Many people are ready to make the transition to retirement. They envision living a less stressful, carefree lifestyle. Where they can be adventurers, live next to the ocean, hear the waves crash. Enjoy the warm sunshine, swim in the...
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How much can retirees withdraw from their nest egg each year? This is a question that many thought was answered by the 4% rule, first articulated by Bill Bengan in 1994. Bengan is a retired financial planner from Southern...
U.S. stocks are cresting to all-time highs, almost daily. These are the times when investors look forward to opening their monthly statement. The anticipation is high, you open the envelope (or electronic statement) and wow, is that right? Shouldn’t...
Applying for financial aid for college is becoming less stressful after President Obama changed the earliest FAFSA filing date from January 1st to October 1st. This means that the FAFSA can be submitted on October 1st for the 2017-2018...
Identity theft is on the rise. The most recent statistics (2014), according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an estimated 17.6 million Americans were victims of identity theft. That is nearly 7% of US residents. Most victims experienced the...
It sure seems like we’ve had our fair share of investment volatility of this century. There have been two major market disruptions; The Dotcom bubble in 2000, where the Nasdaq composite lost 78% of its value, followed by the...
Inflation since 2008 has been very low. The average since 2008 is a paltry 1.48%. The numbers annually are as follows: Year Rate of inflation 2008 .1% 2009 2.7% 2010 1.5% 2011 3.0% 2012 1.7% 2013 1.5% 2014 .8%...
Many people have heard about reverse mortgages. They are hyped on TV, radio, magazines and many brokers recommend them aggressively. As a financial planners we have considered them as a possible solution for those who are concerned about outliving...
However, while tax-deferred growth can be a good deal, paying taxes on the way out may be a bad deal in some circumstances. Recently, we came across that very circumstance. What differentiated this client was his plans for retirement....
Oil is on sale! With such low prices, our client Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger has decided that now is the time to buy. But, wait a second – how exactly does one invest in oil?