Estate Planning and Planned Giving Explained

Estate planning is the process by which a person establishes what will happen to his or her assets during their lives and after they die. As part of that process, the term “planned giving” is sure to come up time and again. Estate planning and planned giving are intertwined in many people’s future plans, and …

Roth IRAs for a Younger Crowd of Retirement Savers

Financial planners across the United States like to say that it is never too early to start thinking about retirement. To many people, this means starting to save for the future when one has a decent career-oriented job and a healthy starting salary. However, saving money for retirement can start even earlier than that; college …

Retirement Plans for Military Members

Active-duty members of the United States Armed Forces have many options when it comes to retirement. As with any retirement plan, circumstances and rules change. Recent changes in rules, particularly in the newly-introduced Blended Retirement System or BRS, can cause changes to insurance plans and retirement preparations. Up to 2.2 million members of the military …

2017 Trends in 401(k)

There are many different retirement plans available to America’s workers. Individually-established plans, such as Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), complement employer-sponsored plans like pensions and 401(k) offerings. It is in 401(k) plans that emerging trends have financial advisors in heated discussions as to the future of these plans. What are 401(k) Plans? Before talking about emerging …

Women and Retirement

Recent financial studies have shown that in general, American workers are lagging when it comes to saving for retirement. In a survey conducted in 2016, over fifty percent of Americans worry about their financial futures, while just over 35% feel confident that they’ve saved enough to retire comfortably. Women are affected by lagging retirement savings …

Beating Taxes in Retirement Savings

Throughout our working lives, a portion of our paychecks goes to taxes. The tax rate is determined by income, and what we owe is dependent on our salaries. While it is possible to lower taxes through various means, such as contributing to a retirement plan or deducting mortgage interest, our salaries are the single most …

Explaining Domestic Asset Protection Trusts

What Are Domestic Asset Protection Trusts? As a means of protecting wealth, many people seek ways of minimizing tax implications while establishing plans to pass assets to beneficiaries after they die. One of the most common ways to do this is by creating a domestic asset protection trust. In simple terms, an asset protection trust …

Taxes in Retirement

Saving for retirement is an important part of planning for the future. Many workers look forward to the day when they can finally stop working and begin to enjoy the free time they’ve worked so hard to achieve. Having sufficient funds saved for retirement can be tough enough to accomplish on its own, but the …

Retirement Savings Options Beyond 401(k)

For many American workers, employer-sponsored retirement plans are valuable options in saving money for the future. While it is true that in general, people with access to such plans don’t take full advantage of them, employer-sponsored 401(k) plans remain a popular retirement asset vehicle. What about workers who don’t have access to employer-sponsored 401(k) plans? …

Millennials and Retirement

A number of financial studies over the past decade have indicated that many Americans are not saving enough money for retirement. In general, American workers are saving less and working longer, well past the retirement age of their parents and grandparents. Many new retirees are seeking employment soon after retiring to supplement the meager income …