Retirement Watch Weekly
Tips for Effective Financial Planning with Your Tax Return
Don’t be in a hurry to put away that copy of your income tax return. It can be a great financial planning tool. Study it for a little while, and you might discover ways to adjust your finances that will increase your wealth. Here are a few ideas. Too much income? It is not unusual […]
How Annuities Can Extend a Portfolio
Annuities received a bad name over the last few decades, with some help from this newsletter. But there are different types of annuities, and they are not all bad investments. For example, the greatest fear of most retirees is outliving their portfolios. The right kind of annuity can reduce the probability of running out of […]
The Surge in Reverse Mortgages
Reverse mortgages suddenly are booming. The number of reverse mortgages insured by the federal government surged by 77% in 2006. Areas with high home prices and a high percentage of older people see the greatest number of the mortgages issued. Several factors are behind the increase in reverse mortgages. The aging population increases demand, as […]
Essential Tips and Strategies for Family Businesses
Business owners have unique concerns along with the usual estate planning issues. Business owners fear that the heirs might have to sell or dismantle the business and that the wrong people might run it. Those results can be avoided, but the owner must plan carefully and implement the plan. The first major estate planning issue […]
How to Find the Best State to Place Your Trusts
Trusts today often are key to providing for the futures of grand-children. Trusts even can protect assets so that they last for multiple generations. Traditionally, a trust would be set up in the trust creator’s state of residence or in the state where the key beneficiaries reside. Sometimes, the creator favored a particular trustee and […]
Key IRA Decisions for 2007
IRA owners can squeeze significant additional after-tax dollars out of their accounts – if they plan carefully. In addition to the usual planning strategies, there are new IRA opportunities available in the next few years. The Pension Plan Protection Act of 2006 created a charitable giving opportunity for some IRA owners. We covered this after […]
