By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® In 1995, the Social Security Administration (SSA) began mailing out annual Social Security Statements to everyone age 25 and older. These statements were designed to help Americans plan for the future by providing a detailed record of their earnings and estimates of Social Security benefits. Last year, the SSA suspended mailing these statements because of budgetary concerns, but in March 2012, the SSA resumed mailing annual statements to workers age 60 and older. If you're age 60 or older, you should receive your statement every year, about three months before your birthday. The SSA is also resuming the mailing of one-time statements to workers who are age 25 to introduce them to Social Security programs and benefits.
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By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® When you invest for growth, you are typically seeking capital appreciation over the long term. You will likely choose investments that you believe will exhibit a faster-than-average increase in share price over the coming years. Growth stocks have the potential to outperform slower-growing investments, such as income stocks, because gains are generally reinvested in the company to achieve further growth rather than distributed to shareholders as a dividend.
By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® Perhaps you've seen ads for a new "over 55" luxury condominium development in your town. Or another winter of shoveling has finally convinced you that it's time to move to a warmer climate. You're looking forward to life in a retirement community, but with so many options, how do you choose the right one?
By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® While it is important to have a well thought out health strategy for health’s sake, it is also vitally important for protecting assets that maintain your retirement lifestyle and the lifestyle of your spouse that depends on those assets as well.
By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® No matter how many years you are from retirement, it's essential to have some kind of game plan in place for financing it. With today's longer life expectancy, retirement can last 25 years or more, and counting on Social Security or a company pension to cover all your retirement income needs isn't a strategy you really want to rely on. As you put a plan together, watch out for these common myths.
By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® As the surviving spouse, you have several filing choices that may be appropriate. You may be able to choose married filing jointly, married filing separately, qualifying widow(er), or head of household.
Married filing jointly: You can usually file a joint return for the year your spouse died. Generally, you'll have to file in cooperation with the executor or administrator of your spouse's estate. If you remarry before year-end, you cannot file a joint return with your deceased spouse for that year. By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® There was a time not that long ago that when the subject of retirement came up, we all pretty much had the same vision of what it would look like. We would work to about age 65, retire and live comfortably on our company or union pension, social security and whatever savings we had in the bank. It was similar for everyone.
By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® There's no doubt about it--going through a divorce can be an emotionally trying time. Ironing out a divorce settlement, attending various court hearings, and dealing with competing attorneys can all weigh heavily on the parties involved.
By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® The appeal of this combination policy lies in the fact that either you'll use the policy to pay for long-term care expenses or your beneficiaries will receive the insurance proceeds at your death.
By Roy Larsen, CFP®, AAMS® In some cases, investors choose to authorize a money manager to make the actual investing decisions for their portfolio rather than simply make recommendations. In such cases, it can be valuable to have a mechanism for making sure in advance that investor and manager are on the same page.
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AuthorRoy Larsen is a Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner and Fee Only Wealth Manager who resides outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Roy's Financial Blog contains articles on the multiple and complex issues of living successfully in Retirement. There are additional resources on our educational website, www.successfulretirementinstitute.com.
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