Perhaps you are familiar with an annuity. The basic premise is that you convert a lump sum of money into a stream of income. Unlike an investment, once you commit a fixed amount of money to the insurance company, that company is contractually obligated to provide you a minimum level of income with the option to continue receiving it as long as you live. All guarantees are backed by the financial strength of the issuing insurance company.
Read MoreThere are different formulas for launching highly successful companies. First, create a product that solves a problem that no one knew they had — for instance, how online search engines replaced encyclopedias. Then, there are ideas that help solve problems that plague millions of people.
Back pain, for example. Not only do approximately eight in 10 adults experience low-back pain at some point in their lifetime, but it’s also the most common cause of job-related disability.
One individual who suffered severe back pain while sitting at work all day decided to invent a new kind of desk. This desk would allow him to stand while he worked, alleviating his back pain. This man was a co-founder of VARIDESK, a new type of office furniture manufacturer. But this new company didn’t just enter the office supply industry; it introduced a new sales model that was key to its rampant success: Selling online direct to consumers.
Read MoreIn 1985, only 10 percent of people aged 65 and older were either in the workforce or job hunting. Today, that share has doubled, for a couple of reasons. First, fewer 65-year-olds have enough money to retire. Second, the number of people in this demographic with a college degree has more than doubled (53 percent today vs. 25 percent in 1985).
Read MoreFinancial literacy has always been a challenge. However, now that much of the burden of retirement income has shifted to employees instead of employers, it is all the more important that we begin teaching the principles of saving and investing to people as early as possible.
Read MoreWhen the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, the hope was companies would spend their influx of money on expansion and increased jobs and wages. Instead, public companies’ most popular way to spend the excess capital has been to buy back their own stock.
Read MoreMarch 9, 2019, marked the 10th anniversary of the current bull market, the longest-running in U.S. history. In that decade, the market more than quadrupled, and when you factor in dividends, it’s up fivefold.
The short-term spikes over the past few years coupled with corporate share buybacks have served to keep performance humming. As we move forward, a few points of note:
Read MoreWhen Lessie Brown, a 114-year-old woman from Ohio, passed away in January, her family attributed her longevity to the fact that she ate a sweet potato nearly every day until she was well past 100.
Read MoreAccording to new research from Genworth, one of the nation’s leading long-term care insurance companies, Americans are both entering caregiver roles and requiring care at younger ages.
Read MoreU.S. stock markets were enjoying an eighth consecutive year of a bull market until volatility toward the end of 2018 erased all of the past year’s gains.1 In times like this, as share prices continue to bounce back and forth on a day-to-day basis, investors close to or in retirement often transition to more conservative investments. One option is the municipal bond market.
Read MoreThirty years ago, developed markets were seen as much more stable than smaller, emerging countries. But as political division and uncertainty permeates the West, the differences have faded, and emerging markets (EM) have shed the high-risk perception that accompanied foreign investment.
Sound government situations, conservative monetary policy and lower levels of debt were once staples of developed markets, while EMs posed higher risks with regard to politics and central bank policies. EM countries have evolved, along with their institutions and policies, while populist politicians have gained prominence in the West by touting the benefits of isolationism and protectionism.1
Read MoreRecent Posts
The Three Stages of Retirement
The go-go, slow-go and no-go stages of retirement each have their own lifestyle needs and financial considerations. Today Jon and Karyn talk about how to plan for each, what your money likely will go for, and how to make sure you have enough of it when and where you need it.
The Biggest Retirement Myths – Debunked
There are eight big retirement beliefs that actually are not true, and they cover topics like Social Security, investing strategy, and even financial professionals in general. Today Jon discusses these areas and more that you should be aware of so that you and your retirement savings are not led down a primrose path.
Three Keys to Keeping More In Your Pocket
There are plenty of hidden costs for retirement accounts – fees, commissions, trading costs for mutual funds and other securities, and many others. Today Jon and Karyn talk about what these are, how they are buried or maybe not even listed on your statement, and how knowing what these are and how to work around them could save you a lot of money for your retirement.
Finding Neutral Ground on the Internet Rights Debate
It can be confusing when government bureaucrats and the media offer wildly different perspectives on the intent and ramifications of a new controversial policy. This was plainly evident in December regarding the issue of net neutrality.
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the new “Restoring Internet Freedom Order”1 is meant to:
- Reverse the previous “heavy-handed utility-style regulation of broadband internet access service, which imposed substantial costs on the entire internet ecosystem” in order to “protect consumers at far less cost to investment than the prior rigid and wide-ranging utility rules”
- Restore the “longstanding, bipartisan light-touch regulatory framework that has fostered rapid internet growth, openness and freedom for nearly 20 years”
- Restore “a favorable climate for network investment,” which is the “key to closing the digital divide, spurring competition and innovation that benefits consumers”2
How To Determine Your Definition of Financial Success
If we look at society and societal norms, a lot of weight is given to success when it comes to defining happiness. If we see a person who is successful, it is often assumed that they are happy. On an existential level we should consider what it all means. In reality, we actually have no idea whether or not that person is either happy or successful; for a couple of reasons: First of all, we can only measure someone else’s success or happiness by what we know about them. Secondly, and more importantly, we can only measure someone else’s success or happiness by how we define success and happiness. There is really no way of knowing whether their measures are even similar to our own.
It is on this concept that we are then able to shift our focus to identifying our own unique definition of success and happiness. Once we identify those things, then we can work on building a plan and setting the goals to achieve them.
When it comes to financial success, the same case can be made as above. Identifying what financial success is, is different for everyone. The following are considerations to make when developing your own unique financial success plan.