Tag: life transitions

How to Keep Your Relationship Healthy in Retirement

retirement
Six Tips for Keeping the Spark Alive During this Chapter of Life

When you and your partner have spent your whole lives working, it’s natural for retirement to change the dynamic of your relationship. Just as with the financial aspects of your retirement, it’s important to plan ahead to keep your relationship healthy in this phase of life, too. You might have a fantastic financial advisor and all the money in the world, but if you haven’t taken into consideration how retirement will impact your relationship – and vice versa – then you’re missing a crucial part of retirement planning.

Below we’ll share six retirement and relationship tips to help you fully enjoy this phase of life with your spouse or partner and thrive together in your dream retirement.

Continue reading

Ways to Reduce Your Household Expenses

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

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

Preparing Financially and Emotionally for Life’s Big Transitions

Do you remember the story about the grasshopper and the ant? The one where the grasshopper spends all day at play while the ant gathers food? Sometimes, we all need a reminder about how that story ends – with the ant prepared for a long winter and the grasshopper completely ill-equipped.

In this age of intense busyness, it’s easy to spend our time focusing on the day to day and ignoring the future, but this puts us at a disadvantage. Life has a habit of catching us off guard, and we would all do well to spend a bit more time like the wise ant did, preparing for a future transition we know is coming.

Research shows that 51% of Americans are stressed about their finances over the next few years.[i] If you count yourself among them, consider carving some time out of your hectic schedule to plan and prepare for your future. The advice shared below is meant to help you make this invaluable investment in order to provide financial and emotional peace of mind for you and your family.

Continue reading