Your estate planning is complete. A living trust was created because it was the best vehicle to accomplish what you want to do. Now you can breathe easily. Or so you think. Over the years, I’ve had new clients come to me who had invested lots of time and money to set up a trust. But when I asked if [...]
Retirement. It’s a magic word and it’s supposed to be a magic time in your life. You’ve planned for it, worked for it, anticipated it, and expected a great life that comes after it. Today, people are retiring at a rate 27% higher than 10 years ago. Much of the increase is because of unplanned, early retirement due to declining [...]
First, it was 10%, then 20%, and today more than 50% of U.S. retirees pay taxes on their Social Security benefits, and the number is expected to go even higher. The cause seems to be that one government hand doesn’t know, or care, what the other government hand is doing. The rub comes because income tax brackets are adjusted for [...]
Planning for retirement. There’s a lot of work that goes into it. You want to make sure you’ve saved enough, got things paid off if possible. You certainly want to know what your expenses will be so your retirement budget doesn’t blow up. One of the line items with the biggest possibility of throwing your budget into turmoil, and one [...]
Welcome to the show, where you, as part of the studio audience get to hear some of the most common reasons why people don’t plan for the distribution of assets after they’re gone. Listen closely, so you don’t make the same excuses. Okay, maybe that’s a little over-the-top, but not creating an estate plan, even a basic one, opens the [...]
It’s a tiny little gift from the IRS, but it’s still a gift. Beginning January 1, 2022, Required Minimum Distributions on IRAs, qualified retirement plans, and annuities will be less. It’s your reward for living longer. RMDs have to be taken by people turning age 72 after 2019. Older taxpayers were required to begin RMDs the year after they turned [...]
May you live in interesting times. Although that sounds like an ancient blessing, it’s believed to be a Chinese curse casting instability and uncertainty on the person who hears it. Blessing or curse, it’s a great description of the year we’ve just come through, and in spite of all the turmoil, there are some things you can do before the [...]
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