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Risk: Life is full of it, and that doesn’t stop when you hit your retirement years. Even if you spend decades planning and judiciously saving for retirement, you still face the unexpected hiccups that could disrupt all you’ve planned.  Part of careful financial planning includes accounting for risks. How will your plan bear the brunt of both unanticipated and known risks? It’s never something that can be foreseen with complete certainty, but understanding that there are potential risks and what those are can help you better plan and prepare. Here are three categories of risks that every retiree (or Read More

You’ve seen the acronym SERP, but what exactly are these retirement plans, and how do they differ from other retirement benefits? A supplemental executive retirement plan (SERP) is one way businesses can reward and retain key employees. Here are the top three things you need to know about these plans as a small business. SERPs are intended for highly compensated employeesThis type of retirement offering is included in a broader benefits package to attract and retain high-level executives at a company, particularly C-suite employees. It’s an incentive that can make a business more competitive in attracting top-tier talent.  These are the basics: The Read More

We all have a goal to retire comfortably, whether we plan to retire early, at age 65 or continue to work after the average retirement age. Knowing these retirement facts could help you do just that. #1 Your retirement could be 30 years or longer. Think about it: If you retire at 65, your retirement could last almost one third of your life. This may mean you shouldn’t go too conservative in your investment approach early in retirement, because if you do, you may not continue to reap the returns you need to sustain your required income for all Read More

There are a number of financial strategies out there that help you make the most of your hard-earned money when it comes to retirement. One of those strategies is a bond ladder. A bond ladder is simply a portfolio of bonds with different maturity dates. It’s an investment strategy that has two main objectives: First, it helps you mitigate interest rate risk. And second, it allows you to create regular cash flow. Let’s start with looking at how it helps reduce your exposure to interest rate fluctuations: Rather than buying bonds that all mature at the same time, you Read More

Has your life ever experienced a plot twist? Things not going according to plan is a normal part of our existence — and this applies to retirement, as well. But with proper planning, you can have the income you need during your post-work years. While every individual’s retirement is different, they all require one thing in common: income to provide for expenses. Retirement income planning refers to the process of strategizing to ensure you have the necessary income stream to cover every possible expense. What expenses may come up in retirement? Picture three “buckets” of expenses: Essential, day-to-day expenses Read More