More than 60% of Americans don’t have a will, much less a full-blown estate plan. It’s understandable. It can feel morbid to think about what happens after you die.  Yet many of those same people have life insurance, precisely to safeguard the finances of loved ones should they pass away unexpectedly. People sometimes use the… Continue reading →

It is incredibly hard to lose a lifelong spouse, and the weeks following a funeral are undeniably tough for the surviving partner.  Yet that’s exactly when many recently widowed people are expected to make consequential decisions about their finances, choices that could set them back thousands of dollars in income each year during retirement. The… Continue reading →

Former Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker, will be remembered for many policy decisions that still outlive his tenure. More specifically, the lessons learned from his handling of the Great Inflation of 1973-81 will be amongst the most relevant. As we live through a similar economic challenge today, it is important to remember the role that… Continue reading →

Traditional home buyers should think through the implications of buying a house with cash and fully understand the long-term effects of such a decision. Today’s housing market clearly has buyers coming to the bargaining table with an offer that’s hard to ignore: Cash offers with no delays and no hassles for the seller. Offering to… Continue reading →

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 →

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 →

The overwhelming message from Wall Street about investing is that it’s complex and hard to understand. And sure, the underlying mechanics of trading can be obtuse. There’s a reason people get advanced degrees in finance. All of that matters if you actually do finance for a living, day to day. But few of us are… Continue reading →

Are you confident in your own retirement planning? Probably not, according to new data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Just 18% of Americans — less than one in five — say they are “very confident” in their ability to finance a comfortable retirement. Another 49% report that they are “somewhat confident.” What makes the… Continue reading →

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 →