A married couple pays a local attorney to draw up estate documents. The attorney drafts wills and lays out the well-conceived plan for testamentary trusts to be created upon death, distributing assets just as the husband and wife desire. The couple signs the documents with appropriate witnesses and goes home relieved that their estate plan is [...]
At various points in life, individuals begin to avoid roller coasters, back flips off the high dive, cartwheels, and full contact football. They take more frequent breaks in their weekly tennis game and aspire to completing a marathon rather than finish one in less than 3-hours. Instead of travelling to Spain to run with the [...]
On January 31, 1940, the first Social Security retirement check was mailed to Ida May Fuller, a legal secretary from Vermont who went to grammar school with Calvin Coolidge. 75 years after that first check, Social Security is an integral part of American culture. Roughly 2/3 of elderly beneficiaries rely on Social Security for more than half [...]
January 2010: A period that financial journalists dream about. We were ushering in the new year of 2010 and significant impending tax law changes provided a bevy of important topics that consumers needed help navigating. There was the elimination of federal estate and gift tax, the return of IRA required minimum distributions after a one-year [...]
In financial planning, the right answer to most seemingly simple questions is nearly always “it depends”. How much life insurance do I need? Should I contribute to a traditional 401k or a Roth 401k? Should I use a will or revocable trust for my estate? How much can I plan to safely distribute from my [...]
First time flyers on Southwest Airlines are easy to spot at the boarding gate. They’re notably confused, trying to figure out the purpose of the stainless steel posts with numbers on them and what they should do with the unusual B22 zone assignment on their boarding pass. Someone eventually helps them find their spot in line and [...]