Retirement

Annuities are one way to leverage a sudden influx of cash that may or may not have been expected, such as a bonus, inheritance, or sale of a small asset you had never factored into your financial profile. The reason they can be leveraged is because, unlike traditional tax-advantaged retirement or ‘qualified’ accounts, annuities have […]

There was a recent report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute on an analysis of retirement accounts using the 2018 Survey of Consumer Finances. According to the analysis, a $5 million retirement nest egg puts you in the top 0.1% of households. Then, the question becomes: what does $5 million buy you in retirement? What

If you own a small business or family office you could be required to report ownership details to the federal government… or face stiff penalties and possible jail time. The Corporate Transparency Act went into effect on January 1, 2024, and it requires otherwise unregulated companies to report information about “beneficial” owners, those who own

We all know that complex estates require sophisticated estate planning. If you have a large estate or own a business, only a qualified estate-planning attorney will have the knowledge and expertise to tailor to your specific needs.  Because we have been doing business with you, we may be able to help answer some of the

The younger a child is when you contribute to their 529 plan, the longer the account has to potentially benefit from compound growth. In 2023, individuals can contribute up to $17,000 per year (and couples up to $34,000 per year) without eating into their lifetime gift and estate tax exemption.  For older kids or grandchildren,

Most of us think of life insurance as a way to help the people who depend on us financially, or even just to help pay the debts we may have left for our end-of-life care, funeral, or burial costs.  What few of us tend to consider is the simple fact that it’s generally best to

We’ve been asked what a variable annuity and a fixed annuity are. What are the differences between them? Essentially:  A variable annuity’s value is based on the performance of a portfolio of sub-accounts; it offers the opportunity for higher returns and greater income than a fixed annuity, but there’s also a risk that the account

In 2022, social media-based scams cost Americans a total of $1.23 billion, a 54% increase since 2021, according to the Federal Trade Commission.  Typically, these sorts of scams start with someone claiming to be a mutual acquaintance of someone you know, or relative. Then, they either ask for financial assistance, or claim they can offer

Friends and colleagues who are approaching 65 are beginning to ask about Medicare benefits. Not just how to sign up, but what to select from among the various choices. The good news is, 94% of Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and up are satisfied with their quality of care. The not-so-good news is that the government

The phrase “pension benefits” has come up a lot in recent weeks, especially during the negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and the “big three” automotive manufacturers, narrowly avoiding a strike.  But for the majority of private-sector U.S. workers, pensions seem to have disappeared a long time ago. Pensions have been phased out, but