Newsletters
Most Americans spend more time planning for vacations and
holidays than planning for their retirement.1
Will you outlive your retirement income? How much liability insurance should
you have? Should you add stocks to your portfolio? Are your financial
expectations for the coming year realistic?
Our financial newsletters are designed to provide helpful information on a wide
variety of financial topics. Simply click on one of the newsletter topics
below to read the article in its entirety.
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October
HOT TOPIC: Government Intervenes in Credit Crisis
September was an unsettling month for the financial markets that Americans may not soon forget. Here's a look at what happened.
Adding Stability in Volatile Times
One strategy that can add growth potential to a portfolio, without assuming many of the risks associated with the financial markets, involves purchasing an annuity contract from an insurance company.
Why Do Lower Prices Equal Higher Yields?
The price/yield relationship is rooted in the secondary bond market, where bonds may trade at a premium or discount of the par (or face) value.
Will Going Green Grow Green?
About one out of every nine dollars under professional management in the United States is already invested according to socially screened criteria. There are several key questions to ask yourself when considering how this rising tide could affect your portfolio.
Increase Your Protection
If your net worth exceeds the amount of liability coverage provided by your homeowners and auto insurance policies (each usually tops out somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000), you might want to consider an umbrella liability insurance policy.
Should You Found a Foundation?
If you want to control how and where your donations are used, create an entity that has the potential to last for generations, and unite family members behind a worthy cause — and don’t mind some fairly strict paperwork requirements — this type of organization might be worth considering.
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September
Beat the Big Three What Ifs
Taxes, inflation, and medical costs — among other factors — could have an unanticipated effect on your retirement. There may be little you can do to combat them once you are no longer working.
Stay Off the Phishing Hook
In the run-up to this year’s April 15 tax deadline, taxpayers forwarded more than 33,000 phishing scam e-mails to the IRS, causing the agency to put phishing at the top of its annual list of scams of concern to taxpayers.
Charity That Pays
By organizing your giving, you can make it more effective, allowing your largess to benefit not only the intended charity, but potentially yourself and your heirs. Two popular ways to structure your giving are charitable lead trusts and charitable remainder trusts.
Your Best Interest
Successfully managing credit is crucial, but there are some arcane credit-card rules that may affect your balance, your interest rate, and even your credit score.
Put Some Infrastructure in Your Portfolio
The normally placid muni bond market has been roiled by a confluence of variables related to the stock market, slow economic growth, and credit-market woes. One result has been yields high enough to get the attention of investors who normally stick to Treasurys.
Life Lessons
Research shows that most people who own life insurance may not have adequate coverage. The real problem is that many of these people may not find out that they lack the proper coverage until it's too late.
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August
The Election and Your Money
In this year’s election, there are issues, such as energy, free trade, and inflation, playing a role that could have a significant effect on investors and consumers over the next four years.
It’s Your Home, Not Your Retirement
Although downsizing or using a reverse mortgage to free up home equity can be appropriate for some older retirees, planning to rely on your home to fund your retirement is a corner you may not want to paint yourself into.
Protect Your Downside
When the economy takes a turn for the worse, bond mutual funds offer investors a chance to diversify their holdings and dampen risk.
Good Time to Keep Going
Inflation is rising. Home prices are falling. Oil and stock prices are volatile. Could this be a good time to ramp up your retirement savings? You might be surprised at the answer.
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November
Free to Retire
A variable annuity might provide a way to help you pursue your retirement goals if you don’t have the time required to develop a winning retirement strategy.
Lock in Today’s Tax Rates
If you expect that tax rates are going to increase, you might want to consider opening a Roth IRA.
Diversify and Conquer
If you dream of doing more in retirement than sipping lemonade in a rocking chair on the porch, you may want to consider the advantages of diversifying your portfolio.
Develop a Life Plan
An out-of-date estate conservation strategy is about as useful as none at all, but by updating your estate documents periodically, you can help protect the assets you wish to pass on to your heirs.
Poverty and the Modern Millionaire
Being a millionaire retiree has never really been the status quo – but now this amount may not be nearly enough to maintain even a modest retirement lifestyle.
Sorting Long-Term-Care Myth from Fact
What you think you know about long-term care might actually be based on myths and half-truths that could lead you to make poor decisions about the type of care that you may need.