Retirement Planning

A Few Financial Planning Resolutions

Every year about this time, many of us begin to list everything that we would like to accomplish over the next year. These “New Year’s resolutions” are intended to help us focus our attention on making our lives better through a lifestyle change. The truth about making an exhaustive list,...
The 3 Life Phases of Financial Planning

When developing and implementing a financial plan, it is important to consider where you are in life. The three main life phases that can be used as a guide in the financial planning process include asset accumulation, capital appreciation and capital distribution. It’s important to note that every financial plan...
Smart Money’s Retirement Planner

When developing a comprehensive financial plan, the retirement planning portion can be a little tricky. This is due to a few factors, the most critical being the assumptions that you have to make and the complexity of the calculations. About a year ago I downloaded Smart Money’s Retirement Planner App...
Protect Your Retirement from Increasing Taxes

As you develop your financial plan and retirement strategy, it’s important to consider the probability that some of the variables, such as tax rates, will change in the future. Many of the assumptions that financial advisors use in financial plans can quickly change based on laws and macroeconomic circumstances. While...
3 Great Tools for Financial Planning

When it comes to financial planning, most of us do not need fancy investments or expensive advisors. I have always believed that simplicity is the key to success, it’s no different when managing your finances and planning for the future. These free financial services will help you improve your financial...
Creating a Portfolio for Retirement

As we approach retirement it’s critical that we ensure our portfolios will provide a reliable and steady stream of income as we transition from the workforce. A few years ago many retirees learned this lesson the hard way when the financial markets all but collapsed. If you are approaching retirement...
The Rules and Limits of Traditional IRAs

When looking at all of the different investment and retirement planning tools available, its easy to become overwhelmed. However, the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is one of the most popular and widely use retirement accounts. The rules that govern the application and management of IRAs change slightly from year to...
Fundamentals of Retirement Income Planning

Properly timing the distribution of income during retirement is critically important to living a financially secure in your golden years. There are two main risks of not timing your income distributions correctly. These risks include running out of money too soon and not living the lifestyle you could have afforded....
How to Estimate Retirement Expenses

Making the transition from the workforce into retirement is a very turbulent time in one’s life. This is due to the financial uncertainty that retirement, and life in general, can bring. It’s imperative that you consider and estimate your expenses during retirement, this will ensure that you are properly prepared...
How Much Do I Need to Retire

One of the most common questions concerning retirement, is “how much money will I need to retire”. This question is extremely important and forms the foundation of retirement planning. Despite the fact that the answer to this question can become complex, it’s not as difficult to figure out as you...