today that can help them grow old gracefully, either in their existing home or in a facility, along with multiple...

Reality Check on Your Retirement Savings

Whether you’re 23 or 35, it’s important to know whether you are saving enough for your retirement. There is no time like the present to ensure you are allocating enough funds to your retirement account. With folks routinely...

Considerations When Buying Your First Home

So, you’re looking to purchase your first home. Congratulations! It’s an exciting time, creating a safe and secure home for yourself (and perhaps family) while building equity in a long-term asset. While selecting the right...

Breaking Down the Real Costs of Purchasing a Home

Home ownership has several advantages over renting, including lower monthly payments, deductible mortgage interest, and the accumulation of equity. But there is a definite price to pay for these benefits, including the expenses we...

Six Things to Do Before 30 to Build Wealth

Your twenties are the perfect time to save and invest. Do it now, and you will have a great ally—time—on your side. Think about doing the following things if you’re not doing them already. Create a budget. Do you know...

How to Tally Your Social Security Benefits

In an effort to save money, the Social Security Administration (SSA) stopped mailing annual statements nearly a decade ago. The yearly statements were helpful, as they helped workers estimate their Social Security benefits. Despite...

Financial Considerations During a Divorce

No matter whether your divorce is amicable or contentious, it can have a profound impact on your finances. There are myriad rules and regulations to consider; we outline some of the most significant and how they could impact your...

College Savings Day

Did you know May 29 is 529 College Savings Day? As today is 529 College Savings Day we wanted to let you know we are always available to answer any questions you may have about the potential benefits of 529 plans. A few tidbits about...

Begin Investing While Young

There’s a simple word that has profound implications for savings and investing: compounding. Like a snowball that grows as it rolls down a hill, compounding provides the potential for your money to grow, reinvesting your...

Making a Vacation Easier on Your Wallet

Saving money when planning a trip—the dos, the don’ts. Imagine coming home refreshed from a wonderful vacation, made even more satisfying because you saved 20%-30% on its cost. That can happen. With a little planning, a...

Making Sense of Your Roth 401(k)

There are specific rules addressing distributions and rollovers of a Roth 401(k), which combines features of Roth IRAs and a traditional 401(k). We offer an overview of the key considerations. The Roth 401(k) has become an attractive...

IRA 101: Know the Facts

If you own an IRA, then you should be as familiar as possible with the rules that govern your account. Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are one of the most common assets people rely on to save and invest for retirement. In fact,...

Forward Thinking: Five ways to keep moving forward in the age of social distancing

Forward Thinking Five ways to keep moving forward in the age of social distancing Activities that people used to take for granted have changed in major ways — like a trip to the grocery store, attending a live concert or sporting...

Sustainable Investing

ALIGNING WITH SUSTAINABLE INVESTING On April 22, the world will mark the 51st Earth Day. This year’s theme will be Restore Our Earth. It represents a chance to learn about the environmental challenges we face today, ways to...

The Basics of Budgeting

For many people, the idea of budgeting can be challenging. Days are taken up with work, friends, family and the energy and activities required just to manage your life. There never seems to be enough time to focus on finances. However,...

How to Manage Your 401(k) When You Switch Jobs

How to Manage Your 401(k) When You Switch Jobs. In the past, boomers and generation Xers often held on to jobs for 10 or more years. Some professionals stayed with the same company for most of their working lives. The Great Recession...

The Basics of Social Security

When you think about Social Security, what comes to mind? Do you worry if it will still be around for you when you retire? Do you wonder how much you can expect to receive each month? Are you aware of when you can start taking your...

How to Reduce Your Credit Card Debt

What can you do to pay down a high credit card balance? Follow these 5 steps to Consolidate Debt, Make a Budget and more! Read our guides today to take control of your finances.

Life Insurance & Financial Planning

Life Insurance Plays a Key Role in the Financial Planning Process Today, life insurance is a key part of a solid financial plan. This Guide explains the difference between: Temporary (term) insurance Permanent insurance If you have any...

Life Insurance

Life changes quickly; that’s why it’s important to periodically evaluate your financial and life insurance needs. Is it time for an insurance review? Read our guide with a list of things to look for.

2020/2021 Tax Guide

📑 To ease some of the burdens of the upcoming tax season, we’ve created this helpful guide, which will assist you in becoming familiar with important dates, deadlines, challenges, and opportunities that may arise. 📅 Of course,...

529 Plans

During these uncertain times, 529 plans may make more sense than ever! For many people, a 529 savings plan offers an opportunity to achieve an important life goal and improve overall financial health. As college and university...

2021 Limits for IRAs, 401(k)s and More

On October 26, the Treasury Department released the 2021 adjusted figures for retirement account savings. Although these adjustments won’t bring any major changes, there are some minor elements to note.401(k)sThe salary deferral...

Distributions from Mutual Funds

This time of year, you might glance at an account statement and see there has been an adjustment. But there may not be any cause for concern.Many mutual funds in December pay shareholders capital gains distributions that they have...

2021 Outlook

2021 Market Outlook As 2020 comes to a close, we are already looking forward to a new year—and to a world very different from the one we’re leaving behind. Areas of the economy have been damaged and may never fully recover,...

Long-Term Care - make a plan!

The greatest gift of long-term care insurance is that it allows loved ones to supervise your care and not have to provide your care. While older people generally require the most long-term care services, a young or middle-aged person...

9 Facts about Social Security

Tip: How Much? Check your Social Security earnings and see an estimate of your benefits on the website, www.ssa.gov. Social Security’s been a fact of retirement life ever since it was established in 1935. We all think we know how...