Buying a house after retirement can be a good or bad idea. Deciding if it's better to rent or buy a house after retirement requires careful planning. Q: I am a 66-year old single female. I currently rent a home for $875 per month (low for this area because I have been in this location [...]
Retiring by the time you turn 40 might sound impossible, but it most definitely can be done. With some careful retirement planning and creative savings strategies, you can begin your retirement while you are still young and spunky. Getting started on your retirement savings as soon as possible is most important. The longer you have [...]
Life insurance is one of those topics about which I often hear questions. Many people don’t quite understand why they need to pay for a life insurance policy—or they are afraid that they might eventually need to use one. Most of us want to insure that our partner and/or children are taken care of financially [...]
Should you use retirement funds to buy a house? Borrowing from a 401(k) to buy a house can be a bad move. More in today's Real Estate Minute. If you have to borrow money from your 401(k) or other retirement accounts to fund your down payment - don’t do it - it’s just not worth [...]
Thinking about paying off your second mortgage with a home equity loan? Make sure you don't pay more than nominal fees. Q: My first mortgage will be paid in full in a couple of weeks. My home is worth around $300,000. I have a second loan of less than $30,000 with an interest rate of [...]
I started my tax career in a national CPA firm a long time ago. What shocked me about filing taxes with this particular firm was that it was charging $250 to prepare a simple tax return. What’s the big deal? Back then, $250 got you a nice two-bedroom apartment. Today, that same apartment would run [...]
As people grow closer to retirement, they often start to rethink their living situations. The perfect city to raise a family isn’t always the perfect place to retire. Before you settle down for your golden years, consider some of these factors to help you decide where you should live in retirement. How will the weather affect [...]
The first quarter of the year is often when employers share information about your retirement account contributions. However, it’s a good idea to keep track of your contributions throughout the year. If your employee compensation package guarantees matching funds, then you’ll want to keep an eye on the numbers to make sure mistakes don’t slip through [...]
In 2013, the payroll tax holiday that lowered workers’ taxes by 2 percent came to an end. This effectively raised each individual’s payroll tax from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent. That might not sound like a lot, but employees have already found that the change takes a big chunk out of their paychecks. How much [...]
When wondering how to plan for the future financially, always remember to spend less than you earn and pay down your debt. Q: My wife and I have been married more than 30 years, but we don’t have any kids. In our adult lifetimes we have owned 11 homes in the United States and United [...]
