4 Steps to a Reliable Budget

You just realized you need a budget. Whether it’s because you’d like to be saving more money, you plan on investing in a retirement plan, or you want to straighten out your current finances, you know that having a reliable budget would make your life easier. Creating a budget for the first time can be […]

4 Ways to Make The Best Use of Your Tax Refund

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who received, or are expecting to receive, a tax refund, you are probably trying to decide how to spend it. The average refund this year is around $3,000, a nice chunk of change to throw at one of your goals. Rather than impulse buying that new Apple […]

A Credit Card Free Holiday – Can it Happen?

Don’t we all just love the holidays? Having a nice, large Thanksgiving meal with close family and friends? Unwrapping presents during Christmas or Hanukkah, seeing the big smiles on the young kids and grandkids as they rip open that favorite toy they begged for? It may be pure bliss during the months of November and […]

How to Teach Your Kids About Money

The day you become a parent is a day of overwhelming emotions. You may experience joy at the sight of your precious child, relief that he or she made it out of the womb, and for many of you, fear and anxiety because you somehow have to turn that seven-pound baby into an independent, responsible, […]

Three Questions You Should Never Be Afraid to Ask Your Investment Advisor

The world of financial planning is so incredibly diverse. And so it is with financial professionals, as well. The challenge that most people have is that by not being familiar with the various types of advisors; styles, approaches, licenses, abilities, qualifications, etc., it makes it hard to know what questions to ask in order to […]

Yes, Life Insurance Can Generate Tax Free Income For Retirement. Here Are Some Key Things You Should Know.

Most of us know you can use assets in a retirement investment account or an annuity to generate income during retirement. But did you know you can use certain kinds of life insurance policies to do the same thing? What kind of life insurance? There are two primary types of life insurance: term and permanent. […]

Can Life Insurance Help You Retire? Protecting You Beyond Market Risk

When you put the words, “retirement,” “investments” and “risk” in the same sentence, most of us will automatically think about market risk, you know, the possibility for an investor to experience losses due to overall performance of financial markets1.  According to the 2014 Annual Retirement Confidence survey, 88% of retirees are worried about maintaining the […]

Tips to Make Retirement a Dream, Not a Nightmare

What does retirement actually look like? Some people might say they will literally “turn in their papers”, go home, then putz around the house and tinker with projects for the rest of their life. Others might say they want to travel the world. Some might say they don’t actually want to “retire”, but would rather […]

Living Benefits with Life Insurance: Protection Against AMC Costs

Generally, people purchase life insurance because they have a spouse or child they want to protect financially in case they pass away. But, there are several other reasons to buy life insurance that can benefit more than just those who need to protect their family. One of those benefits is accumulating tax-deferred, tax-free, cash value.  […]