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DO YOU HAVE A DEFINED CONTRIBUTION OR BENEFIT?

This week’s article tells us that the typical U.S. household has few retirement savings, and that most people rely on social security. One of the reasons is the reduction in employers offering any retirement plan, and another is for those that do, there seems to be a shift away from

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GET CONFIDENT

“Imagine trying to take an around-the-globe trip without looking into the details. In essence, that’s what millions of Americans do every day as they ponder retirement. They head out on the journey and hope for the best.” We believe that the best course of action is one that is planned

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EDUCATING

We believe in educating our clients, and appreciate the frustration that can occur when conversations about retirement planning include words that may be new, or difficult to understand. Because of this we thought to give you an extensive glossary of terms that you may hear or read about in the

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INFLATION’S IMPACT ON YOUR INCOME

We often talk about retirement in terms of understanding what expenses will be, and then comparing that to sources of income. An additional factor in this equation for retirement that is sometimes forgotten is inflation. This week’s article tells us that “the popular measure of inflation, sometimes called headline inflation—rose

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SAVING WHILE PAYING OFF LOANS

Whether we are dealing with personal loans like paying off a home or car, or having discussions with family members about paying student loans, the conversation often circles back to the heart of the problem; finding ways to save money while simultaneously paying off loans. I found this week’s article

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THE SECRET

This week’s article that I thought to share with you is called “The Secret to Generating Lifetime Income.” It states that “one solution to help ensure lifetime income is adding a fixed indexed annuity (FIA) to your retirement portfolio. These products can help balance your portfolio and generate guaranteed income

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AT LEAST ONCE

“While a whopping 94 percent of Americans currently give themselves a passing grade on retirement, a third of them have confessed to stopping retirement savings at least once”, according to a new report cited in this week’s article. Stopping savings can happen for a variety of reasons ranging from loss

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RIGHT OR WRONG ONE FOR YOU?

The editor of this week’s article wrote that “An annuity can be a very smart retirement investment for many people. That’s not just because an annuity can provide a secure revenue stream — a monthly check — for the rest of your life, no matter how long you live. On

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NOW THAT IT IS MAY

Now that it is May and tax season is behind us, it may be a good time to reassess how retirement has impacted or will impact your living expenses. This week I thought to share with you a chart that may help you with this assessment. “Your living expenses may

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CAN AN UP MARKET SINK YOUR RETIREMENT?

This week’s article made me think about the old adage “What goes up must come down.” Getting older always seems to involve a race against time, and if you know that you have to live off of your savings in retirement, what do you do if there if there is

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CHOICES

This week’s article discusses the situation when a company offers to cash out the pensions of certain retirees and former employees and instead give them a lump-sum payment. In the past we have discussed the difficulty in being confronted with this type of situation. “For most retirees, a guaranteed stream

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PREDICTABLE INCOME

A common concern when planning for retirement is the difficulty in knowing exactly how much income the retiree will have, and how long that income will last. It is also sometimes difficult to understand how different products work. Because retirees often choose to purchase an annuity with a guaranteed lifetime

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

From time to time we come across publications that are beneficial for anyone owning or thinking of owning an annuity to have. This week’s publication is a glossary of terms that are often used when discussing this particular type of product, and it is in a form that is easy

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DO YOU HAVE AN ILLUSION OF WEALTH OR AN ILLUSION OF POVERTY?

This week’s article tells us that “A new study has found that one difficulty workers saving for retirement have in judging whether they’re on track is that they could be under the “illusion of wealth” or, conversely, under the “illusion of poverty.” The study, “The Illusion of Wealth and Its

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QUESTIONS TO ASK

We always enjoy finding articles that help you to make good decisions for your financial future. This week’s article is one of those as it suggests some questions to ask that help determine what a good choice might be for you. “Indexed annuities offer a unique and attractive blend of

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HOW OFTEN?

If you have ever wondered how often you should review your annuity portfolio, this week’s article tells us it should be done “as often as you would your other investments”. This is one of the reasons we invite clients for an annual review. Major changes such as a serious illness,

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BRIDGE THE GAP

I wasn’t really surprised to read in this week’s article that “When it comes to savings, the gender gap is huge. A recent study indicated that women have 50% lower savings than their male counterparts.” The amount and timing of our savings is dependent on so many factors, some of

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RETIREMENT READY QUIZ

From time to time clients will ask me about on-line tools they can use to help analyze and judge their preparations for retirement. Sometimes it is beneficial to insert various figures into an analysis and get a better idea about where you fall in terms of your income needs for

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HIGH TECH OR HIGH TOUCH

This week’s article reminds us that “While high-tech solutions offer tremendous convenience, some things are still much better when they are high-touch. One of these things is retirement planning and creating a financial plan for the future. There are many options and components available when you are building your retirement

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BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS

This week’s article begins with a thought we have often discussed; “Annuities have long been the basic building blocks of the U.S. retirement income system.” Economists generally agree that many retirees would benefit if they annuitized at least some of their retirement savings. Call us if you would like to

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GROWTH POTENTIAL BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY PRINCIPAL PROTECTION

I found this week’s article timely as the markets rise and dip. This week’s article says that “Fixed Indexed Annuities combine the stability and guarantees of a fixed product with growth potential based on the performance of an underlying securities index such as the S&P 500.” I liked how the

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