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You can use the analogy of the pioneers on the Oregon Trail as a way to think about your retirement planning. These stalwart individuals mapped which landmarks would show they were making progress and what they needed to do to reach each of them. They set out in late April or early May from Independence, Missouri, with the daunting goal of crossing the mountains and reaching their new home before the first snows closed the pass.
Knowing how much you should save for retirement is critical. But what if you are late getting started? The longer you delay, the shorter the time that compound interest can do its magic on your savings. Retirement planning is like the pioneers who set forth on the Oregon Trail. The hardy souls who began their journey in early spring had to average 15 miles a day to reach their goal. But those who delayed until summer needed to maintain a faster pace. The same is true of saving for retirement.
I'm often asked, "How much should I save for retirement?" My standard answer, based on certain assumptions, is that you should save 15% of your take-home pay for retirement over your working career. As your situation varies, you must adjust your safe savings rate.<./p>
An annuity is a financial product sold as a way to collect and grow funds and then later receive those funds as a steady cash flow during retirement. Annuities have many flavors and features that vary this basic principle, but the basic terms you will hear are "deferred or immediate" and "fixed or variable." Ever-popular annuities sometimes sound too good to be true, which in itself is probably a good reason to avoid them.
Many families seek financial planning advice specifically for retirement. But if they wait too long, they miss an important tax-planning opportunity. A great strategy is to take advantage of the time between retirement and Social Security at age 70, the so-called gap years. With some planning for this gap, you can move income into the lower tax brackets.
We teach teenagers a lot more about sexuality than we do about money. This can confuse them about what they should be learning. Give this article to a teenager and encourage him or her to start a Roth IRA. For a $4,300 gift spread out over the next seven years plus a little work on the teenager's part, you can fund a teenage child or grandchild's million-dollar retirement. Here's how it's done.
The world of financial services is built mostly around products and services. So it is often difficult for families to understand the concept of comprehensive wealth management. Advisors who offer comprehensive wealth management are like financial concierges. Their only goal is to meet your needs. If you ask for fresh strawberries, they try to find them for you. And then they ask if you would like dipping chocolate or fresh cream to go with them.
I often get asked, "Are investment management fees tax deductible?" The answer is not a simple "yes" or "no." Like many tax questions, the answer is "It depends." You only receive a tax deduction for the amount that exceeds 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) from line 38 of your Form 1040. If your cumulative expenses are under 2% of AGI, you will not get a deduction. For most of our working clients, their miscellaneous deductions fall far short of the 2% AGI threshold. But when clients retire, they are much more likely to qualify.
Most of our clients are frugal supersavers. Often they have accumulated their wealth not by earning more but by simply spending less. They are the millionaires next door living well below their means, which is why they have means. Few investors even ask how commission-based annuity salespeople earn their fee, but with fee-only advisors the question often arises. Investment fees are generally about 1% of assets under management and drop as assets rise above $1 million. The critical question to ask is "Where do financial advisors add value that might exceed the 1% fee they charge?"
Fee-only financial planners are registered investment advisors with a fiduciary responsibility to act in their clients' best interest. They do not accept any fees or compensation based on product sales. Fee-only advisors have fewer inherent conflicts of interest, and they generally provide more comprehensive advice. Fee-only advisors have fewer inherent conflicts of interest, and they generally provide more comprehensive advice.
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From Reason.tv, a recap of the week in Obama scandals.
Looks like Zo and I have more in common than just conservatism. We both loved Battlestar Galactica (the old one) as kids, and thought Sheba was hot. But the frack they talked about isn't the kind of frack Alfonzo Rachel is talking about today: it's the fracking that produces more energy for us. I'm with him there, too. Zo discusses a film called FrackNation which dispels some of the anti-energy propaganda put out by the Left.
Polls, what do they tell us? Maybe a great deal and maybe only what a small group might think or wish those in power to think. But then... if one poll result doesn't agree with one's opinion... a search of the net will most likely turn up one that does. Amazing how that works.
When I saw the photo on The Drudge Report my reaction was the same as almost any other current or former member of the Armed Services—disgust. It reminded me of the Clintons who used uniformed military officers as servers to pass drinks and hors d'oeuvres at one of their White House gatherings.
This mailer went out yesterday regarding the Rapid City mayoral race. We have an establishment "Gov. Daugaard is our supreme being" RINO Mark Kirkeby running against incumbent Mayor Sam Kooiker. Rapid City voters know what they're getting with Kooiker, since he has served them for years on the city council and now for one term as mayor. The voters also deserve to know what they would be getting with Mark Kirkeby.
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"We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the party over to the so-called moderates wouldn't make any sense at all." - Ronald Reagan, Nov. 10, 1964 |
