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Financial Planning
Advisory Services
Benefits of Working with a Professional Financial Advisor: The world has become a more complex place, especially when it comes to your finances. If you would like a comprehensive financial plan to help you secure your future, you may benefit by using the expertise of one of our financial advisors. Even if you feel competent enough to develop a plan of your own, a financial advisor can act as a sounding board for your ideas and help you focus on your goals, using his or her broad knowledge of areas such as estate planning and investments. Specifically, a financial advisor may help you... Read more...
Getting Started: Establishing a Financial Safety Net: In times of crisis, you don't want to be shaking pennies out of a piggy bank. Having a financial safety net in place can ensure that you're protected when a financial emergency arises. One way to accomplish this is by setting up a cash reserve, a pool of readily available funds that can help you meet emergency or highly urgent short-term needs. Read more...
Roth IRA's & Traditional IRA's
Understanding IRAs An individual retirement arrangement (IRA) is a personal savings plan that offers specific tax benefits. IRAs are one of the most powerful retirement savings tools available to you. Even if you're contributing to a 401(k) or other plan at work, you should also consider investing in an IRA. Read more...
401 (k) Plans and 401 (k) Rollovers
What is a 401(k) plan? A 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan that offers significant tax benefits. You contribute to the plan via payroll deduction, which can make it easier for you to save for retirement. Perhaps the most important feature of a 401(k) plan is your ability to make pretax contributions to the plan. Pretax means that your contributions are deducted from your pay, and transferred to the 401(k) plan, before federal (and most state) income taxes are calculated. This reduces your current taxable income. You don't pay income taxes on the amount you contribute--or any investment gains on your contributions--until you receive payments from the plan. Read more...
Understanding Individual 401 (k) Plans: An individual 401(k) plan is a regular 401(k) plan combined with a profit-sharing plan. However, unlike a regular 401(k) plan, an individual 401(k) plan can be implemented only by self-employed individuals or small business owners who have no other full-time employees (an exception applies if your full-time employee is your spouse). If you have full-time employees age 21 or older (other than your spouse) or part-time employees who work more than 1,000 hours a year, you will typically have to include them in any plan you set up, so adopting an individual 401(k) plan will not be a viable option. Read more...
Borrowing or Withdrawing Money from Your 401(k) Plan: If you have a 401(k) plan at work and need some cash, you might be tempted to borrow or withdraw money from it. But keep in mind that the purpose of a 401(k) is to save for retirement. Take money out of it now, and you'll risk running out of money during retirement. You may also face stiff tax consequences and penalties for withdrawing money before age 59½. Still, if you're facing a financial emergency--for instance, your child's college tuition is almost due and your 401(k) is your only source of available funds--borrowing or withdrawing money from your 401(k) may be your only option. Read more...
College Savings Plans
Can I Afford to Send My Child to College? Being able to send your child to college is near the top of the wish list for most parents. A college education can open doors to many opportunities, and is increasingly necessary in today's economy. But that diploma doesn't come cheap. Unless you are very well off financially, it's difficult to sit on the sidelines for years and then suddenly find the money to pay for college when your child is ready to go. The best thing to do is to start saving as early as possible, even if you're able to save only a small amount at first. Read more...
Choosing a College Savings Plan. If you're interested in joining a college savings plan, you should consider all of your options. Compare the plans offered by different states in terms of flexibility, tax considerations, investment selection, contribution rules, and costs and fees. Any state that offers a 529 plan can provide you with a free packet of information that describes the program and its rules. You can also check out a plan's website. Read more...
College Savings Plans vs. Prepaid Tuition Plans Section 529 plans are popular college savings vehicles. Due to the demand for them, nearly every state now operates at least one type of 529 plan (either a prepaid tuition plan or a college savings plan), and an increasing number are offering both. To choose the type of 529 plan that's right for you, it's important to understand how prepaid tuition plans and college savings plans work and the differences between them. Read more...
529 Plans
The ABCs of 529 Plans If you're already saving for college, you've probably heard about 529 plans. 529 plans are revolutionizing the way parents and grandparents save for college, similar to the way 401(k) plans revolutionized retirement savings. Americans are pouring billions of dollars into 529 plans, and contributions are expected to increase dramatically in the coming decade. Where did these plans come from, and what makes them so attractive? Read more...
Estate Planning and 529 Plans When you contribute to a 529 plan, you'll not only help your child, grandchild, or other loved one pay for college, but you'll also remove money from your taxable estate. This will help you minimize your tax liability and preserve more of your estate for your loved ones after you die. So, if you're thinking about contributing money to a 529 plan, it pays to understand the gift and estate tax rules. Read more...
Income Tax Planning and 529 Plans The income tax benefits offered by 529 plans make these plans attractive to parents (and others) interested in saving for college. Qualified withdrawals from a 529 plan are tax free at the federal level, and some states also offer tax breaks to their residents. It's important to evaluate the federal and state tax consequences of plan withdrawals and contributions before you invest in a 529 plan. Read more...
Small Business Retirement Plans
Retirement Plans: As a business owner, you should carefully consider the advantages of establishing an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Generally, you're allowed a deduction for contributions you make to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. In return, however, you're required to include certain employees in the plan, and to give a portion of the contributions you make to those participating employees. Nevertheless, a retirement plan can provide you with a tax-advantaged method to save funds for your own retirement, while providing your employees with a powerful and appreciated benefit. Read more...
Fixed and Variable Annuities
Fixed vs. Variable Annuities: Annuity products have grown more sophisticated over the years to meet the demands of today's more sophisticated investors. Just as mutual funds grew in popularity as an alternative to certificates of deposit, the variable annuity was developed as an alternative to the fixed annuity. Variable annuities offer potentially higher returns than fixed annuities. Of course, there is a risk of loss as well. So, deciding which annuity product to invest in often comes down to deciding how much risk you are willing to take. Read more...
Annuities: Traps for the Unwary: Annuities are fairly straightforward products as far as taxation is concerned. To the extent that a distribution is considered a return of your investment in the contract, no income tax is due; to the extent that a distribution is considered earnings, income tax is due (ordinary, not capital gains). In addition, a distribution taken before age 59½ is subject to a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty tax on the earnings. Read more...
Mutual Funds
Understanding Mutual Fund Share Classes: When investing in a mutual fund, you may have the opportunity to choose among several share classes, most commonly Class A, Class B, and Class C. The differences among these share classes typically revolve around how much you will be charged for buying the fund, when you will pay any sales charges that apply, and the amount you will pay in annual fees and expenses. This multi-class structure offers you the opportunity to select a share class that is best suited to your investment goals. Read more...
Life and Disability Insurance
Life Insurance: Do You Need It?: At some point in your life, you'll probably be faced with the question of whether you need life insurance. Life insurance is a way to protect your loved ones financially after you die and your income stops. The answer to whether you need life insurance depends on your personal and financial circumstances. Read more...
How Much Disability Income Insurance Should You Have?: The amount of individual disability income insurance you should buy depends on three things: how much income you'll need if you become disabled, how much money you can afford to spend on premiums, and how much insurance you'll be able to purchase under the insurance company's guidelines. Read more...
Asset Management and Retirement Planning
Estate Planning: An Introduction: By definition, estate planning is a process designed to help you manage and preserve your assets while you are alive, and to conserve and control their distribution after your death according to your goals and objectives. But what estate planning means to you specifically depends on who you are. Your age, health, wealth, lifestyle, life stage, goals, and many other factors determine your particular estate planning needs. Read more...
Estimating Your Retirement Income Needs: You know how important it is to plan for your retirement, but where do you begin? One of your first steps should be to estimate how much income you'll need to fund your retirement. That's not as easy as it sounds, because retirement planning is not an exact science. Your specific needs depend on your goals and many other factors. Read more...
Wealth Accumulation and Protection
Six Keys to More Successful Investing: A successful investor maximizes gain and minimizes loss. Here are six basic principles that may help you invest more successfully. Read more...