Do You Need Life Insurance?

The short answer is maybe, since it depends on how you answer a few simple questions.  Are there family members who will need to be cared for financially when you die? Will your survivors or beneficiaries inherit debt such as a mortgage or a personal or car loan? Do you already have a large policy […]

An Often Overlooked Company Benefit

If you’re employer has a 401(k) plan and you’re not contributing, it’s time to take a serious look at the financial benefits these plans offer. Company sponsored 401(k) plans allow us to deposit a limited amount of pretax income (taken from our gross pay before taxes are withheld) to an account that grows tax-deferred. This […]

3 Retirement Planning Mistakes

Many people are taking a much closer look at retirement planning and retirement saving, and with good reason. The questions surrounding Social Security and Medicare, low interest rates on savings, volatility in investments, and the departure of pensions from most jobs, has changed the landscape of retirement planning and retirement savings. Regardless of our age, […]

Retirement Planning Mistakes

Many people are taking a much closer look at retirement planning and retirement saving, and with good reason. The questions surrounding Social Security and Medicare, low interest rates on savings, volatility in investments, and the departure of pensions from most jobs, has changed the landscape of retirement planning and retirement savings. Regardless of our age, […]

Personal Economic Value

What is personal economic value and why is it important? Our personal economic value is our earnings potential or what can we expect to earn between now and when we plan to stop working. As an example, if I currently earn $44,000 each year, I’m 32 years old, and I plan to retire at age […]

The 6 Elements to Survivorship Planning

Survivorship planning is an often overlooked area of personal finance or is limited to large obligations like a mortgage, but there are many smaller items that could add up to a large financial burden for our survivor. We should start by analyzing the ability of our dependents to continue financially without us beginning tomorrow. This […]