Independent financial services Blog
Are There Penalties For Early 401(k) Withdrawals?
Generally speaking, 401(k) retirement accounts are designed to remain untouched until you have reached retirement age. You are not allowed to withdraw funds from your 401(k) account prior to the age of 59 ½ without being hit with significant...
Family Fun
The cost will only increase over time due to inflation, which is about 2% in a normal inflationary period. There are three areas that families can save that are rarely thought of: choosing low-cost family fun, planning ahead for the holidays and keeping birthdays simple.
Estate Planning Basics: Beneficiaries
There are many things you may need to learn if you are looking to start creating an effective estate plan. This will include aspects related to how to distribute your assets once you have passed away. You will also need to choose your preferred...
Don’t Inflate the Ego
Companies that can pass their rising costs onto their customers and this also applies to the industries that provide essential services. Some common examples are health care, materials, food and health care industries. This is why getting ahead of inflation is an important reason to invest in assets that offer potential growth.
How Does Life Insurance Work for Estate Planning?
Many people neglect considering life insurance as a part of their estate plan. Although each estate plan should be tailored to your specific circumstances, everybody should at least take life insurance into consideration. Obtaining life insurance...
Hang It on the Wall
With the average amount of student loan debt at $35,000 per student, this number will continue to rise with the rising cost of college tuition (averaging 6%-8% each year). College graduates have been faced with the scary scenario of paying back their student loans when they could have been saving for their dream house or saving more into their retirement plans.
When Should You Begin Planning Your Estate?
Estate planning often gets put off until later in life and many don’t start thinking about it until they are close to retirement age. Unfortunately waiting so long can limit your options and make it harder to manage your estate the way you would...
What is the Difference Between a Will and a Trust?
Wills and Trusts are both legal documents that let you designate your heirs and pass down assets to them, but they don't work the same way. There are important distinctions between a last will and a financial trust. Understanding the difference...
Pet Guardianship and Why You Need It
Pets can be one of the most joyful parts of your life. We all love and care for our animal companions and want the best for them but setting up pet guardianship is one thing a lot of pet owners neglect. Having a pet guardianship is one of the best...
Estate Planning for Married Couples
Getting married is one of the most joyful and exciting times in our lives, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its complications. Figuring out how to merge your households and assets is often one of the biggest challenges of marriage, and estate...
