Posts by Barb

September brings the official start of the Fall season and the familiar rhythm of backpacks, school schedules, college applications, and new beginnings. For parents and grandparents, it can also bring a more complicated question: How can I help my children or grandchildren with education costs while still protecting my own financial future? That question becomes especially…

A million dollars sounds like the finish line. But when you retire, it can actually be the beginning of some of your most important financial decisions. Reaching $1 million in a 401(k) is a significant retirement milestone. But here’s the part many people don’t think about: Having $1 million saved and knowing how to turn…

The storm passes. The next morning, you find water coming through the ceiling. A roofer comes out, and the news is worse than expected: part of the roof needs to be replaced. The estimate is $12,000. You didn’t plan for that. You weren’t expecting to pull money from your retirement savings for a roof. But…

The year before retirement is not the time to wait for your last paycheck. It’s the time to look closely at the decisions that could shape your financial life after work. One thing that’s easy to overlook: the years around retirement can create a tax window that may not be available later. And that’s the…

You may be planning to work for several more years. But what happens if you don’t get that choice? A layoff, health issue, caregiving responsibility, or unexpected change at work can force retirement sooner than planned—and suddenly, decisions about Social Security, healthcare, savings, and income become urgent. Retiring earlier than expected can create a financial…

If you and your spouse each have a traditional IRA, you might assume a Roth conversion decision is straightforward. Pick an amount, pay the taxes, move the money to a Roth, and move on. But there can be more to the decision when you’re married. The question isn’t always simply how much you should convert.…

Some Medicare beneficiaries could pay more for prescription drug coverage in 2027. While not every plan is expected to increase its premiums, a temporary program that’s been helping keep Medicare Part D costs from rising too quickly is set to wind down after 2026. If you’re the type who renews your prescription drug plan automatically…

Retirement planning is one of the few goals we prepare for without first deciding what we’re really trying to achieve. Ask someone how much they need to retire, and they’ll probably have a number in mind. Ask what they want retirement to look like, and the answer is often much less clear. That’s understandable. The…

A legally perfect estate plan can still fail your family. That sounds like a contradiction. If the will is valid, the trust is funded, and the beneficiary forms are current, what’s left to go wrong? What’s left is everything the documents were never designed to carry. Disputes Rarely Start With the Plan Itself Most estate…

One of the strangest things about money is that “enough” has a habit of changing. When you’re 35, you think you’ll feel comfortable once you’ve saved a few hundred thousand dollars. A decade later, that number doesn’t seem nearly as impressive. By the time retirement is around the corner, the target has moved again. The…