Category: Financial Planning

  • Where to retire: A flight of fancy

    By Joel Dresang Of course, affordability is key. As we get closer to retirement, Mary and I will have to compare what we currently spend on housing with how much we can manage on a retirement budget. Then we can determine how many places we’ll have, whether we’ll own or rent and where we’ll call…

  • Retiring debt in time for retirement

    Dave Sandstrom explains why investors should consider how the costs of debt weigh into their retirement plans.

  • Inevitable as taxes, yet rarely planned for

    Chess pieces

    Of all the significant life events we can plan for, our afterlife is most often left untended.

  • Trying to transition off a treadmill

    By Joel Dresang Many retirees would rather be working. But at the same time that more employers are complaining about a lack of job applicants, they’re serving sheet cake for older employees who have cleared out their desks to head for home. Under the right circumstances, older workers can negotiate mutually beneficial work-to-retirement transitions. […]

  • Retirement confidence or ignorant bliss?

    So why are workers so confident of their retirement when they’ve done so little to prepare for it? […]

  • 5 tips for naming beneficiaries

    Designating beneficiaries for their accounts lets investors control who gets how much of the account’s distributions when they die. As Mike Hoelzl explains in a MONEY TALK VIDEO, naming beneficiaries can help cut confusion, delays and expenses for distributing funds. He offers five tips to consider. […]

  • Emergency lessons from a 40-year-old deuce

    By Joel Dresang What strikes me now about that $2 bill in my wallet is the value of being prepared for an emergency. If you know you can cover a worst-case scenario, you have one less worry weighing you down. You can enjoy the here and now a little better. You’re afforded the luxury of…

  • Procrastinate your way to retirement ruin

    By Joel Dresang The Center for Financial Literacy, at Boston College, calls procrastination “the number one barrier to making retirement more secure.” […]

  • Trusted contacts for your sake

    Why it makes sense to name a Trusted Contact

  • Retirement spending with heirs in mind

    Dave Sandstrom explains how strategies for tapping retirement accounts can vary when investors expect to leave money behind.