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Claiming Social Security – Part II
In my most recent blog post, I gave a brief overview of the beginnings of Social Security and some factors that affect the decision of when to claim. The key factors that we explored were health, availability of other assets, spousal benefits, and risk tolerance, however, for those who are or have been married there…
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Secure Act 2.0
On March 29, 2022, the United States House of Representatives passed the Secure Act 2.0 with overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill expands on the retirement savings reforms that came with the original Secure Act of 2019. The Senate also has a similar bill working its way through the system with broad support. Of course, these…
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Do Stock Markets Fall when Interest Rates Rise?
1. On Wednesday March 16th, the Fed announced its long-expected rate liftoff, hiking by the expected 25bp and lifting the Fed Funds Target Rate lower bound off zero for the first time since early 2020. After the meeting, the updated Summary of Economic Projections saw the dot plot move higher, with 2022 now showing a…
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Five Questions About – Inflation, Interest Rates and Investing
Five Questions About – Inflation, Interest Rates and Investing The Federal Reserve just announced a 50 basis point hike – the second increase since mid-March. The move is designed to slow the rate of inflation which has continued to drive up the cost of goods and services in the U.S. The Fed has indicated that…
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Personal Identity Theft
Personal Identity Theft Cybersecurity can have many implications on consumers and ranking among the top is Identity Theft. The news covers the big hacks, involving ransomware, millions in damages, and huge numbers of affected records and systems. What isn’t talked about as much, is Personal Identity Theft. According to the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network, there…
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Claiming Social Security
Claiming Social Security Social Security started as a federal program during The Great Depression to provide an income base to retirees, to be used in conjunction with savings and pensions. The program has morphed overtime with the addition of disability benefits, spousal benefits, and survivor benefits. Combined with the decline in the number of funded…
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Thinking about Social Security Benefits as Retirement Capital
Have you ever thought about the investment value of your Social Security benefits? In a previous blog about having enough money in retirement, Associate Wealth Planner Danielle Parmenter discussed a relatively simple method to estimate how large an investment portfolio must be to support retirement expenses not covered by regular income sources. The outcome was…
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2021 Wealth Planning Considerations
We missed meeting with many of you in person, whether as clients or advisors of families we serve during this pandemic. When the weather was warmer, we were able to hold some outdoor in person meetings but alas, the Michigan winter has limited those opportunities. For those of you with whom we were able to…
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Welcome 2021 – A Message from President & CEO, Tracey Hornbeck
Looking back to this time last year, we were in the office preparing for in-person meetings, events and presentations. Little did we know what was ahead for us in 2020. What a year! The last 12 months have been full of surprises and opportunities. Through the trials, sadness and loss, we’ve also been able to…
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Comprehensive Retirement Planning – Capital Adequacy
For our purposes, Capital Adequacy is a very simple concept to understand: will I have enough money to meet my lifestyle expenses? On a smaller scale, you have been doing this math your entire working career. It is maybe what had stopped you from a lavish Caribbean vacation when you were a young family, living…