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YOUR ROTH IRA CAN GROW, BUT NOT FOREVER

YOUR ROTH IRA CAN GROW, BUT NOT FOREVER

If you have a Roth IRA, you know the benefits of this account. You can take distributions from it over your lifetime without paying any tax on the interest accumulated as long the distributions are considered to be “qualified.” This means that you must have had your Roth IRA for at least five years and be at least age 59 ½ when you begin to take distributions. But you also are not required to take money from the account which means you do not have to start taking required

10 REASONS I LOVE LIFE INSURANCE

10 REASONS I LOVE LIFE INSURANCE

I was standing on the soccer sidelines the other evening talking to my fellow soccer moms about how well a child we all knew was adjusting to the loss of her mother a year ago. It was a horrible conversation that made us all feel uncomfortable and incredibly sad. I hate being sad. I hate thinking about sad horrible things. I avoid them at all costs. I do. Source: NLG So what I started thinking about was what makes me feel better. I wasn’t thinking that I might die one d

THERE’S NO SECOND HOME, BUT THIS FEELS LIKE A SECOND MORTGAGE

THERE’S NO SECOND HOME, BUT THIS FEELS LIKE A SECOND MORTGAGE

My son just started daycare. We were incredibly fortunate to have my mother-in-law watch Mason for the first year of his life. There are so many advantages to this: lots of love, one-on-one care, flexibility and undivided attention. But let’s be honest, one of the biggest benefits was the moolah I didn’t have to dish out over the past 12 months. Source: NLG And then he turned one and our hourglass ran up. My husband and I had decided that M would start daycare after the candl

A TRUE HERO

A TRUE HERO

While growing up I had many heroes not unlike most kids back then or today. Those heroes took the form of many athletes. I remember emulating Boston Red Sox players like Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk and Carl Yastrzemski while playing whiffle ball with the neighborhood kids. Other heroes included, Walter Payton and Earl Campbell, my heroes on the gridiron. I never really thought of my dad as a hero because, you know, he was my dad. Source: NLG Since my childhood I have done many

DO WHAT’S RIGHT

DO WHAT’S RIGHT

Do you make sure your child wears a helmet while riding a bicycle? Do you insist they look both ways before crossing the road or tell them not to get in a car with a stranger? Do you put them in a car seat? These are all things you do to protect your child. You do what’s right. Do you have life insurance on your child? Source: NLG It’s not anything you want to think or talk about. It’s not anything I wanted to think about either. I had to change my thought process. I co

SMARTPHONE – SMART LIFE: TIPS FROM A WORKING MOM

SMARTPHONE – SMART LIFE: TIPS FROM A WORKING MOM

It’s 10:00 pm and as I go to sit down for the first time today, I realize I forgot to call the orthodontist, forgot to schedule a strategy meeting for work, need to update my homeowner’s insurance for the deck we built and still need to write a check for school lunches. I’ve been up for 15 hours and like all working moms, I am having flashbacks of things forgotten and not done. Tomorrow it starts all over again but with soccer practice from 6-8:30, hopefully something hot fo

LIVING WILLS – HOW OLD – OR HOW YOUNG SHOULD I BE?

LIVING WILLS – HOW OLD – OR HOW YOUNG SHOULD I BE?

Ok – I know you don’t want to think about this. Life is good. Maybe you’re in your 20s or 30s, healthy and feel that nothing could ever happen to you. Maybe you’re in your 40s or 50s and feel you’re too busy taking care of business and enjoying your family to spend time with an attorney to have documents drafted. Maybe you’re a little older and thinking about your retirement savings and not whether or not you want someone to pull the plug! Source: NLG I understand. But e

TAKING EDUCATION ON THE ROAD FOR THE SUMMER

TAKING EDUCATION ON THE ROAD FOR THE SUMMER

Nothing spells summer like bbqs, baseball, pool parties . . . and kids who forget how to, well, spell. Source: NLG It’s a problem every teacher and parent is faced with this time of year: how to avoid the dreaded backslide in academic skills over the next three months. And for many parents, the idea of constructing lesson plans for the summer is nothing short of debilitating. My husband and I aren’t there yet with Baby M but I watch so many of my parent friends go through i

10 LESSONS FROM A DIVORCE SURVIVOR

10 LESSONS FROM A DIVORCE SURVIVOR

D-I-V-O-R-C-E: When Your Life Becomes a Country Song Tammy Wynette’s classic D-I-V-O-R-C-E ballad was released in 1968, and captured a moment in American culture when the fault-lines in the institution of marriage became part of the national conversation. It was a seminal song that it many ways defined the heartache of divorce. Source: NLG when my parents divorced in 1972. It was like I woke up and found myself in the middle of a country song. And just like little J-O-E i

CREATE A LARGER LEGACY USING REQUIRED MINIMUM DISTRIBUTIONS

CREATE A LARGER LEGACY USING REQUIRED MINIMUM DISTRIBUTIONS

Are you facing the situation where you have to start taking required minimum distributions from your qualified accounts but you don’t need the income for retirement? If this is the case, congratulations to you. You planned and saved well. And now you are faced with a financially comfortable retirement. But as age 70 ½ comes closer, you know the Internal Revenue Service is going to require you to start taking distributions from your qualified accounts, whether you need the

SECRETS OF A FORMER FINANCIAL ADVISOR… “IT TAKES INTEGRITY TO BUY LIFE INSURANCE”

SECRETS OF A FORMER FINANCIAL ADVISOR… “IT TAKES INTEGRITY TO BUY LIFE INSURANCE”

I was walking the grizzled life insurance veteran back to his room after he spoke to our group of advisors at an education day. On the way, he says to me, “You know, no one needs to buy life insurance.” I think it was intended to shock a green advisor. It had the desired effect. He went on, “You don’t need life insurance to buy a car, or get a mortgage. If you never buy life insurance, it probably won’t affect your own life.” Pause. “It takes integrity to buy life insur

10 FUN THINGS TO DO IN RETIREMENT

10 FUN THINGS TO DO IN RETIREMENT

You’ve spent decades in the workforce saving and planning for this day. Congratulations! You did it! But now what? After years of being productive, the novelty of relaxation, recreation and rest can get a bit dull. Here are 10 ideas to keep your retirement exciting: Source: NLG Travel. Really travel. Now that you’re retired you’re not confined by vacations days, CTO or PTO, pick the places you’ve always wanted to explore and really go there. Spend a month, 6 months or

BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

Many companies are concerned about their brand and for good reason. What people think of a company and its brand can catapult it to new heights or take it to disappointing lows. Consider Apple; when it releases a new product, people camp out to be the first to get it. This is because Apple created an experience, not a product. They don’t think an iPhone is just a phone, it’s a way to connect with the people they care about. Source: NLG Just like companies have brands, so do w

WHEN IT COMES TO BUYING A CAR, ARE YOU FINANCIALLY LITERATE?

WHEN IT COMES TO BUYING A CAR, ARE YOU FINANCIALLY LITERATE?

Buying a car is as appealing to me as getting a root canal. Turns out, I am not alone. Here is a story that my colleague Gordon shared with me about his recent car buying experience and what he wants everyone to know before they set foot in a dealership. Thank you, Gordon. Source: NLG Like most people who are considering buying a new car, I try to do my homework. With my last purchase I studied the Consumer Reports car guide, assessed my needs and after a lot of discussion w

5 STEPS TOWARDS A WEALTHIER FUTURE

5 STEPS TOWARDS A WEALTHIER FUTURE

At age 22, I had just graduated from college and was about to embark on my grown-up life. I had a grand plan for how my future would unfold, and I thought I had everything figured out. It’s one of those age old mistakes that young people make—we head out into the world armed with the knowledge that we have, completely oblivious to all that we don’t know and all that we will learn, earn and experience along the way. If there is one lesson that rings true and always bears re

10 LESSONS FROM A NEW MOM–STAYING SANE IN YOUR NEW NORMAL

10 LESSONS FROM A NEW MOM–STAYING SANE IN YOUR NEW NORMAL

As a mom who works outside of the home, I learned early on the importance of a few key items to help me stay sane, balanced and allow me to focus on what’s truly important. A year and a half into parenthood, I finally managed to find time to write this. Source: NLG Here are 10 lessons that I have learned so far from my adventures in parenthood. Have a parenting circle of friends—Fellow moms and dads, extended family, babysitting co-op anyone? As a new parent I find it extrem

PREPARE FOR THE UNEXPECTED: MY CAUTIONARY TALE

PREPARE FOR THE UNEXPECTED: MY CAUTIONARY TALE

They say life is what happens when you’re busy making plans. It’s easy to look back and wish we had slowed down for a moment and taken more time to plan. But hindsight is 20/20. Here are a few lessons I’d like to share from my own experience. Source: NLG In 1989 I met my husband and we were married in 1995. One month before we were married my husband had a complete physical and was deemed in tip-top shape. He was a smoker but was fit as a fiddle. At this time I had alread

WOMEN, WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE TO LOOK LIKE?

WOMEN, WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE TO LOOK LIKE?

I am a really girly girl. Sugar and spice and everything nice– I’m that cliché. My favorite color is pink. I love shopping for beautiful clothes and I love admiring my collection of cute shoes almost as much as I love wearing them! I love and embrace all aspects of my femininity, which is necessary since my household is filled with rugged and manly-men. Source: NLG However, there are some areas of my life where I do not embody stereotypical feminine behavior, and savings a

I’M A MILLENNIAL AND I HAVEN’T SAVED FOR RETIREMENT

I’M A MILLENNIAL AND I HAVEN’T SAVED FOR RETIREMENT

My name is Haley, I’m a millennial and I’m about to start my third (and last!) year of law school. Like many people, my life is full of deadlines, time with friends, thoughts of student loans and plans for the future. My impending graduation means that I’m also getting ready for my first permanent, full-time job (aka my induction into full adulthood). As with all big life changes, I have a lot to think about—and a lot to worry about. Source: NLG I can get an impressive amount

SECRETS OF A FORMER FINANCIAL ADVISOR: THE MONKEY TRAP

SECRETS OF A FORMER FINANCIAL ADVISOR: THE MONKEY TRAP

The nature documentary footage shows a bare circle of earth surrounded by lush grasses, trees and brush. A monkey cautiously approaches the circle, where a coconut is tied by a rope to a stake in the center of the circle. A calm, semi-amused British voice explains that the coconut has a hole in it, just a little larger than the monkey’s hand and is filled with rice. The monkey picks up the coconut and shoves his hand in to grab the rice. However, when he goes to pull his

US National Debt Clock : Real Time

Charting America’s Debt: $28 Trillion and Counting. Failing to plan is planning to fail!