Comprehensive Financial Planning

If you’re looking for a long-term investment strategy (or long-term shareholders for your company), it’s time to add a dividend reinvestment plan to your financial planning efforts. What is a Dividend Reinvestment Plan? To understand a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP), you need to understand dividend reinvestments. First, an investor buys into a stock that pays dividends (a profit-sharing payment usually delivered to the investor once per quarter). Dividend reinvestment, then, happens when an investor uses the payment to reinvest in the same company, rather than taking the dividend payout and spending it, saving it, or using it to invest Read More

Are you doing all you can to protect your finances during these unprecedented times? Start with our checklist to safeguard your accounts and information. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last month, government agencies, banks and others in the financial services industry have been on high alert to the possibility of Russian cyberattacks. Some experts have said that the United States’ sanctions on Russia could provoke an attack here, and that it could impact banking systems, critical infrastructure (like the power grid), and more. While we’re not a cybersecurity firm and can’t speak to the ins and outs of Read More

Considering hiring a financial advisor? Improve your chances of selecting the right one for you by avoiding these top mistakes. The wealth advisor you hire plays a major role in whether or not you succeed in reaching your financial goals. No pressure, right? Here are seven common mistakes people make, along with what you can do to get the information you need to make the best decision. #1 Not checking their credentials Did you know that almost anyone can hang a sign that says they’re a financial planner? When looking for a financial advisor, you want to make sure Read More

Social Security benefits are available to spouses who wouldn’t otherwise be eligible for benefits based on a lack of work history. Even for spouses who do have an earnings record, the spousal benefit may be greater than what they qualify for on their own. Find out if this applies to you or your spouse, and how you can claim spousal benefits. First things first: Are you eligible to receive spousal benefits? The three questions to ask yourself to confirm your eligibility are: 1) Have you been married for at least one year? The answer must be yes to qualify. Read More

You know that you have a credit score, but did you realize that bonds do, as well? Bond ratings are grades (determined by bond rating agencies) that can give you insight into a bond issuer’s financial strength and capacity to repay its debts. If you’re a fixed-income investor or you have bonds as part of your portfolio mix, read up about bond ratings and what they mean for your investments. What are the bond rating agencies and what do they do? The bond ratings agencies are private companies that work a little bit like consumer credit rating agencies or credit Read More

There are a number of withdrawal approaches you can take, and all have essentially the same goal: Provide you with the income you need during retirement, without running out of money. With inflation rearing its ugly head, you may be one of many who have asked whether your retirement withdrawal strategy should change, so that your hard-earned retirement funds can go as far as possible. While every retiree’s strategy will be different, here’s a look at five common strategies, along with some of the advantages and disadvantages of each. #1 The 4% Rule For decades, the 4% rule has Read More

How are you preparing for your health care needs in retirement? It’s one of the biggest expenses, and so is likely to take a large chunk of your retirement budget. Here’s what you need to know.Medicare leaves a lot of gaps.Some retirees think they’ll be able to rely on Medicare to cover much of the cost of care as they age, but that’s unfortunately not the case. In fact, there are a number of essential medical services and expenses that Medicare Part A or Part B don’t cover. These include:Deductibles and copaysPrescription drugsLong-term careMost dental careRoutine vision careRoutine hearing exams Read More

As one year winds down, economic forecasters ramp up their calculated predictions for the next. So what will next year bring, and more importantly, what does it all mean for you? Here’s a summary of a few of the big factors, along with what we might expect to see in the coming months. The Big Wildcard: The COVID-19 Pandemic What’s happening now: The pandemic continues to complicate things. New variants in 2021 have sent ripple effects through the global economy, especially as many countries have newly tightened restrictions and big events have been postponed (including the World Economic Forum Read More

You’ve already conquered the basics like saving up a sufficient emergency fund, paying down debt and building retirement savings. But that doesn’t mean you’ve done all you can to secure your future financial health. Consider these financial resolutions for 2022. New Year’s Resolutions: Some people love them, and others want nothing to do with them. But the start of a brand new year is as good a time as any to make sure you’re set to meet — or exceed — your financial goals. Resolve to check in on your budgetWe know — budgeting is Personal Finance 101, and you scored high Read More

You want to do all you can to stash away funds for retirement, and maximizing your contributions to retirement savings accounts after 50 is a great opportunity to do just that. It’s not always easy or possible to save for retirement, especially in the early stages of adult life. People may be working toward paying down college loans and other debt or providing for family needs, and retirement feels a long way off. Others invest heavily in their business and neglect investing in their financial future as much as they should. If you’re one of those people who thought Read More