Trusted Expert Network.com

Overeating isn’t the only cause of acid indigestion during this start of the holiday season. The other reason is that investors are examining their year-end statements and seeing the dramatic decline in value in just the past twelve months. This is especially true of those with IRAs and it raises many questions. Should they change the asset allocations? Continue to make contributions? What about switching to a Roth IRA?

Many of my widowed and divorced clients have gone on to remarry later in life (maybe even for a third time). It’s wonderful that they’ve found happiness, but from an estate planning point of view, it can be a real challenge to make sure that love does conquer all. Given their later stages, re-marrieds come to the altar with an array of entanglements- children, grandchildren, property, businesses, assets, health  

403(b) UPDATE: The IRS recently announced that they had come up with a prototype of a 403(b) plan that will make it easier for plan administrators to comply with the IRS regulations governing these retirement plans. The prototype is intended to assure employers who adopt it that they will be in compliance with the  

In light of the recent headlines in Virginia and Alabama about their section 529 prepaid education plans not being able to give investors a guaranteed return to cover tuition costs, many questions about their viability as an ongoing program are going unanswered. Sadly, it does not appear that any assurances are forthcoming from even from the highest levels of state government. This is due to the fact that the states  

After the Bernie Madoff scandal broke, the real million dollar question was, how could anyone be so gullible to turn over their entire life savings to a man who they knew so little about? Naturally hindsight is 20/20, but the more important question is, in these tough times, how many of us are letting our guard down and setting ourselves up to be victimized, too?

According to the North American Securities Administrations Association, in just the first five months of 2009 alone, there has been a twenty percent jump in the number of investment scams offering outsized  

How you view this recent economic fallout has more to do with age than people suspect. My younger clients, even those dealing with job losses and high mortgage and tuition payments, have confidence in a market rebound. Though they are distressed about the big dent in their portfolios, time is on their side. It is my older, retired clients, who are struggling, not just because they may live on fixed incomes or fear outliving their money. This generation has ridden one of the longest financial waves in our country’s  

In the midst of all of the economic turmoil, everyone is scrambling to get advice. How can I protect my assets from further loss in a declining market? Can I still plan on retiring when I thought? Are there year-end tax strategies I should be considering?

Guaranteed income for life sounds like one of those grand prize for a contest that one person wins and everyone else dreams about. But there is an investment that offers such a thing, and under the right circumstances, it can be a winning strategy. It’s called an immediate fixed annuity, or income annuity, and it works like this: buy a one-time premium from an insurance company, and in return, get a guaranteed  

Back in the early nineties, I wrote a book called, RETIREMENT READY OR NOT: How to Get Financially Prepared in a Hurry (Career Press). At the time, the news was filled with reports of corporations folding, downsizing or merging, forcing employees all over the country to accept early retirement long before they expected.

This past Sunday I watched the “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Biden(below), and among the many interesting things he said was that the federal government would be committing $500 billion dollars to support green/energy projects. This could cover everything from solar tax credits to hybrid and electric cars, to windmills and battery technology to water, hydro power and thermal nuclear power to biofuels and  

In this volatile economic climate, the decision to invest in stocks vs. bonds feels like a good cop/bad cop routine. Which one do you trust? At the moment, bonds and bond funds do represent a good alternative to stocks, offering income, stability and less volatility, although they do have their own market fluctuations. Bonds and bond funds, known as fixed income investments, also have their own risk ratings and rates of return.

Here is a quick look at the major fixed income categories:

Multisector bond fund: This is a mutual fund that invests in a variety of bonds in one allocation, allowing the  

Most people understand the importance of writing a will and buying enough life insurance to protect family from serious financial hardship upon their death. But one of the most overlooked aspects of financial planning is naming the beneficiaries for ones overall assets and investments, and keeping that list current.

Recently we worked with a client who had named her husband as primary beneficiary on her IRA many years ago, but failed to update the account, even after he was admitted to a nursing home. Had we not recommended that she change the beneficiary to list her children, this would not have been on her radar  

Reverse mortgages are one of those financial strategies that have come full circle. When first introduced, they were highly touted as a viable solution to helping retirees stay in their homes while generating tax-free monthly income. Essentially, for the cost of a one-time origination fee, the homeowner would tap into their equity, stop making mortgage payments and create an income stream to supplement Social Security,  

With the decline of the financial markets, many workers between the ages of 50 and 65 are asking their financial advisors if they should rethink the start of their retirement. The answer, of course, is that it depends. But certainly the considerations that apply to most everyone would be that by holding off allows you to 1) wait until the financial recovery is underway and your investments start to return to their earlier values and 2) buy into the market at low prices and take advantage of any upswing, thereby making up for some of your losses.

Here are some other smart reasons to delay retirement in this economy:

For some family-owned businesses, the matter of succession is a non-issue. The future owners are already working for the company and the only question revolves around timing. But for others there is a quandary. Either family members express no desire to carry on the business or have different educational backgrounds or skill sets than you. But regardless of the circumstances, it remains critical to plan ahead to hand over the reins to someone.

A recent survey found that 39% of all family- owned businesses will change hands in the next several years either due to death or retirement. Yet it’s been our experience that less than half have done adequate