Are Tax-Deferred Retirement Plans the Best Way to Save?
{4 minutes to read} Today, we are going to continue the conversation about retirement planning. As people begin to reach their 50s and 60s, they start thinking about how they are going to generate the income they need during retirement. One of the things that we provide is a report on Social Security and how you can make the smartest decisions regarding filing for yourself, or if married, for yourself and your spouse. Today, however, I want to talk about where most people put their money during the [...]
Do You Still Qualify?
{2 minutes to read} When it comes to life insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care insurance, my experience tells me that most consumers are not aware that they have to qualify. That means that you can't always buy these products, even if you have the money and you want to. Every day our health changes and people can develop illnesses, diseases, etc. Because of this, they become uninsurable, or if they don't become uninsurable, their changes in health may mean they no longer qualify for the best rates. [...]
Retirement Planning, Procrastination, and Safe Withdrawal Rates
{3 minutes to read} As we've been discussing over the last few weeks, retirement planning has been a focus of mine. I want to continue down that path and talk conceptually about something we call the journey. When someone is climbing a mountain, the objective is usually to get to the top. But once you have attained the summit, you then have to safely get back down. The analogy of mountain climbing is very similar to financial and retirement planning because the objective isn't just to get to the [...]
Social Security: A Potential $1 Million Decision
{1 minute to read} Today we are going to talk about Social Security. For many, Social Security is the single largest asset that they have for retirement. Many people think that Social Security may not be there in the future, but we tend to think that the Social Security system will continue to provide income for many people, for many years. The video attached is very educational. In addition, we are offering to our clients, a very detailed analysis of their own personal Social Security situation. People can [...]
Long-Term Care Insurance Update
{4 minutes to read} Today, I would like to discuss, and update you, on the long-term care insurance market. Once again, as longevity risk and low-interest rates are continuing to put pressure on insurance companies, we're seeing more increases. Companies are going back to their existing long-term care policyholders and raising their premiums. Years ago, I wrote about the movement from the traditional long-term care policies that came out about 30 years ago, towards combination products, sometimes referred to as hybrid or linked benefit products. I'm a big [...]