Dream Retirement

So, the time for New Year's resolutions is here. Everybody is talking about New Year's resolutions.

Now, while most New Year's resolutions fail, I think it is important to always have goals and be striving for something at any point in time of our life and in different areas in our life.

The reason most goals fall is that we try to do too much. We're trying to, you know, maybe instead of trying to lose 20 pounds, we have to cut it back and do 5, but once you get 5 you can get 10, and once you get 10 you can get 15.

It's cutting it back into smaller chunks and really making it so that not only do we have a goal, but we have an attainable way to get there, and we also have to be prepared for setbacks along the way.

Do you know the 12 Days of Christmas actually starts on Christmas Day?

So really, we're still celebrating the Christmas season and with that thought, we want to roll out some special Christmas gifts to you and your family and friends.

We have recently partnered with a best-selling author, PBS host, Tom Hegna.

He was seen by millions of homes on his PBS special for years and he has written multiple books on retirement.

We are proud to partner with him on two new webinars created as a gift to you this Christmas season.

View the full blog here.

Hope. As I reflect on Christmas, and the meaning of Christmas, hope is a word that keeps resonating with me.

Maybe that's because there's a lot of areas in life right now that maybe feel hopeless or where we need help.

Check out this week's article to hear more 👇

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The countdown to Christmas has begun. Do you have your Christmas shopping done?   I know it's said that it's more blessed to give than to receive, but sometimes it feels challenging to figure out what gift is right.    Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. I cannot believe it. December is flying by!   While you might be thinking of a few year-end things you need to do financially, more than likely, shopping and getting ready for Christmas is what's on your mind.   So, I wanted to share today a few Christmas gift ideas that maybe you hadn't thought about, unique gifts for those hard-to-get people or ideas if you are tired of buying that are going to be put inside and not used.

See the full article here.

This week I thought we would take the time to talk about the three biggest misconceptions we, as financial advisors, see around long term care. Just because it’s in a trust does not mean it’s protected from long term care.

The biggest thing we want to reiterate as we close National Long Term Care Awareness money is that you can smartly protect yourself and, smartly self-insure with one of the win-win-win type policies.

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What's the best way for you to invest to get the harvest you want?

Maybe you are working and saving now to prepare for retirement in the future. You need to know what seeds to plant and how to care for them to bring you the retirement harvest to meet your needs.

Maybe you are almost at retirement and you're just trying to figure out how to make sure that your harvest is enough, that your retirement income is enough to be able to do what you want to do to have that.

Either way, you're probably looking for that financial security that you're going to have enough not just to survive, but you live your dreams!

View the full article here.

With the economic concerns, people want to make sure they have money available to them, and yet they’re being penalized by doing it. Really, they are losing money safely.

You may earn enough to buy a candy bar if that’s about it.

And all of those accounts, CDs, savings, and money markets, you’re also being taxed on anything you do earn. That may seem irrelevant because you’re not making much,  but when you add in that and you add in the inflation woes, the truth is you’re really losing money safely.

So if you have a CD or a money market or savings account, or a brokerage account that is trying to be very conservative and you are making less than 3%  then this is for you.

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Before I get into talking about the estate tax changes, I just want to take a minute and kind of define the term beneficiary.

Often when we think about a beneficiary, we just think about who’s going to get the money when we’re gone.

But if you really think about it, the meaning of beneficiary is who is benefiting from …

Who’s the beneficiary of what you have worked hard for and saved for?

Hopefully, the first beneficiary is you!

You’ve spent the time, the energy, the money, working in your career, or building a business, or running the farm. The point is, you’ve spent that time to build up what you have, and so the beneficiary of everything, first and foremost, should be you.

But if we continue that in that thought when we think about setting up beneficiaries.

Who do you want to benefit from your hard work, your sweat, and tears, your diligence and saving?

Personally, I want my kids to benefit from my work.  I also want the beneficiaries to also be my kids in Haiti. They’re benefiting from our hard work, not just mine, but other people that are donating to them.

So when you think of a beneficiary, it’s who’s benefiting from it and you, of course, should be the first beneficiary.

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You've probably already heard lots of talk about the $3.5 trillion spending bill being talked about in Washington right now, and you might have wondered how it's going to impact you.

There's a lot of risk in retirement for sure, and sometimes you're tricked into thinking you are safe or that something you're invested in is safe or protected when it's not.

You don't want to be tricked with your retirement.

Make sure that you are protected and that your retirement accounts are protected from all the risks that are out there.

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