Long term care planning involves a whole lot more than buying a long-term care insurance policy, which an increasing number of people see as too expensive. Having a long-term care insurance policy may offer peace of mind, but is not a complete financial solution to the problem of getting old. The financial cost of getting
The transition to retirement—rather than being an occasion for scaling back and becoming less engaged—can be the occasion for renewed productivity and creativity. The inspiration for today’s blog post is Norman Maclean, who at age 74, published his first novel, A River runs through It. Maclean said, “I started to write to fill a gap
Speculation about Peyton Manning’s retirement from the NFL is this week’s inspiration. We share a few thoughts on preparing for an early retirement. Live below your means. One rule of thumb holds that you need to save 25 times your annual budget by retirement. Generating a nest egg of that size involves years of frugality
Ordinarily, favorable tax benefits come at a high cost—but not always. We helped one client over successive years to realize the powerful payoff of a Roth IRA conversion, yet without the steep price of having to pay tax on any as-yet-untaxed money moved to a Roth. Money in Roth IRAs benefits from a prolonged period
A recent widow was overwhelmed with financial details following her husband's death. It was late 2007—financial uncertainty was in the air, and she had more debt than she felt comfortable with. She had two properties she wanted to sell in a challenging real estate market. Insurance proceeds would be forthcoming, and she knew the details
A female head of a high profile Nashville institution was keenly aware of the importance of timing in leadership change. It was important to her that the institution, whose profile she raised, transition smoothly. She and her husband had been clients for several years leading up to her retirement. During the pre-retirement period, we kept
Most people in full time jobs across all income ranges have a clear choice to make at some point in their lives–continue working full time or retire from their current employer. Some will be more prepared than others. This week we focus on emotional preparation for full retirement and a glide path for a staged
The keys to reaching financial independence are simple at their core, but not easy to attain. A few of the keys are: invest in your earning power; avoid lifestyle creep; get the big expenses right; and avoid major mistakes. This week we present personal stories of the retirement planning habits of some noted retirement specialists,
We know a few people retiring this year. Each new cohort of retirees faces its own set of challenges. This week we highlight a few issues for this year’s retirees to consider. You will be retiring into a sluggish economic recovery. While the economy is improving, the rate of improvement is much lower than expected.
Hardly a week goes by without our having several discussions about the financial aspects of retirement. This week we address some issues from the last several days. How much house can I afford? The traditional rule of thumb—i.e., not more than 28% of your monthly income going for a mortgage payment—is not particularly helpful. There