I will admit that I own life insurance…lots of it. If a meteor were to fall from the sky and incinerate me today, my kids would benefit tremendously from a financial standpoint. They’d miss the wisdom (yeah, that’s what we’ll call it…) that I could pass down to them over the next 50+ years but they’d be OK financially. Continue reading “What Old School Insurance Sales Reps Won’t Tell You”
According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, over 70% of long-term care insurance policies are applied for after age 54. Maybe it happens after the kids leave the nest or perhaps when other goals like retirement are realized but I believe most people don’t start thinking about long-term care until they’ve experienced it through someone else. I’ve had my share of experience dealing with long-term care but my most recent encounter with Patty Smith (name changed to protect the innocent) has made me realize why it is so important to plan for long-term care before it is too late. Continue reading “4 Ways to Plan For Long Term Care”
One of the questions a lot of my friends have asked me as we got to the end of the year was about keeping their financial documents. I have friends on both ends of the spectrum. Some keep EVERYTHING and are tired of seeing boxes pile up in their attic. Others keep NOTHING and figure that with online statements, if they need it they can request it. Continue reading “Keep It or Chuck It?”
Every once in a while, we receive a phone call from a person that is in real dire straits when it comes to their financial circumstances. Recently, I experienced just such a call. Frank is a plumber that is temporarily out of work because of injury, and the loss of income was proving to be too much for his household. The bills were beginning to pile up, and it wouldn’t be long before services would be lost and creditors would start calling. Continue reading “Don’t Let a Loss of Income Be a Loss of Hope”
When people call our financial helpline or schedule a one-on-one consultation, they usually have a particular problem or goal in mind. It might be getting out of debt, knowing whether they’re on track for retirement, or dealing with a thorny tax issue. But sometimes we have people that seem to be doing all the right things. They have no high-interest debt. They have more than adequate savings for emergencies. They’re saving enough for retirement. They just want to know what they might be missing. Here are the most common holes in people’s financial plans: Continue reading “What’s Probably Missing From Your Financial Plan”
This past weekend, I said a sad final farewell to a friend. Just a few months shy of his 50th birthday, he passed away after a long battle with Machado-Joseph’s Disease. The symptoms remind me of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, only in slow motion, with a very slow progression of muscle control. Continue reading “Lessons from a Final Farewell”
One of the most difficult financial challenges people often face is trying to decide how to balance competing goals. A typical situation might be someone who wants to pay off student loans and credit card debt, save for emergencies and a home purchase, start putting something away for retirement, open a college account for their newborn, and purchase disability and life insurance. Yet, they only have a limited amount of money they can save each month. Continue reading “Do You Have These Essential Financial Protections in Place?”
Longevity risk is the chance of living longer than expected, but what happens when we are expected to live shorter than planned? Most don’t see this as a risk simply because passing away with money on the table does not seem as dangerous as living beyond what’s there, but there may be some things you will want to consider if in fact you ARE expected to live shorter than planned. Continue reading “Don’t Overestimate Your Life Expectancy”
Like most financial planners who don’t sell whole life insurance, I’ve always seen whole life insurance policies as great big rip-offs sold by sleazy life insurance agents. But my opinion changed a bit after a recent conversation I had with a Helpline caller. While I still think most people are better off buying term insurance, I’ve come to the conclusion that whole life insurance can be a better deal for some people. Continue reading “Why I Changed My Mind About Whole Life Insurance”
Permanent life insurance has a whole host of benefits, especially for taxpayers in a high tax bracket, but does it make sense when you don’t have dependents? We got this question from one of our Facebook fans (yes- you can ask a question and we’ll answer it for you here.) Continue reading “Is Life Insurance a Good Investment?”
With the twitter-sphere going crazy last week with the question as to whether a stay-at-home mom works or not, my thoughts naturally gravitated to the financial planning aspects of the situation. Stay-at-home parents may have it made when it comes to spending quality time with the children and not having to panic when the kids are sick since they are at home. However, there are some unique challenges for the family that made the decision to have one parent choose the career of “parenthood.” Continue reading “Stay-At-Home Parents: Watch Out For These Two Things”
Once a year, this strange phenomenon occurs called “open enrollment.” For most people, “open enrollment” is time for the fine art of pretending that if you ignore something it will go away and it always works out that way. However, what most people don’t realize is that in this case, ignorance is certainly not bliss and they are overlooking a very important part of their overall planning that can have a dramatic impact on their future and the future of their family. Continue reading “How to Evaluate Your Life Insurance During Open Enrollment”
According to a recent study by LIMRA, over 30% of U.S. households have no life insurance coverage, and this includes close to 11 million households that have a child under age 18 who SHOULD have coverage as part of their financial plan. “Well, that’s not my employees”, you may be thinking since your company benefits probably include employer-sponsored life insurance. On average, most companies provide a company paid benefit of 1 x the annual salary of their employees. But with 1 x their salary, that leaves many workers severely under-insured, since the common rule of thumb is that you need at least 6 to 10 times your annual income if you have loved ones at home that rely on your income. Continue reading “Valentine’s Alert: Educate Your Workforce on Providing for Their Loved Ones”
I had the sad task of attending my husband’s cousin’s funeral this past weekend, and it really brought to light the fragileness of life. Dave (my husband) and his cousin were born in 1961, and would have been celebrating their 50th birthday together this year. Even worse, he leaves behind a wife and 2 sons who are in shock both emotionally and financially. Continue reading “Employee Communications: The Importance of Estate Planning”
Well you knew I would be broaching this topic at some point. In many years of financial planning I have seen numerous situations which made me sad, and which inevitably led to me becoming a financial educator. Some of the most searing memories, and sad to say happened all too frequently, were of widows who were in the dark as to what their financial condition was. Continue reading “Financial Planning: When a Spouse Passes – How to Stay Out of the Dark”
There are 8760 hours in a year – 730 in a month with about 240 of them spent sleeping. That leaves about 490 hours to do what we want. We spend quite a few of those at work and it probably seems like we spend the rest of them waiting in line or being on hold. We can put a few of those hours to good use with some actions that might not be very urgent but are very important none the less. Here are a couple of important insurance check-ups to do this week that take about an hour each. Continue reading “Financial Education: 3 Important Check Ups to Do in an Hour”
