INSIGHTS
ESTATE
Effective estate management enables you to manage your affairs during your lifetime and control the distribution of your wealth after death. An effective estate strategy can spell out your healthcare wishes and ensure that they're carried out – even if you are unable to communicate. It can even designate someone to manage your financial affairs should you be unable to do so.
Estate Management 101
Exit Strategies of the Rich and Famous
Estate conservation is too important to put off. Do you have a smart exit strategy?
INSURANCE
Insurance transfers the financial risk of life's events to an insurance company. A sound insurance strategy can help protect your family from the financial consequences of those events. A strategy can include personal insurance, liability insurance, and life insurance.
Extended Care:
A Patchwork of Possibilities
What is your plan for health care during retirement?
A well-structured insurance strategy can help protect your loved ones from the financial consequences of unexpected events.
LIFESTYLE
Creating a life map involves a close review of personal finances and an assessment of other building blocks. Lifestyle matters look at how to balance work and leisure, how to make smart choices for the future, and many other items in an effort to help an individual “enjoy the journey.”
To Buy or Not to Buy
The decision whether to buy or rent a home may have long-term implications.
How to strike a balance between work and leisure is just one aspect of the wide-ranging Lifestyle matters.
INVESTMENT
Investing should be easy – just buy low and sell high – but most of us have trouble following that simple advice. There are principles and strategies that may enable you to put together an investment portfolio that reflects your risk tolerance, time horizon, and goals. Understanding these principles and strategies can help you avoid some of the pitfalls that snare some investors.
The Cycle of Investing
Understanding the cycle of investing may help you avoid easy pitfalls.
Create an investment strategy that’s designed to pursue your risk tolerance, time horizon, and goals.
RETIREMENT
Where will your retirement money come from? If you’re like most people, qualified-retirement plans, Social Security, and personal savings and investments are expected to play a role. Once you have estimated the amount of money you may need for retirement, a sound approach involves taking a close look at your potential retirement-income sources.
Dreaming Up an Active Retirement
When you retire, how will you treat your next chapter?
Steps to consider so you can potentially accumulate the money you'll need to pursue the retirement activities you want.
MONEY
One of the keys to a sound financial strategy is spending less than you take in, and then finding a way to put your excess to work. A money management approach involves creating budgets to understand and make decisions about where your money is going. It also involves knowing where you may be able to put your excess cash to work.
Saving for College 101
Here’s a crash course on saving for college.
Managing your money involves more than simply making and following a budget.
TAX
Understanding tax strategies and managing your tax bill should be part of any sound financial approach. Some taxes can be deferred, and others can be managed through tax-efficient investing. With careful and consistent preparation, you may be able to manage the impact of taxes on your financial efforts.
Making Your Tax Bracket Work
Have you explored all your options when it comes to managing your taxable income?
Understanding tax strategies can potentially help you better manage your overall tax situation.