Financial Planning Archive
Make Sure Your Money Lasts Through Retirement
by Sonja Breeding, CFP®Thousands of people retire every day, either stepping away from long-term careers or downshifting into either full retirement, a second act that pays less, perhaps a fledgling business idea, or a passion project that pays nothing at all. Retirement is a glorious transition that should be celebrated, but too often this change of life creates… Continue reading
How to Build a Retirement Paycheck
by Christie Whitney, CFP®Most people entering retirement naturally would prefer to continue to collect a paycheck, much like when they worked for a living. That regular income is likely to come from Social Security, a pension if you have one, as well as from money in tax-deferred retirement plans such as your 401(k) and IRA accounts. The goal… Continue reading
5 Ways You Could Go Broke in Retirement
by Christie Whitney, CFP®The decision to go from working to fully retired is a big one, potentially fraught with uncertainty. And the last thing anyone wants is to go broke in retirement. After all, you have to go from making, spending, and saving money to not making it all and just spending it. So where does the money… Continue reading
Help! I’m About to Retire and Inflation Scares Me
by Sonja Breeding, CFP®Picking a date to retire is a big decision, even in the best of times. What does one do in an environment of rapidly rising inflationary pressures? After all, being retired means living on an income that is likely to be the same or less than you had when working, and there will be no… Continue reading
Have I Saved Enough for Retirement Yet?
by Christie Whitney, CFP®For many folks, retirement planning comes down to their personal “number,” the savings level at which you can leave work behind and relax in a folding chair on a beach. That milestone number for many of us seems to be $1 million. If we can get to $1 million in the bank, well, that’s plenty… Continue reading
Six Steps to Building an Effective Financial Plan
by Sonja Breeding, CFP®A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline, as the saying goes. So what does your dream of retirement life look like, and I mean really look like? Making a commitment to your retirement goals requires getting your financial life in order today. That means writing down a financial plan, and I… Continue reading
5 Practical Steps Toward a Secure Retirement
by Sonja Breeding, CFP®Back in 2006, a couple of U.S. Senators took it upon themselves to create a national retirement security awareness week, set for the third week in October. As you can imagine, the intervening twists and turns in the stock market — the 2008 Great Recession and the Covid crash in 2020 — only served to… Continue reading
What’s Your Next Chapter? The Time To Plan For It Is Now
by Scott PuritzMany people, prompted to think about how long they might stay at work, fall back on statistics they hear in the media. You know, the ideal retirement age is 65, maybe a few years more, tops. The thing is, that number made sense only briefly around the time the government was setting up Social Security,… Continue reading
How to Use a 529 Plan to Finance Your Kid’s College Costs
by Christie Whitney, CFP®You may have heard about a type of tax-advantaged college savings plan known as a 529 plan. Similar to an IRA or 401(k), money put into a 529 is “qualified,” meaning it grows tax-free and can be used tax-free in the future. You will find 529 plans sponsored by all 50 states and the District… Continue reading