Posts by Barb

 What are annuities and how do they work? Annuities are both a savings and an income investment that pays out over a period of time. It’s actually a steam of income you can’t outlive. An annuity is a flexible insurance contract that allows retirement savings to grow income tax deferred and then payout to…

Time is almost up for this years Medicare Open Enrollment period.  You have until the 7th of December to modify your existing Medicare plans. In this period you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan or a Part D drug plan. Any modification made during this period is effective from January 1st of the following year. Generally,…

As life expectancy has grown, your retirement now can last between 20 and 30 years. So Social Security planning is critical, no matter how much money you have. It can make a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars. For example, if you retire at age 62 and pass away at age 86, you’ll receive…

Some seniors are dependent on their Social Security benefits, but the majority of your retirement income may be derived from other sources. While your Social Security income may not be your primary source of income in retirement, you nonetheless may be counting on that income to provide financial support for your quality of life in…

The Social Security COLA (cost of living adjustment) in 2019 will be 2.8%. This is the largest COLA increase from the Social Security Administration since 2012.1 Social Security benefits are often taxed. If you work and are at full retirement age or older, you can earn as much as you want and your benefits will not be…

We all think we know the basics about Social Security, but do we really know how different the benefits can be? The standard retirement age is between 65 and 67, depending on your birthday. Your monthly income, also called your PIA, is determined by your highest 35 years of indexed earnings. You can start taking…

Retirement should be a time of rest, relaxation, and play. It should be about focusing on those pursuits that you wanted to do when you were younger, but you have yet to cross them off of your bucket list.  Failing to plan for a comfortable retirement, however, can be a major stressor in the life…

When planning one’s last will and testament, one always hopes that the people they will be passing on their hard-earned wealth to will be responsible enough to handle it well and if possible, carry on their legacy. This is a hope which can be difficult to keep alive, especially in cases where the heirs have…

Life insurance is one of those things that many people prefer to avoid thinking about because it often conjures up dark images.  Many people are jarred into realizing the importance of buying life insurance after a close friend or family member has passed away or even after hearing a news story about a tragic death that…