Author: admin

Annuity Myths (Lies) People Will Tell You: Part 2

Written on .

<

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. We recently provided the first 5 myths about fixed index annuities, here are some more:

Myth #6- You can’t get any growth. NOT TRUE. When your index goes up you have the opportunity to earn competitive returns for a low-risk asset, and when your index goes down you lose NOTHING.

Myth #7- You can lose principal in a stock market crash. NOT TRUE. Your principal and past earnings are 100 percent protected from all stock market losses. If the market crashes 50 percent, you lose 0 percent.

Continue reading

Annuity Myths (Lies) People Will Tell You: Part 1

Written on .

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

Myth #1-You will pay very high fees. NOT TRUE. The total average annual cost for a fixed index annuity with an income rider is 1.0 percent, in writing, fully disclosed.

Myth #2-There’s a big commission that comes from your money to pay the agent. NOT TRUE. No commissions are deducted from your money- the annuity company pays the agent, you don’t.

Myth #3 – You can’t access your money for a long time. NOT TRUE. In some plans, you can access income immediately, and in most plans, you can access funds after 12 months.

Continue reading

Ways to Reduce Your Household Expenses

Written on .

reduce household expenses
Eight Tips for Cutting Your Monthly Spending

Everyday household expenses can quickly add up and, if you’re not paying attention, they can end up consuming a large portion of your income. When this happens, saving enough for financial goals like buying a house, paying for a college education, or saving for retirement can become difficult. Below are eight ways you can reduce your monthly household expenses.

Continue reading

Social Security Survivor Benefits and How They Work

Written on .

social security survivor benefits
A Primer on the Benefits Available to You When Your Spouse Passes Away

Losing a spouse is an especially painful time. Unfortunately, many people find their grief compounded by the complexities of figuring out their finances. The process for collecting Social Security Survivor Benefits can be particularly confusing, but we hope this primer will help you wade through the confusion and better understand the benefits you may be eligible for.

Continue reading

Put Your Mutual Funds On The Couch – It’s Time To Analyze Them

Written on .

If you’re like most people, you don’t understand your portfolio and each of the individual mutual funds you own. A fund analysis can help.

A fund analysis, basically an audit, will determine if you have too many funds and reveal important information about each one. It will show you the actual, direct expenses of each fund, as well as the hidden costs you never see. You’ll know how much risk you have in each fund, as well as how much each fund has lost in the past.

Continue reading

How to Estimate How Much You’ll Need to Retire

Written on .

Four Steps to Arriving at Your ‘Enough’ Number

It’s tempting to think about retirement savings in black and white: there’s a “right” number you need to reach, at which point you have enough money saved to sustain your retirement. The trouble is, there is no right number because every retiree has a different picture of what their ideal retirement looks like. That means the amount of money you’ll need to retire could be vastly different – either far more or far less – than others your age, or even in your social circle. In order to truly understand what your retirement savings goal should be, you need to forget arbitrary numbers and come up with you own personal estimate.

Continue reading

Wall Street Math Doesn’t Add Up

Written on .

How familiar are you with Wall Street Math? The stock market lost -50 percent during the 2000-2002 Technology Bubble and lost -50 percent again during the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis, crushing American portfolios and dreams.

In 2008, the US economy lost an estimated 22 Trillion dollars! You lost so much because you didn’t know how much risk you were taking and don’t understand Wall Street Math.

Continue reading

The 3 Bucket Approach To Investing For Retirement

Written on .

When it comes to retirement, most retirees want less risk, smaller losses, to earn a reasonable rate of return, liquidity, and income that is guaranteed for life.

That’s why we created our 3 Bucket Approach, using multiple conservative asset strategies.

Continue reading

How Does “Indexing” Work In A Fixed Index Annuity?

Written on .

Wouldn’t you love to make money when the stock market goes up but never lose anything when the stock market goes down? You can!

A fixed index annuity bases your annual gains on a portion of an index you choose, such as the S&P 500 Index, without suffering any losses in the years your index goes down. If the stock market crashes you get zero percent, so you’re completely protected against market losses.

Continue reading

Are You Risking Your Retirement with These Two Investment Myths?

Written on .

successfully-retired-couple
Pervasive Misinformation Could Cost You in Retirement

In our many years working with clients, we have noticed a disturbing trend: most people are investing based upon two faulty premises, both of which are pervasive myths and neither of which are in an investor’s best interest:

  • The Myth of “Riding Out the Market”
  • The Myth of Getting a “10%+ Annual Return”

Have you heard these? Are you investing based upon them? If so, you’re not alone. However, we’re here to tell you that these myths are old-school and outdated, and they aren’t serving you as well as you may believe.

Continue reading