Author- Sandra Cleveland

You've done a great job of saving for your child's college education with a 529 plan.  You’ve made contributions and kept an eye on the account’s growth over the years, and now you’re ready to start withdrawing funds.  You have questions!  Here are the answer to the questions most frequently asked by parents as they prepare to withdraw funds from the pla

We are getting to the moment of truth on the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which took effect for the tax year 2018.  As the first tax returns reflecting the new tax rules are being filed now, we will all soon find out how it impacts us.

Retirement is changing!  As a matter of fact, many people currently facing retirement don’t think of this phase as retiring, but more of a midlife reinvention.  Baby boomers are currently in this hot seat.    

According to a new report, The Financial Journey of Modern Parenting: Joy, Complexity and Sacrifice, many parents see their children’s adult years as the most expensive stage of parenting.  This may sound shocking when you think about the childhood years of babysitters, braces, dance lessons and sports that contribute to the average cost of raising a child to age 18 at more than $230

What type of person are you?

You may have read that women are far more likely to face poverty in retirement than their male counterparts—but you may not realize just how big the disparity is.  In fact, women are 80% more likely to fall into poverty toward the end of their lives, compared to men, according to a 2016 study by the National Institute on Retirement Security. 

Many seniors who are looking for ways to improve their finances in retirement want to learn more about reverse mortgages.  These are not a typical part of our clients’ financial plans; however, we were asked about these recently by a young client who was concerned about her grandparents, whose assets had dwindled down to a primary residence. 

Many couples, especially in two-income families, keep at least some of their earnings separate.  This can make it challenging to reach a place where both spouses have a complete grasp of their monthly income and expenses.  If this is true for you, then as you are approaching retirement is a critical time to sit down with your spouse and make sure you both have a thorough understanding

Most aging Americans agree that the best place to spend your latter years is in your own home.  In a recent AARP survey, 85% of respondents said, "What I would really like to do is stay in my current residence and local community as long as possible."  This is known as “aging in place.”

When people talk about retirement planning, they generally mean “planning” in the financial sense.  That kind of planning is a big job, and it’s not uncommon for couples to leave their focus there and neglect to plan for what they want day-to-day life to be like during retirement.