Weekly Roundup

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Goal Planning App

app

Sometimes, the hardest part of planning your retirement is figuring out what YOU want to do. It is a whole new chapter in your life and setting goals for yourself can be a major help and also a major pain in neck. Retirement Goal Planning System is an app (available only on iPad) that takes you through a simple but effective process to help you determine what is most important to you!

http://blogs.wsj.com/totalreturn/2015/05/22/a-web-tool-to-refine-your-retirement-priorities/

A New Look at Retirement Planning

Retirement

Retirement planning for previous generations usually was strictly planning out your finances. However, in this day and age people are starting to plan much more than just their finances, they’re planning out their lives. Finding something you love doing that could provide a little (or even a lot!) income during or while approaching your retirement years could reward you in many ways. Don’t just make a plan for your retirement, make a plan for your life.

http://investorplace.com/2015/05/love-different-approach-retirement-planning/#.VWiJQs9Viko

Benefits Remain for Federal Workers

crutches

Democratic committee members voted down a proposal by the U.S. Department of Labor that would result in a significant loss of benefits for injured federal workers. The plan would have cut roughly 500 million dollars from injured workers and their families. This is the third time in five years that the DOL has proposed such a plan.

http://ehstoday.com/health/democrats-reject-proposal-cut-benefits-injured-federal-workers

How to Avoid 5 Costly Mistakes With Your TSP

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Tune into our live Webinar on Tuesday, June 16th

TSP is the largest defined contribution retirement savings plan in the world. There are over 510 billion in assets. You have a wide range of investments and best of all, the fee is ridiculously low at .028%. But there are some common mistakes that are often made that can cost you thousands of dollars and some are irreversible, but these can be avoided if you have the knowledge. Tune in to avoid these mistakes! Read more

A Family Mother’s Day

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Every year for Mother’s Day, fathers all around the country round up the kids and take them to the park or out to the movies and give mom the day home alone to relax. While this can be amazing (and hard to come by) for any mother, maybe this is the year to try something different. After all, Mother’s Day is about celebrating being a mother, right? Here’s a few activities that can be done with the whole family, really encompassing the spirit of Mother’s Day, bringing the family together, yet still providing Mom with those valued moments of peace.

  1. Family Picnic

I know this seems a bit cliché but bear with me. After the tough Winter we just had, the entire family should be dying for a day out in the spring time air together. Whether you’re a master chef or you can barely make dinner, every father should be able to rustle up a few hoagies, some chips, and some beverages to make a solid picnic. Bring a couple yard games for some fun with everyone with a while. Then, take the kids for a walk for an hour to leave mom with her favorite book, magazine, or just the outdoors to get that relaxation that we all know she desperately needs.

  1. Family Movie, Mom’s pick

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Spring Cleaning Time

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Spring is finally here! You know that what means…Spring Cleaning! Some people love it, some hate it, but either way it is a great way to say “out with the old and in with the new.” Spring Cleaning is basically just trimming away the excess, updating, and even evolving. It’s a great idea to do this with many areas of your life, not just your home. Here are the three simple steps to spring into action and Spring Clean anything you want…especially your finances!

The Three “R”s

1. Review

The first step to any good plan is kind of self-explanatory…make a plan! For a home you want to look around at everything you have and decide what can be kept, what needs to be fixed, and what just needs to be thrown away. Your finances work the same way. Review your accounts. Some people do this on a regular basis and have spreadsheets they update weekly.  Others, and you know who you are, have scattered pieces all over. Now is a good time to do this since you should have gotten first quarter statements on any investment accounts, and can also go online.  I recommend segregating by type of account: non-qualified personal or joint account, IRA, Roth IRA, retirement plan (401k, TSP, 403b, etc.), inherited IRA, and trust accounts.  List each account by type and then by asset.  Do you have an emergency savings account?  Rule of thumb is to have 6 months of your salary available in a safe liquid account.  If you have significantly more, especially in this low interest rate environment, consider other alternatives.  Alternatives need to be matched with your comfort level and timeframe.  For example if you want safety and liquidity, don’t lock up your funds in a single 10 year annuity.  Conversely, if you need liquidity but are adverse to risk, mutual funds or a brokerage account of stocks, would also not be a good match.  A fiduciary financial advisor can help you explore and evaluate investment options. Read more

March Madness – Final Four Tax Tips!

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March Madness is here! The NCAA college basketball tournament is the second largest grossing sports event in America, slightly behind the Super Bowl. Though the tournament is set to begin on Tuesday March 17th, the real March Madness has already begun: tax preparation and planning!

Proactive tax planning means more than completing your tax return by April 15th. As our country tackles it’s massive debt and entitlement program obligations, additional taxes, including tax on retirement accounts, college saving accounts and the so called “Fair Share Taxes” leads for concern about where taxes will be 10, 15, or 20 years from now. Today we have choices: (1) we can choose to ignore the pending threat of higher taxes, and cross our fingers that they do not go up, or (2) we can implement some strategies to insulate and buffer ourselves against higher taxes. It’s time to lace up your shoes, get on the courts, and win yourself a financially secure future. Remember, we also still have a free TV to give away: just let us know what you are doing today to add more tax efficiency and shelter yourself from higher taxes, and you’ll be entered in the raffle. To help you with the process here’s our Final Four Tips!

rising taxes.

  1. Create a financial plan

Working with a professional to get an overall financial plan done can help to identify opportunities for more tax efficiency. Some people like to do things on their own, and that is perfectly okay, but the value that a financial professional can bring cannot be overlooked. There are many things that can be accomplished through hard work and learning from your mistakes but your finances should not be one of them. Read more