New retirees often find it difficult to work out their finances to make ends meet. The rising cost of healthcare also makes it difficult to cover day-to-day expenses. While you can’t avoid paying taxes altogether, there are ways to minimize the amount of taxes you …read more »
Let’s talk about something of major importance as you begin to prepare for retirement: learning how to turn retirement assets into income. After spending years working to accumulate assets and focusing specifically on investment returns, retirees will need to shift their focus to turning assets …read more »
Are you approaching 60 and considering taking your Social Security benefit early? This sounds like a great idea! Taking your benefits early is one way to increase your income, and you would be eligible to start taking benefits at 62. However, there are a few …read more »
One of the most common questions we receive from clients who are teachers or state employees revolves around the PLOP. The PLOP, or Partial Lump Sum Option, provides qualified Virginia Retirement System employees with the flexibility to take a portion of their benefit as a …read more »
“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.” -Soren Kierkegaard Get a piece of paper and make a list of all the things you want to do during your lifetime–no matter how crazy or undoable some of those things might seem. …read more »
“A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if one’s life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.” -Louis L’Amour It turns out that the conventional wisdom is wrong: it is possible to buy happiness — when you spend …read more »
“Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule.” -Samuel Butler People over 40 shouldn’t just plan for retirement, they should rehearse for it. Because retirement can last 20 to 30 years, it’s more important than ever that …read more »
“Part of making good decisions is recognizing the poor decisions you’ve made and why they were poor.” -Warren Buffett Setting up an IRA for your retirement is almost always a good investment, but it’s not always a simple process. There are IRA alternatives (like a …read more »
“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.” -Veronica Roth If you’ve got a recent college graduate living at home, searching for his or her first “real” job, you know how difficult the job …read more »
“Today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well therefore to this day.” – Francis Gray Perhaps I’m biased, but I believe that it really is never too early to start teaching your children about …read more »
