News

22
Feb

Financial Aid Awareness Month Tips and Ideas

February is Financial Aid Awareness Month. Its purpose is to provide important information to students and their families about financial aid. If you have children or grandchildren who plan to attain higher education after high school, now is the perfect time to increase your knowledge about the college funding process.

Read more

19
Feb

Retirement Plan Contribution Limits Increase in 2020

In November 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the cost of living adjustments for 2020 for most retirement savings plans. However, IRA contribution limits will stay the same. If you plan to make the maximum contributions to your retirement plan in 2020, here’s what you need to know:

Read more

15
Feb

Protect Your Loved Ones with Life Insurance

This Valentine’s Day, you owe it to yourself to show your loved ones just how much they mean to you. By investing in life insurance, you can protect your loved ones. At its core, life insurance helps protect your family from financial hardship in the event you unexpectedly pass away.

Read more

9
Feb

Dare to Dream: Your Success Depends on It

Dreaming and goal setting are interrelated; first, you dream about what you want, then you determine how to obtain it. Our dreams should help guide us to make the right choices at the right time and in the proper manner. But merely dreaming about something is not enough; we must set goals to achieve it. In psychology, goal setting refers to a successful plan of action that we set for ourselves.

Psychologist Frank L. Smoll, a Ph.D. and working psychologist at the University of Washington, emphasized through his studies the three essential features of goal-setting, which he calls the A-B-Cs of goals. Smoll said that effective goals are:

Read more

8
Feb

How the New President May Affect Your Finances

In honor of President’s Day on February 15th, it may be a good idea to discuss with your financial professional how our new president, Joe Biden, may affect your finances, taxes, and retirement. Meeting with your financial professional will enable you to prepare accordingly for the next four years and beyond. Here’s a brief overview of what Biden has in store for his upcoming term:

Read more

1
Feb

Hobbies and Your Health

According to Wikipedia, “A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one’s leisure time, not professionally and not for pay. Hobbies can include collecting items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements.”

Read more

25
Jan

10 Financial Moves for 2021 to Do Now

Happy New Year! The start of a new year is a great time to make financial moves that benefit your life in 2021 and beyond. Let’s get started. Starting the New Year with these 15 tasks in process or completed can make a financial difference to you and others:

Read more

18
Jan

Financial Wellness- How Do You score?

If you do a Google search for financial wellness, you will find many definitions or explanations. Financial wellness doesn’t have just one meaning because it means something different to each person. Financial wellness is a broad term that encompasses these key areas:

Read more

11
Jan

Smart Tax Planning for 2021 & Beyond: What You Need to Know.

The IRS released its breakdown of marginal tax rates for 2021 in December 2020. Consistent with the previous year’s notifications, tax rates adjust almost yearly basing on inflation. Check out these smart tax planning tips.

Read more

4
Jan

What You Need to Know: 2021 Social Security Benefit Changes.

The Social Security Administration has again approved a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the Social Security benefit starting in January 2021. The increase of 1.3 percent is calculated based on the year-over-year rate of inflation and will increase the average American worker’s benefit by about $20 per month.

Read more