1-minute video: What’s the Difference Between a Will and a Living Trust? Please enjoy this 1-minute video (for those receiving this by email: please click on the blog title line above to view). A deeper discussion about the topic of estate planning may also be found here rather than repeat it here. The linked article […]
1-minute video: Do You Need a Durable Power of Attorney?
Please enjoy this 1-minute video (for those receiving this by email: please click on the blog title line above to view). A Durable Power of Attorney, may be a separate document or prepared as part of a larger estate plan through a living trust. A general power of attorney is different than a durable one. […]
1-Minute Video: How to Set and Keep Financial Goals
Please enjoy this 1-minute video (for those receiving this by email: please click on the blog title line above to view). The video discusses the fundamentals of goal setting. But where (what) is the goal post for retirement planning as a goal? There’s more to it than simply saying I’ll retire and income will come […]
1-minute video: How To Maximize Social Security SURVIVOR Benefits
Please enjoy this 1-minute video (for those receiving this by email: please click on the blog title line above to view). The video mentions Full Retirement Age as a reference to claiming Social Security benefits early, or late. Full Retirement Age depends on your birth year and is explained here. Here are other short articles […]
How Social Security Benefits Keep Up with Inflation for Those Working or Retired
With inflation dominating the news, people may be developing more than a passing interest in how the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is figured for inflation’s effects on the loss of purchasing power of each dollar. Whether it’s a matter of simple curiosity or an effort to maximize benefits through strategic claiming, people should know […]
1-Minute Video: Protect Your Portfolio With Diversification
Please enjoy this 1-minute video (for those receiving this by email: please click on the blog title line above to view). Diversification and allocation are NOT the same thing, as I explain briefly in this post “Diversification explained simply.” Only a few, a small number, of firms actually apply the mathematics of diversification. They pay […]
Kittens, Lions and Black Swans
There is no getting by our emotions at any time, especially when it comes to investing. The same brain chemicals and responses to kittens (friendly), or lions (fear) right in front of us, also happen when we look at our investments; good markets (friendly) and bad markets (fear). Add to fears of misbehaving markets, are recessions, inflation (or […]
Social Security Earnings Test While Working: How is the Benefit Recomputed at Full Retirement Age (FRA)?
If a person is under Full Retirement Age (FRA) and works while also receiving Social Security, their Social Security benefit will be subject to the earnings test: $1 in benefits will be withheld for every $2 earned over the annual threshold (earnings test link shows that threshold amount for the present year). An example for […]
When People Can, Should, or Must Enroll in Medicare
Like it or not (and most employers do not), health insurance in this country is employment related. Most employers offer health insurance as a tax-free employee benefit, and most working people get their health insurance through their work. Although plan options and pricing might vary from year to year, workers who get their health insurance […]
1-minute video: 3 Ways to Boost Your Social Security Benefits
Please enjoy this 1-minute video (for those receiving this by email: please click on the blog title line above to view). Most people are unaware of how Social Security benefits are determined. These three (3) elements are within your control to a certain degree. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by ignoring something simple that […]