FINANCIAL LEARNING
Caring for Aging Parents
Thanks to healthier lifestyles and advances in modern medicine, the worldwide population over age 65 is growing. In the past decade, the population...
Catch-Up Contributions
A recent survey found that 28% of workers are very confident about having enough money to live comfortably through their retirement years. At the...
A Cheat Sheet for Sending Your Kid to College
College marks a great milestone in a child’s life. It may be the first time he or she will live away from home. Dropping off your child at college...
Does Your Child Need to File an Income Tax Return?
As parents, we encourage our children to work, so they can learn important values about work and independence. At what point, if at all, do children...
Estate Management Checklist
Creating an estate management checklist can help ensure that your loved ones are taken care of in the event of your passing. Here is a sample...
Personal Financial Calendar Outline
Creating a personal financial calendar can help you stay on top of important financial tasks and deadlines throughout the year. Here's a sample...
Protecting Your Home Against Flood Loss
In 2021, the average flood claim payout from the National Flood Insurance Program was $44,401.1The financial loss that comes with flooding can be...
Red Flags for Tax Auditors
No one wants to see an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) auditor show up at their door. The IRS can’t audit every American’s tax return, so it relies...
How Retirement Spending Changes With Time
Retirement spending typically changes with time in several ways: Early Retirement: In the early years of retirement, many people may spend more than...
Social Security: Maximizing Benefits
Most understand that waiting to claim Social Security benefits can result in higher monthly payments. However, many don't know that there are other...
Social Security: The Elephant in the Room
For most Americans, Social Security has represented nothing more than some unavoidable payroll deduction with the positively cryptic initials of...
Starting a Roth IRA for a Teen
Want to give your child or grandchild a financial head start? A Roth IRA might be a choice to consider. Read on to learn more about how doing this...
Tax Efficiency in Retirement
Will you pay higher taxes in retirement? It’s possible. But that will largely depend on how you generate income. Will it be from working? Will it be...
A Taxing Story: Capital Gains and Losses
Chris Rock once remarked, “You don’t pay taxes – they take taxes.” That applies not only to income but also to capital gains. Capital gains result...
U.S. Personal Savings Rate
The U.S. personal saving rate stood at 3.4 percent at the end of 2022, down from the 7.5 rate at the end of 2021.The personal saving rate is the...
Keep Your Umbrella Handy
In 2021, the U.S. had a record 24.5 million millionaires, up from 202 million in the previous year. An increase in personal wealth may bring greater...
Understanding FDIC Insurance
It's natural to wonder exactly how a bank safeguards your money. Fortunately, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance exists for...
How Will Working Affect Social Security Benefits?
In a recent survey, 70% of current workers stated they plan to work for pay after retiring.1And that possibility raises an interesting question: how...
Alternative Investments – Going Mainstream
Recent years have witnessed the mainstreaming of alternative investments for certain accredited investors. In fact, alternative investments are...
A Taxing Story: Capital Gains and Losses
Chris Rock once remarked, "You don't pay taxes – they take taxes." That applies not only to income but also to capital gains. Capital gains result...
A Primer on Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
"I’m proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is, I could be just as proud for half the money." Entertainer Arthur Godfrey The...
A Primer on Dividends
When looking for income-generating investments, some investors turn to dividend-yielding stocks. When a company makes a profit, that money can be...
A Penny Saved is Two Pennies Earned
The famous saying from Poor Richard’s Almanack is frequently misquoted. It was published by founder Benjamin Franklin in 1737: “A penny saved is two...
A Look at Whole Life Insurance
In exchange for fixed premiums, an insurance company promises to pay a set benefit when the policyholder dies, but also offers additional benefits...
A Look At Diversification
Ancient Chinese merchants were said to have developed a unique way to manage their risk. They would divide their shipments among several different...
A Home Insurance Claim: To File or Not to File
Insurance is meant to protect you against financial loss. But is it really meant to protect you from any and all financial loss? When it comes to...
A Decision Not Made Is Still A Decision
Whether through inertia or trepidation, investors who put off important investment decisions might consider the admonition offered by motivational...
Things You Need To Do When A Parent or Spouse Passes
When you lose a spouse, partner, or parent, the grief can be overwhelming. In the midst of that grief, life goes on. There are arrangements to be...
A Cheat Sheet for Sending Your Kids to College
College marks a great milestone in a child’s life. It may be the first time he or she will live away from home. Dropping off your child at college...
A Bucket Plan To Go With Your Bucket List
John and Mary are nearing retirement and they have a lot of items on their bucket list. Longer life expectancies mean John and Mary may need to...