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Your Advisor is Not Your Friend

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One of the biggest mistakes one can make is thinking of your financial advisor as your friend, instead of looking at it as a business relationship to provide you with sound financial advice.

A friend would actually listen to you when you say you want to take less risk.

A friend wouldn’t put in writing how much risk you’re really taking.

A friend wouldn’t put in writing, how much you could lose in the next stock market crash.

A friend wouldn’t tell you not to worry and ride out all stock market losses.

A friend wouldn’t put all the fees you pay in writing, even the hidden ones.

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Dan and Jim Win 2021 Five Star Wealth Manager Award

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For the 4th year in a row, Dan Ahmad and Jim Files are winners of the exclusive 2021 Five Star Wealth Manager award. Wealth Manager award winners are identified based on a rigorous research process and selected from among thousands of wealth managers for their knowledge, service, and experience. Dan and Jim are part of an exclusive group of wealth managers who have demonstrated excellence in their field by satisfying 10 objective selection criteria.

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Are You Having to Handle Money All By Yourself?

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Whether you are divorced, widowed, or a lifelong single person, planning your retirement finances and having to handle money all by yourself can be extremely challenging when you only have yourself to rely on. You only have one Social Security, maybe a pension, and the assets you as an individual have saved.

Establishing a written plan is crucial to ensuring your future financial success. A solid written financial plan should include the following:

  • An Income Plan detailing how much income you will receive each year and where each income source comes from so that you can be confident knowing your income will not run out.
  • A Risk Analysis stating how much risk you’re taking currently and how you plan on eliminating or managing any possible large losses to your savings. 
  • A Fee Analysis showing how much you’re paying in fees, both direct and hidden, as well as a way to reduce them.

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Five Financial Tips for Your Second Marriage

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financial tips for your second marriage
The financial stakes can be higher for a second marriage, so you’ll want to be prepared.

It’s no secret that about half of first marriages end in divorce, meaning many people will get married more than once during their lifetimes. If you find yourself getting ready for your second marriage, congratulations! Getting remarried offers a fresh start, a new opportunity to learn from the past, and time to build a life with someone new.

Before you walk down the aisle for the second time, however, there are several important financial steps you should take with your partner. Communication is always important in a relationship, but in some ways, it’s even more important in a second marriage because you will both be bringing more complexity and baggage with you – some of it financial.

Below are five steps you should consider before saying “I Do” for the second time.

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How To Reduce Your Fears About Your Money & Retirement

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If you’re retired or near retirement, we can help reduce your fears about your money and retirement.

We can create a written retirement income plan for you that will serve as a roadmap, like navigation in your car, to make sure you don’t get lost during retirement.

We can help eliminate your fear of running out of money by helping you create dependable income guaranteed for life.

We can help you protect and grow your assets without taking excessive risks, by using multiple, conservative asset strategies, making sure you don’t lose what you’ve worked so hard for.

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A Roadmap to Retirement Success

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If you’re a retiree who worries a lot about your money, implementing a Roadmap to Retirement might be just what you need. Having a financial plan, in writing, works like the GPS navigation in your car, making sure you get where you want to go and don’t get lost in retirement.

A written retirement income plan will show you how much income you’ll receive from each source each year, what’s guaranteed and what’s not guaranteed. It will show you the amount of risk in your portfolio and the fees you’re currently paying and then the reduced risk and lower fees you’ll pay going forward.

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Average Retirement Debt for Older Americans is Higher than Ever Before

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debt in retirement
What to Do if You Fear Your Debt Will Get in the Way of Your Retirement Plans

When it comes to retirement, the most common worry among workers tends to be whether they’re saving enough. However, with new reports showing that the average retirement debt is on the rise, many workers nearing retirement have an added concern to consider. According to the Federal Reserve Bank, Baby Boomers are carrying more debt into retirement than ever before.

Debt is often a serious source of contention and stress and carrying debt into retirement could be quite detrimental to achieving retirement dreams and goals. It can affect a retiree’s ability to pay necessary living expenses, keep their home, and even influence whether or not they can afford independent- or assisted-living facilities, should their health prevent them from living alone.

If you’re concerned about bringing debt with you into retirement, here’s how to tackle it ahead of time so that your retirement dreams can become your retirement reality.

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Annuity Myths (Lies) People Will Tell You: Part 3

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People will tell you myths about fixed index annuities with income riders because they don’t really understand how they work, or because they want to sell you something else.

Myth #11 – Your income will never increase. NOT TRUE. Some plans offer guaranteed lifetime income with the potential for annual increases that get locked in for life.

Myth #12- Other traditional Wall Street type assets will guarantee your principal against losses, provide guaranteed lifetime income, and provide the opportunity for growth. NOT TRUE. Fixed index annuities with income riders, provide these benefits, stocks, bonds and mutual funds don’t.

Myth #13- Annuity companies aren’t safe, they fail all the time and people lose their money. NOT TRUE. No one has ever lost any of their guaranteed principal from an insurance company failing. 

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Family and Finances: Tips for Discussing Money and Retirement with Your Loved Ones

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family and finances
Facing Money Topics Head-On is Key to Accomplishing Your Family’s Financial Goals

Though it may seem that family and finances are two words that don’t belong together, it’s important to make sure that you’re occasionally combining the topics despite how awkward it may feel. Talking about money can be incredibly difficult, but it’s equally important to make sure you and your loved ones are on the same page. Having conversations about money and retirement matters because, like it or not, your finances and current or future retirement plans will impact your children, too.

Furthermore, discussing money can ultimately end up strengthening everyone’s finances – and your relationships. Below you’ll find tips to help inspire you to begin having those hard conversations.

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Your Financial Planning Checklist for the New Year

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financial planning
How to Use an Annual Financial Plan to Stay on Top of Your Goals

A common error in financial planning is to assume that you can do it once and be finished. In truth, though, even a well-conceived plan built with the help of a financial advisor should be reviewed annually. This allows you to stay on top of what you have and have not accomplished so that you can ensure you’ve covered all the bases on both your short-term and long-term goals.

Creating an annual financial planning checklist is a useful way to track your progress, as well as to ensure you remain vigilant about making adjustments if your circumstances or your goals should change.

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