- A Guide to Small Business Retirement Plans
Running a small business or being self-employed can offer flexibility, freedom and control over your earning potential. While the perks are plentiful, there’s one thing that’s usually missing when you own a small business: an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Self-employed people don’t… read more…
- What Is a Certified IRA Services Professional (CISP)?
An individual retirement account (IRA) can be the foundation of a great retirement plan. However, it takes a skilled financial planner to match a client up with the right IRA for their retirement. The Certified IRA Services Professional (CISP) designation… read more…
- What Is a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS)?
How do businesses and employees learn to trust the person running their retirement plan? Having a specialized certification from one of the top business schools in the nation doesn’t hurt. A CEBS not only gets to place an acronym after… read more…
- How to Retire in Belize: Costs, Visas and More
One of the most important decisions you’ll make about your retirement is where to live. While your ming may first go to domestic locales, other countries, like Belize, often offer lower-cost living options and attractive weather conditions. And in some… read more…
- How to Retire in New Zealand: Costs, Visas and More
If you’re interested in retiring abroad, New Zealand could be a great option for you. Geographically, the country offers a wide selection of landscapes. Whether you’re into swimming, hiking or exploring, chances are you’ll never run out of leisure activities. And if your native language is English, you won’t have to learn another language to… read more…
- How to Retire in Ecuador: Costs, Visas and More
With rising retirement costs in the U.S., many Americans are looking for alternatives to living out the post-employment life they’d always dreamed of. Retirees are turning to other countries that offer low-cost retirement options. Ecuador is just one of the… read more…
- Can You Retire on $500,000?
In simple terms, planning for retirement is a numbers game. Many experts recommend saving at least $1 million for retirement, but that doesn’t take your individual goals, needs or spending habits into account. In turn, you may not need anywhere near… read more…
- Retirement Plans: Which One Is Right for You?
A retirement plan is a savings account you set up during your working years that helps you support yourself once you reach retirement. These savings plans come in many forms, including the 401(k), IRA and more. Usually, a retirement plan is… read more…
- Retiring in Italy: Costs, Visas, Taxes and More
Italy is one of the most popular vacation spots in Europe. It’s also a great option if you’re thinking about retiring abroad. The country is known for its delicious food, beautiful towns and mild weather, making it about as ideal… read more…
- How to Retire at 45: Step-by-Step Plan
Retiring at 45 might sound impossible, but it could be a realistic goal so long as you have the right plan in place. An early retirement means more time to pursue hobbies or passion projects, travel the world, volunteer or simply… read more…
- Should You Hire a Retirement Advisor?
Saving for your golden years may not seem like a priority compared to daily expenses, debt repayment and short-term savings goals. Yet the sooner you start, the better you can leverage compounding interest and the more your money will grow. Getting an early start on retirement planning also provides some flexibility if you decide to tweak… read more…
- Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans (SERPs)
A supplemental retirement plan may be offered to a broad range of employees. But supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs) are reserved for the company’s elite. A SERP is a non-qualified deferred compensation plan offered to a company’s key employees, including… read more…
- What Does “Retirement” Really Mean?
Planning for retirement can be a lifelong process and the sooner you begin, the longer your savings and investments have to grow. But retirement is more than just a numbers game. While it’s important to have a clear financial goal… read more…
- Can Retired Veterans Get Military Housing?
For members of the U.S. military, housing assistance is one of the most significant benefits they can receive. For exmaple, when a base offers housing in remote stations military housing provides the kind of stable community that civilian housing may… read more…
- How Much Do I Need for an Interest-Only Retirement?
For an interest-only retirement, you’ll need to have a large nest egg. How big a nest egg depends on your target income and the interest rate. For example, an annual income of $48,000 would require a nest egg of $1.6… read more…
- How Deferred Retirement Option Plans (DROPs) Work
Deferred retirement option plans (DROPs) are of benefit to both employees and employers. In exchange for continuing to work past your eligible retirement age, an employer will set aside annual lump sum payments into an interest-bearing account. Upon retirement, the… read more…
- What Constitutes Early Retirement Age?
Getting the timing right for retirement matters for your financial well-being. While many people relish the idea of starting their retirement ahead of schedule, retiring too early could leave you without enough savings to maintain your lifestyle over the long… read more…
- Ways to Protect Your Retirement Savings in a Divorce
Protecting your retirement savings during a divorce may not be at the top of your mind when you are going through the process of splitting up with your spouse. The emotional toll on you and your family, after all, likely… read more…
- A Guide to the 5 Stages of Retirement
Retirement planning is a lifelong process that takes ample organization, forethought and effort to do successfully. The easiest way to manage this sometimes overwhelming venture is to split your retirement planning into different sections. Lucky for you, there are already… read more…
- What Is the Three-Legged Stool of Retirement?
Retirement is on many people’s minds, whether they are approaching it or still early in their careers and just hoping they won’t have to work until they’re nearly 100. Those contemplating retirement may envision a recliner or deck chair. A three-legged stool, though, is the preferred seat for retirement metaphors. The image of retirement finance as… read more…
- 10 Ways to Live Frugally in Retirement
You may have visions of spending your retirement on a sun-soaked vineyard in wine country. But according to a 2022 report by the AARP, about 57 million working-age Americans (48%), ages 18-64, do not have retirement account assets. If you… read more…
- How to Retire in Panama
If you plan correctly, retirement can be one of the great adventures of your life. What is more adventurous than packing your bags, leaving America behind and spending your golden years immersed in a completely new culture? One option to consider is Panama, a central American country, popular with American, that offers a number of… read more…
- The Basics of Self-Employed Retirement Plans
Saving for retirement is one of the most important financial decisions you can make. Proper planning can mean the difference between a retirement of travel and time with loved ones and one spent working a new job to make ends… read more…
- The Cheapest Countries Where You Can Retire Well
After working hard and saving diligently for retirement, you may find that your nest egg won’t take you far in the U.S., but there are other options. In fact, you may be able to stretch your dollar a lot further… read more…
- 8 Steps to Building a Retirement Income Planning Strategy
When you first embarked on your retirement planning journey, your goal was probably to save as much as possible and generate the biggest returns you could through a diversified portfolio. But as you get closer to your golden years, you… read more…