Resources

How to Stick With a Long-Term Financial Plan in an Instant Gratification World

Sticking with a long-term financial plan in a world filled with instant gratification is essential for your financial and emotional health. As they say, slow and steady wins the race. We’ll explain precisely why and how to stay on track with your long-term financial plan.  Why You Should Have a Long-Term Financial Plan A long-term…
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Retired couple holding hands

How Do Survivor Social Security Benefits Work?

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  retirement,
Social Security is a robust system that provides aid to disabled workers, minor children, and surviving spouses/dependents. In fact, according to AARP, nearly 5.9 million people were collecting survivor benefits in 2020. Survivor benefits play an important role in the social security system, making it imperative that you know what it is, how it works,…
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The SECURE Act of 2019

The SECURE Act of 2019

  News, Resources
On December 20, 2019, the new SECURE Act was signed into law by President Trump. SECURE is an acronym for “Setting Every Community Up for retirement Enhancement.” The SECURE Act contains over six hundred pages and has 29 major provisions. Most of these provisions affect company-sponsored retirement plans (e.g. pensions, profit-sharing plans, etc.). However, in…
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Medicare IRMMA

Medicare IRMMA

  Resources
Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) is an amount that Medicare recipients pay in addition to their regular Part B or Part D premium if their income is above a certain level. The Social Security Administration (SSA) sets income brackets that determine your surcharges. SSA determines if you owe an IRMAA based on the income you reported on your IRS tax return two…
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Medicare Enrollment 2020

The Medicare Open Enrollment Period

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What is the Medicare Open-Enrollment Period? Each year Medicare has an Open Enrollment Period during which Medicare recipients can make certain changes in their Medicare coverage. For example, during the Open Enrollment Period, Medicare recipients can: Switch from Original Medicare (Part A&B) to a Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) Switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan…
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Vanguard's Alpha and Morningstar's Gamma

A Brief Discussion of Vanguard’s Alpha and Morningstar’s Gamma

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This paper was written for educational purposes only. It must not be construed as the rendering of investment, tax, retirement, estate or risk planning advice. Please do not take action on anything that you read in any of our whitepapers, or anything that is mentioned in our classes, before first discussing it with your investment,…
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Retirement Longevity Risk

The Challenges of Retirement Longevity Risk

  Resources
Planning for a journey of unknown duration Q – We’re considering the financial impact of using some of our retirement resources now, while we are still active, versus sacrificing now to be more certain we will be OK later.  How should we handle the tradeoff? A – One of the biggest challenges facing those planning…
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