Before you make any extra mortgage payments, consider some factors. Should you pay off your home and own it free and clear before you retire? At first glance, the answer would seem to be “absolutely, if at all possible.” Retiring with less debt … isn’t that a good thing? Why not make a few extra [...]

Useful savings plans for the smallest businesses. Do you own a small business with a few employees? Are you self-employed? In either case, the SEP IRA may be the ideal low-cost, easily administered retirement savings plan for you. This is a simple pension plan using a traditional IRA. (SEP stands for Simplified Employee Pension.) It [...]

Many people underestimate lifestyle costs, medical expenses and inflation. What is enough? What is not enough? If you’re considering retiring in the near future, you’ve probably heard or read that you need about 70% of your end salary to live comfortably in retirement. This estimate is frequently repeated, but that doesn’t mean it’s true for [...]

While the idea of retirement has changed, certain financial assumptions haven’t. We’ve all heard about the “new retirement”, the mix of work and play that many of us assume we will have in our lives one day. We do not expect “retirement” to be all leisure. While this is becoming a cultural assumption among baby [...]

A little “delayed gratification” may help you retire more comfortably. Baby boomers are known for wanting more out of life – and for living life on their own terms. They also get a bad rap as a generation weaned on instant gratification – wanting it all now, wanting to have it both ways. It is [...]