Leaving a job, whether voluntary or involuntary, often brings with it a number of headaches and obstacles that must be addressed. Dealing with retirement plans, health insurance, and other company benefits during this transition can be a nightmare. Most employees have questions about retirement plan accounts and what options are available for those accounts, and
Read the full article…
Personal Finance
401(k) FAQs – What to Do After Leaving a Job
June 18th, 2013Dynasty Trusts…Not Just for the Wealthy
June 18th, 2013With the words “trust fund” often come thoughts of entitlement, wealth, inheritance or other characterizations associated with people or families perceived to be wealthy. In the past, trusts have been used for many reasons, but the most typical use has always been to avoid or minimize estate taxes and leave as much money to heirs
Read the full article…
What is a QTIP Trust and How Can it Help You
June 18th, 2013It’s all about control and money. Proper estate planning can accomplish two main goals, estate tax minimization and control of assets after death. The Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust, also known as a QTIP Trust, is an estate planning tool that allows individuals to address both goals of tax minimization and maintaining control of assets
Read the full article…
Withdrawing Funds From Your IRA
June 17th, 2013Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) provide tax efficient savings and incentives for setting aside retirement money. Because the IRS allows individuals to take a tax deduction, up to certain limitations, for the amount contributed to an IRA, they also place strict requirements on when and how money can be taken out of the account. While it’s
Read the full article…
How to Find Your Lost Pension and 401(k) Funds
June 11th, 2013With the fast paced, information-laden society we live in, it’s easy enough to misplace account statements and other important documents. But what happens when we lose access to a retirement account altogether? It may seem unlikely that someone could lose track of a valuable accounts, but it is fairly common. When you consider the 2007
Read the full article…
IRA Rules to Watch for as You Approach 70
June 11th, 2013The tax man giveth and the tax man taketh away. IRAs provide great tax incentives for individuals to save for retirement. These accounts allow individuals to take an income tax deduction for the money put into an IRA, up to certain limits, and the money can be invested and grow tax deferred until the money
Read the full article…
Teaching Kids About Money
June 11th, 2013The benefits of teaching children about money are substantial. By understanding saving, investing, and borrowing, children can develop fiscally responsible habits, enabling them to be better prepared for financing their college education, to avoid debt problems, and to get on the road to a comfortable retirement. Unfortunately, most schools don’t teach children the basic financial
Read the full article…
Pension Lump Sum Rollover: Advantages and Disadvantages
May 30th, 2013During the early post-World War II days, employers implemented defined benefit pension plans to provide retirement income to the workers who were loyal enough to the company to spend their career there. This was the way of life for many American workers, and many employees spent an entire career with one company. Saving for retirement
Read the full article…
Planning Your Estate With a Letter of Instruction
May 30th, 2013Planning for an eventual death is not something most people want to address or even think about, so many people avoid planning altogether until it is too late. Others may think estate planning is useless because they may not have enough money or assets to feel that an estate plan is necessary. Whether or not
Read the full article…
Protecting Your Assets from a Lawsuit
May 30th, 2013In the movie U-571, an American submarine crew is charged with taking over a broken stranded German submarine during World War II in order to steal an enigma coding machine that will give them access to German naval secrets. The Americans disguise themselves as Germans coming to the aid of the broken down German sub.
Read the full article…
Introduction to Buying a Car – Make Sure You are Ready
May 22nd, 2013Buying a car is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll make in life. Learn what information you should consider in the process of making this decision.
Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA. What is Best For You?
May 21st, 2013When planning which IRA to contribute to there are several things that you need to consider as depending on your circumstances the benefits of each can vary. Below are some highlights on the differences between the two that may impact your decision making. Tax Deductibility One benefit of a traditional IRA is that your contributions
Read the full article…
How to Find the Best Balance Transfer Credit Card
May 17th, 2013Taking advantage of a Balance Transfer Credit Card can be a useful way of reducing your interest rates and ultimately speeding up the process of paying off your debt. Credit Card companies are all competing to own your debt and the incentives are there to follow this approach to debt management. Finding the best card
Read the full article…
How to Calculate Free Cash Flow
May 17th, 2013Free Cash Flow is a very useful metric for investors when assessing a company as it provides insight into the viability of the company to fund its own growth and development. Additionally, it can be an indicator of the ability of the company to have cash available to pay dividends going forward. The basic calculation
Read the full article…
How to Pay Off Credit Card Debt Quickly
May 17th, 2013While the best advice from most is to avoid it, sometimes incurring a hefty credit card debt becomes an unavoidable fact of life for many people. When faced with credit card debt paying it off quickly should become one’s key financial goal. This is because the interest rates on almost any credit card will be
Read the full article…
How to Fire Your Financial Advisor
April 15th, 2013Years ago, there was a television show called Caroline in the City, where the lead character was never any good at ending relationships. In one episode, she couldn’t bring herself to change dry cleaners—no matter how many valuable pieces of clothing were ruined—until he died (and, at that, she gave the eulogy at his funeral).
Read the full article…
Questions to Ask Financial Advisor References
April 15th, 2013In Interview Questions for a Financial Planners, Interview Questions a Broker, and Interview Questions for Money Managers there are questions that may be specific to a particular specialty. But no matter which kind of advisor you are hiring, here is the general information that you want to get from references and why the responses will
Read the full article…
How to Get the Most Information Out of Financial Advisor References
April 15th, 2013When you ask for references, don’t expect to be given the names of the last five clients who walked through the door—a measure that might provide some objectivity—but rather the names of good customers or volunteer praise-singers. Assume you are about to talk with people who are in the advisor’s corner. Some advisors include that
Read the full article…
Financial Advisors Require More than a Simple Referral
April 15th, 2013The late Dr. Harry Clark Noyes, a psychologist who examined consumer behavior for his New York firm Psychological Motivations, said there are plenty of people who generate good references from customers despite mediocre results. “Some people re-sell themselves when they give a referral,” Noyes said, “They list the attributes of someone to you, and they
Read the full article…
Good Referrals for Financial Advisors Can Go Bad
April 15th, 2013Even if the referral is honest and true, it still may not deliver the right person for you. Think of it in terms of interior decorators. Your mother may have a lovely home, but it might not be your style and taste; when she refers you to her decorator, it’s entirely possible that you wind
Read the full article…
Recent Commentary and Articles
- Boeing (BA) Stock Up on New Orders
- 401(k) FAQs – What to Do After Leaving a Job
- Markets Climb on Fed; Housing Starts Jump in May (DELL, ADBE)
- Dynasty Trusts…Not Just for the Wealthy
- What is a QTIP Trust and How Can it Help You
- Google (GOOG) Takes Waze Off the Table for $1.3 Billion
- Shares Push Higher Ahead of Fed Meeting; Dollar Ends Losing Streak
