Maybe you have seen those will-in-a-box kits. Maybe you have even considered picking one up. Think twice about that. While you can draft a will on your own, there are plenty of reasons why you may not want to go that route. Most people do it to save money, but they may overlook or forget…
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A big payout leads to a big question. If you are taking a lump sum pension payout from your former employer, what is the next step for that money? It will be integral to your retirement; how can you make it work harder for you? Rolling it over might be the right thing to do.…
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Before retirement begins, gather what you need. Put as much documentation as you can in one place, for you and those you love. It could be a password-protected online vault; it could be a file cabinet; it could be a file folder. Regardless of what it is, by centralizing the location of important papers you…
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Estate planning professionals often contend with ambiguities. A plan may need to be modified in the future when some development in family life occurs – and there are some estate planning tools that may help to provide that kind of flexibility. Standby trusts. These are unfunded revocable living trusts that go into effect when and…
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If you have a child with special needs, you face long-run financial demands that cannot be fully met through federal and state assistance. What can you do to try and meet them? A special needs trust may provide an answer to this dilemma. This is a trust designed to provide for assorted care and lifestyle…
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Who should manage significant wealth? In recent years, more and more high net worth households have found their answer to that question: a Registered Investment Advisor. What is the RIA difference? RIAs have a fiduciary duty to act in your best interest. That is a legal obligation, and it is expressed in the investment…
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You can prepare for your retirement transition years before it occurs. In doing so, you can do your best to avoid the kind of financial surprises that tend to upset an unsuspecting new retiree. How much monthly income will you need? Look at your monthly expenses and add them up. (Consider also the trips, adventures…
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Will bond investors soon suffer major losses? In the last few years, Bill Gross, Jim Rogers and other pundits have warned of a bond bubble. While it has yet to occur – the broad bond market yielded an annualized 4.42% from 2010-2014 – the threat remains. Quality bonds have a place in a portfolio, but…
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Many younger Americans lack life insurance. A 2014 report from insurance industry analyst LIMRA found that only a third of Gen Y Americans have any life insurance coverage. In the same survey of 6,000 respondents, six in 10 Gen X and Gen Y Americans said their households would be hard pressed to make ends meet…
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Elders are financially defrauded daily in this country. Just a tiny percentage of these crimes are made public. In fact, the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) estimates that only 1 in 44 cases of elder financial abuse are reported. A recent NAPSA study found that 11% of seniors had been financially “abused, neglected or…
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