Posts by Barb

What Every Retiree Needs to Know Before the Door Closes Nothing dramatic will happen on January 1, 2026. No headlines. No breaking news alerts. No emergency votes in Congress. And yet, for retirees, 2026 may be the most expensive year to do nothing. Buried inside existing law are a series of changes that quietly reset how retirement income…

The last few weeks of the year have a way of making people reflect a little more than usual. Many retirees look at their financial accounts and feel that familiar tug: Did everything land the way I hoped? December tends to bring clarity. You can suddenly see what went according to plan and what needs…

The year is almost over, and you’re looking at your retirement accounts one last time. Some months felt calm. Others brought surprise expenses that threw your plan off balance. As you scroll through your statements, a simple question arises: did your plan actually keep pace with the realities of this year? Reflecting on the past…

You know that feeling in early January when you open your credit card statement and wonder what happened? The holidays felt modest enough while they were happening, but somehow the numbers tell a different story. A dinner here, gifts there, last-minute travel costs, the extra groceries for hosting—it all seemed reasonable until it wasn’t. For…

“What are the best ways to invest my money without taking on too much risk?” That’s always the first question I hear from my clients when we talk about income and investments. I know how hard it is to balance between keeping your money safe and making it grow. Planning for retirement can feel overwhelming, but…

Why the 2026 COLA may not go as far as you think — and how to plan ahead As 2025 winds down, many retirees are taking stock of what the new year will bring — including a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to Social Security benefits starting in January. That’s roughly $56 more per month for…

Thanksgiving is all about gratitude, gathering, and good food—but it’s also the quiet kickoff to a season when spending can slip out of sync with your goals. For retirees living on fixed or carefully managed incomes, the pressure to give, host, travel, and spoil loved ones can build fast. What starts as a joyful tradition…

As the days get shorter and calendars fill up with holiday plans, it’s easy to push financial tasks aside — especially when they don’t feel urgent yet. But for retirees, November is the sweet spot to take control of your finances before the holiday rush and year-end deadlines collide. From tax-saving opportunities to income planning and Medicare decisions,…

Your alarm goes off at 6 AM. Again. You drag yourself up, thinking: do I really want to do this for another ten years? But then you imagine waking up with nothing to do—no meetings, no deadlines, no reason to get dressed—and that feels equally wrong. You’re caught between two fears. The fear of staying…

You know that feeling at 2 a.m. when your mind won’t shut off? When you’re staring at the ceiling, running through the same worries on repeat? Many retirees share that experience — not because they regret leaving work, but because retirement brings up questions they’ve never said out loud. Asking those questions doesn’t mean you’re…