Is Your Medicare Plan Changing? What to Review Before Annual Enrollment
Premiums, drug coverage and provider networks can shift every year. A plain-language, suitability-first checklist for reviewing your Medicare plan before Annual Enrollment.
What Should I Do With an Old Annuity?
That annuity you bought years ago deserves a review, not an automatic replacement. The real question is not how old it is. It is whether it still fits the job your money needs to do today.
Why is Medicare Charging Me More After I Retired?
You retired and your income dropped, so why did your Medicare premiums go up? The answer is IRMAA, an income-related adjustment based on your tax return from two years earlier. Here is how it works and what to do if it lands after a major life change.
Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Before I Retire?
The goal is not to retire without a mortgage. It is to retire with an income you can support and liquidity you can reach. Here is how to make the decision without letting the interest rate make it for you.
What Should I Do With My 401(k) When I Retire?
Your 401(k) was built to accumulate money. Retirement changes the job. Before you decide whether to leave it, roll it to an IRA, or use part of it for guaranteed income, start with what you need the money to do.
I Have Enough Money. Why Am I Still Afraid to Spend It?
Having enough money and feeling safe spending it are two different things. If you have the savings and still hesitate to spend, the issue may not be your balance. It may be how your retirement income is built.
Medicare Advantage or Medigap: How Do I Decide?
Put the two side by side and Advantage looks obvious. But you are not choosing what Medicare costs, you are choosing how it works. Here is how to decide across cost, access, and flexibility.
Do I Need an Annuity?
An annuity should have a job. For some people that job is income they can’t outlive. For others it’s protecting part of what they’ve built from market loss. Here’s how to know if you have a job for one, and how to tell when you don’t.
Can I Afford to Retire?
The number in your 401(k) is not the answer. Whether you can afford to retire depends on what retirement will cost, how much dependable income you already have, and what your savings will be asked to do.
What Happens to Your Retirement Income When Your Spouse Dies?
A retirement plan should work for two lives and still have an answer for the life that continues after the first one ends. Here is what happens to Social Security, pensions, annuities, taxes, and Medicare when a spouse dies, and why these decisions have to be made while both spouses are still here.