2 Ways to Take Care of Debt in Retirement
The unfortunate reality is that many Americans are now headed into retirement with some amount of debt.[1] In 2016, almost 61% of Americans were moving into the retirement stage of their life with unpaid debt.[1] And while you may think that your expenses will decrease once you retire, that isn’t always the case.[1] Sometimes, your expenses will stay the same, [...]
The Role of Charity in Your Retirement
Everyone wants to give back in one way or another. After you’ve spent your whole life working, you may find that in retirement, you want to give some money to charity. But if you are living off of income streams from sources like your retirement accounts and Social Security, you may be worried about finding a way to make charity [...]
A Strategy Guide for When to Claim Social Security
Deciding when you claim Social Security is a key part of the puzzle for your retirement plan. You can withdraw as soon as you turn 62, but you can also delay your claim until you are 70 years old. There are pros and cons to each, so how do you know which age is right for you? Withdrawing at 62 [...]
Should I Convert My 401(k) To A Roth IRA?
Let’s say you’ve just changed jobs. What are you going to do with your 401(k)? You may be able to convert your 401(k) to a Roth IRA, but is that a good option for you? In this article, we’ll talk about what happens when you make this conversion and give you some examples of different financial situations for when this [...]
A Refresher on Estate Planning Basics
Estate planning is a big deal. It’s a way for us to leave what we’ve built over the course of our lives to our loved ones. Gifts of property and belongings can pass on a sense of family, care, and love and can also help your loved ones financially. So, what is the first and most important thing to do [...]
Understanding Your Savings Goal – How Much Do You Really Need to Retire?
“How much do I need to retire?” This is one of the most frequently asked questions in the world of retirement finance. If you don’t have a lot of retirement planning experience, it can also be a tough question to answer. This article will hopefully give you some sense of where you might want to be headed in terms of [...]
How to Achieve Financial Freedom
The difficult thing about “financial freedom” as a concept is that many people define it in a vague way. Most people think of it as not having to worry about money and being able to have the things they want without having to scrimp and save for them. But there are all sorts of things that cause worry in regard [...]
Defined-Benefit vs. Defined-Contribution Plans
The following two types of retirement savings methods may sound similar, but there are a lot of important differences that might be useful for you to know if you’re looking to get a better understanding of what retirement might look like for you. Defined-Benefit Let’s start with a defined-benefit plan. These types of plans commonly come in the form of [...]