Regardless of your opinion of our Social Security program, you can’t deny that it is an important source of income for many people in the United States. In fact, the Social Security Administration reports that in 2019, 69.1 million people received benefits from...
I was recently asked what advice I would give to someone who found themselves unexpectedly unhappy with retirement. What would you say to someone with retirement regrets? It struck me as a very human question. Certified Financial Transitionists are trained to...
If you are saving for a rainy day (or a sunny one, for that matter), good for you! You can boost your savings power by being aware of a few simple tips: #1 - Shop savings rates – especially now! A few years ago, one savings account didn’t earn much more than...
It may surprise you to learn that terms like “financial advisor,” “financial consultant,” and “wealth manager” are generic job titles. They aren’t regulated terms and don’t actually mean very much as far as credentials or education or skill. Anyone can call...
No one has EVER told me they DON'T want to save money in taxes. Tax savings strategies are always a good idea to consider in your financial planning. Being tax aware is a big part of what good financial planning is all about! Another reason to consider a...
I observed to a friend that this year, I have seen more money change hands via inheritance than I ever have before in my career. Navigating the death of a loved one – whether it be a parent, a spouse, a cousin, a friend – can be tricky. Not only does money...
Many retirees I work with find an unexpected challenge post-paycheck: how to structure their new calendar. When you retire (or, as a friend of mine likes to say it, when you “shift into a work optional lifestyle”), your daily routine changes. Depending on what...
With the explosion of online commerce during and after the pandemic, online scams have also seen a meteoric rise in popularity, unfortunately. Some of them are old-school which you may be familiar with, and smart enough to avoid. But some of the newer...
If you have been involved with estate planning in any way over the past two years, you are probably familiar with the overwhelming and complicated process of dealing with inherited accounts. Even in the “simplest” of cases, it’s usually not that simple. ...
A recent Google search for “retirement calculator” yielded over 471,000,000 results. That’s a LOT of information to wade through! Where do you begin?? This can be one of the most frustrating and confusing aspects of trying to come up with...
So you’ve heard you should save for retirement. You agree that’s a good idea. Maybe you even start doing some things… but then get bogged down by the choices and options available out there. It’s kind of overwhelming. How do you decide? There’s...
Do you remember participating in fire drills when you were a child at school? I certainly do. The bell would ring, the teacher would ask everyone to calmly stand up, and everyone would line up at the door. You would walk down the hallway with your class, perhaps...
