Posts by Barb

A “Living Trust” is a trust you created that is active while you are alive versus a Testamentary Trust which becomes active at your death. When you create a Living Trust, you ensure that your assets will be disbursed efficiently to the people you choose after your death. The big advantage to a Living Trust…

What are the three stages in your financial life? The first stage is preparing for life’s uncertainties. The second stage is managing your net worth and the third stage is managing retirement and your estate. The base of the pyramid is preparing for life’s uncertainties. Insurance is the most cost-effective way to deal with this.…

November is long-term care (LTC) awareness month. Here are five things you should know.   There are different types of facilities providing increasing levels of care.1 If you hear the words “long-term care” and automatically think “nursing home,” you should know that long-term care encompasses a wide range of options and a progression of choices.…

 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…