Investing & Retiring

How can you retire with $1 million in assets? It’s easy… if you start with $3 million! All kidding aside, the best answer is to make a plan that achieves the savings necessary to get to $1 million. We can help you formulate that plan using the following seven tips. 1. Make Saving and Budgeting
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Billionaires and the impoverished have one thing in common – momentum. Once you achieve high levels of wealth or debt, it’s very easy for either one to continue to grow. A recent report by the Institute for Policy Studies highlights this point. The study found that three billionaires – Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and Bill
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For many people, the end of the year represents a hectic time, and the last thing anyone wants to do is add to an already full plate. However, building the following financial moves into your fourth- quarter routine can really pay off over the long run and give you greater peace of mind for the
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If you dabble in online investing, you have certainly been deluged by emailed offers of investing advice and “hot stock tips”. Undoubtedly, some good stock tips are out there, as well as a whole host of questionable ones and some that are outright guesswork. How can you tell the difference? After all, even the best
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Municipal bonds have long been a popular fixed-income investment option. They are issued by state and local governments and their agencies to raise money for public projects like schools, hospitals, roads and bridges. The issuer agrees to make interest payments to bondholders at a fixed rate and repay the principal amount in full on a
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You have been diligent about saving for retirement, planning your expenses wisely and taking advantage of 401(k)s, IRAs, and other tax-deferred savings programs, but have you managed your Social Security benefits in the same fashion? Did you even know that you could sign up for an account to help you with that management task? If
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Should I stay or should I go? With apologies to The Clash, that’s the question many homeowners are asking themselves. Does it make more sense to renovate your current home, or should you look for a home that is a better fit for your current needs? Data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) suggests
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Our 24-hour news cycle may seem to bring us nothing but an endless series of conflicts and depressing news – but it doesn’t have to be that way. Good news is available if you are willing to dig for it and look at things in a positive context. And we don’t mean “fake news”. As
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Black Friday, this year on November 24, offers some of the lowest prices of the year on many consumer goods including TVs, other electronics and toys. Savvy shoppers save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on this single day. Shopping on Black Friday is extremely hectic and overwhelming due to so many amazing deals. Stores
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For some holiday shoppers, bargain hunting is a competition and Black Friday is the Super Bowl. All the preparation throughout the year goes into a few frenzied hours that determine winners and losers. Did you get that 50″ TV you were aiming for, or did you camp out all night only to be caught in
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Are you entering the holiday season short of cash? You may want to consider a seasonal job. Once Halloween passes and cold weather sets in throughout the country, demand increases for temporary workers to fill in during the holiday shopping season. Online – Check online employment sites for local opportunities – if you are looking
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Stocks Outpace Housing Few can argue that the stock market has experienced great growth under President Trump. The “Trump Bump” consists of an approximate 20% increase in both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 during the President’s first year in office. Does the same Trump Bump translate to the housing market? A recent study by
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Every October, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announces adjustments that are made to the Social Security program for the upcoming year. What effect will these changes for 2018 have on you? More Money for Beneficiaries – Social Security beneficiaries receive cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) based on one of the standard measures of inflation – the Consumer
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Successful retirement planning requires a good understanding of what you want to do in retirement and a reasonable estimate of your expected expenses. Once you have a grasp of your likely retirement costs, you know approximately how much money you will need to salt away. However, one retirement expense is notoriously difficult to predict –
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What’s the best time of the year to rent a home? That depends on what factors are important to you, and how much time you have to act. People don’t always have the luxury of taking their time in renting a house or apartment. They often have to assess a market in a fairly short
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It’s that time of year when the leaves change colors, pumpkin flavoring is crammed into everything imaginable (who needs Eye Drops with Pumpkin Spice?), and scary things come out on Halloween – but will you open your door on October 31 and be confronted by anything scarier than these hair-raising financial horror stories? They Stole
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Do daily finances give you daily heartburn? You aren’t alone. According to a new survey by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), 43% of Americans have trouble making ends meet. One-third of survey respondents reached the level of financial or material hardship during the past year, such as running out of food or being unable
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Beware of KRACK KRACK Attack? Is that the name of a new video game, dance craze, or rock band? Unfortunately, it’s none of those things – it’s the acronym for a new path identity thieves have to steal your personal information. KRACK stands for Key Reinstallation AttaCK. It’s a recently discovered systemic vulnerability in wireless
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Automatic payments from your bank account can be a great convenience, but they can also be a source of problems if you don’t pay attention. Do you check your payments on every bank statement? If not, you may be paying incorrect amounts or making automatic payments for a service or subscription that you don’t want
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A Burden for You, An Opportunity for Scammers Educational debt has reached levels that are hard for the average American to fathom. By some estimates, outstanding student loans have reached a whopping $1.45 trillion dollars. Over 44 million Americans have some form of student loan debt, with 2016 graduates averaging over $37,000 in debt. That’s
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What does it take to be financially prepared for potential healthcare costs in retirement? As the old saying goes, “Needing insurance is like needing a parachute. If it isn’t there the first time, chances are you won’t need it again.” Healthcare costs can add up for even the healthiest of retirees, so what can we
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MoneyTips Are you among the nearly 50% of Americans who have access to a 401(k) program but don’t contribute to it? If so, what’s keeping you from utilizing this valuable savings tool? According to a new survey from Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc., non-savers are simply having trouble dealing with the combination of daily financial
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With summer ending, the end of the year will be around before you have time to figure out whether it is better to finally take down the Christmas lights or, at this point, just leave them up. That makes it a good time to look ahead on your taxes, as well as a few other
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