Saw an email come by my inbox the other day related to getting in shape and fitness. It listed out “things you should not worry about” and “things you should worry about.” And there are some pretty obvious applications that could be made to retirement planning from all this. …
Trump tax plan and charitable contributions
The Trump tax plan will be in full force in the year 2018 (almost full-force if you consider the individual mandate doesn’t go away until 2019). There were some changes made, but overall if you are somewhat familiar with how the federal taxes work then it is still working in a very similar …
Even atheists can use these “church” secrets on investing
If you are a regular church attendee think about how often you learn a completely new concept on a Sunday morning. I mean a concept that you’ve never heard before. Have you thought about it? I’m guessing it is very rare that you learn a completely new concept. In fact, you probably learned …
The secret to handling trade-offs in retirement (and life)
I remember reading in some dusty old tome on financial planning (I believe it was from the 1980’s roundabout) about choosing objectives that you want to accomplish. These objectives could range from protecting your family from pre-mature death (using life insurance) to protecting yourself and …
The David Letterman approach to getting you ready for retirement…
Not long ago I came across a link to an old David Letterman Top Ten List, called “Top Ten Reason I’m Glad To Be Named Justin Bieber.” They found a guy from Florida who had the same name as the famous kid singer Justin Bieber, flew him up to New York and let him read the 10 jokes they came up with …
What I do every January… and February
I’ve spoken some in the past about getting organized. And it seems like a hot topic during the beginning of any year with all the resolutions being made. By the time February rolls around everyone knows most resolutions are already forgotten. Creating a new habit loop is very difficult for …
Jerry Seinfeld’s Bizzaro world secrets
"Yeah, like Bizarro Superman, Superman's exact opposite, who lives in the backwards Bizarro world. Up is down, down is up, he says hello when he leaves, goodbye when he arrives." -Jerry Seinfeld from “Seinfeld” Recently I was telling my beagle to do something. I can’t remember if it was get in the …
What The Proposed Tax Reform Means For Your Retirement
The current administration and Congress are getting closer to finalizing their tax proposals. How it will all shake out is still unknown as of me writing this. But there are some things that are getting some attention. Let’s look at those and then look at things that more directly affect your …
Dow Hits 20,000 For The First Time. What Does This Mean For Investors?
On Wednesday January 25th 2017 the Dow Jones index hit 20,000 for the first time. Not only is this an all-time high for the Dow, it is a psychological number. On that same day the NASDAQ hit a new all-time high passing 5,650. And the S&P on the following day briefly surpassed 2,300. Not as …
How To Choose The Right Annuity
Today’s question comes from Russ. He has some questions about the type of annuity he is looking for. He writes: “I am looking at fixed index annuities. I am looking for a fixed index annuity that offers no cap, has a rider for fix income for life and an inflation guard. I would like …