2018 can be your year of financial serenity or continued financial horror. If your 2017 and previous years were full of financial despair and angst, I challenge you to try a new approach. It will not happen by accident; you must act with INTENTION. Engage a professional today or as soon as possible. Education is your best option for changing your financial position and I don't mean education in the sense of a formal education, rather educate yourself about how money works. Th

Help your clients use this tool strategically. Four in 10 Americans do not own a life insurance policy, according to LIMRA, even though this important tool can provide liquidity and help the policy owner’s heirs cover future expenses. Life insurance not only can supply necessary funds for a surviving spouse and children, but it also can help survivors pay estate taxes, or allow a surviving business partner or farm heir to buy out the business. “People most often think of lif

Blind spots. We all have them. When you’re driving your car, you intuitively know that there are objects that you can’t see. In life, we’re often not as tuned in. We see based on our own experiences, assumptions and opinions. And, sometimes what we see is either completely wrong or slightly askew. Throw in gender, geography, ethnicity, and sexual orientation and it can feel like you’re hopping over mine fields. While comedians joke about political correctness every day, whe

Financial planning experts recommend the amount of money you’ll need to have accumulated is equivalent to 70 percent of your annual salary at the time you retire, for each year of living in retirement. For example, if you’re making $75,000 per year at age 65, and expect to live another 20 years past that in retirement, you’ll need: $75,000 x .7 x 20 = $1,050,000. Saving for retirement must become a priority for all Americans, lest they are comfortable burdening their offsprin

Once a year I go to the doctor for my annual physical. Once a year I bring my car to the local mechanic for a tune up. And similarly, at least once a year you should pull down the blinds in the office, pull out your ledgers and do a comprehensive review of your business. Here are five steps to consider before the end of the fiscal year comes to a close. 1. REVIEW YOUR BALANCE SHEET Your business’ balance sheet is the lifeblood of your organization. The balance sheet provides

Retirement benefits—including employer contributions to pensions, 401(k)s and retiree health-care benefits—fell from 9.1 percent of worker pay in 2001 to 6.8 percent in 2015. Jul 19, 2017 (Bloomberg) --Americans are more worried about retirement, and they're getting less help saving for it. Employers cut their contributions to workers' retirements by a quarter from 2001 to 2015, according to a new report by the consulting firm Willis Towers Watson. The biggest driver: the dec

Annuities initially were developed by insurance companies to help protect people from outliving their money in retirement. As annuities have evolved, however, they’ve also been proven to be useful in addressing a number of other retirement and financial planning issues. “Insurance companies have done a great job responding to the changing needs of today’s consumers, allowing advisors to help their clients find the right tool for the job,” said Eric Henderson, senior vice pres

The estate tax cuts in the new Tax Reform Bill, which was passed in both the House and Senate last week, could help foster continuous future investing among a person’s heirs and will help ensure that real estate and businesses remain in the family. This is because the new tax bill will allow the exemption for estate taxes to increase from the current limit of $5 million to approximately $11 million. Those with families can double their maximum exemption from $10 million to ov