As your children grow into adults, your relationship with them naturally evolves. You love them and may want to continue to support them in various ways but, when it comes to supporting them financially, things can get complicated.
The Benefits of Taking Your RMD Early in the Year
Welcome to a new year! With the holidays and celebrations behind you, it’s time to plan for the year ahead. If you have one or more retirement accounts and are over the age of 70 ½, taking your required minimum distribution (RMD) will be on the “to do” list for you and your financial advisor.
What’s an RMD and why do I have to take money out of my retirement accounts?
The biggest benefit of saving in retirement accounts is tax-free growth, meaning you never pay capital gains tax as the assets increase in value over time (motivation to start saving early!). The IRS, however, doesn’t want you and your beneficiaries to receive this benefit for eternity so, at the age of 70 ½, you must start taking money out of the account. Roth IRAs are an exception in that distributions aren’t required during the original owner’s lifetime but, after the owner’s death, beneficiaries are required to take annual distributions over the course of their lifetimes.
Life Transitions – Death of a Loved One
Losing a loved one is one of the most emotionally challenging events we face in life. In addition to the grief and heartache, there are many financial implications with which to contend that can be complicated by family relations and whether or not the person had his/her estate plan in order.
One of the greatest gifts you can give your loved ones is to be proactive and well organized in not only preparing your estate plan, but in communicating your intentions to your beneficiaries. Right down to the music you want played at your funeral, every detail you think through in advance will relieve the burden from those left to handle your estate so they can focus on mourning and honoring your wishes.
Life Transitions – Navigating Divorce
People are living longer now than ever before. This is surely something to celebrate, however, one of the unintended consequences of our additional longevity is that divorce is on the rise for people over 50. In fact, divorce rates for people 50 and older have almost doubled since the 1990s. Divorce is typically not something you plan for in advance but there are things you can do to prepare for the wide range of emotional and financial implications both before and after it is finalized.
Understanding the Role of Life Insurance in Your Financial Plan
We’re just going to throw it out there: life insurance is not a fun or overly interesting topic of conversation. It is however, a very important one. Much of financial planning involves thinking through ‘what if’ situations and in the case of life insurance, you’re planning for what happens when you or a loved one passes away.
So let’s start with how it works.
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