It all started Tuesday.  During lunch I watched the market report and things were relatively calm but by the end of the day the Dow had lost roughly 800 points.  I was speaking to a prospective client at the time and he’s the one who told me about the drop. During our call he had […]

Marketwatch recently published an article on annuities that is worth reading for one simple reason.  It will highlight the reasons why it’s so hard to make retirement decisions when annuities are involved.  This article has received a lot of attention and Marketwatch has been running it for a few weeks now so it seems as […]

Inflation is one of the biggest concerns retirees face.  The possibility that your retirement income won’t buy as much as the years pass can be frustrating and scary.  It’s actually more of a reality than a possibility so rather than just worrying about it, you need a plan that accounts for it Financial institutions know […]

After analyzing the most popular fixed index annuity last week the most common request I received was for a comparison to products I would recommend.  So rather than just asking you to take my word for it I’m going to show you why the Allianz 222 is not as good as it seems.  In comparison […]

It’s the comment I hear most often.  “I’m trying to decide if I have enough to retire.” Considering that for every time I get a question or comment there are several other people who are staying silent, I will assume that many of you need to answer this question. It can be a hard decision […]

To start this series let’s take a look at the first factor that will tell you how to appropriately time the market when planning for retirement.  Selling stocks at a high point sounds great but people tend to hang on a little longer than they should.  We are at a historic high right now but […]

If you are going to consider using annuities in a retirement plan it’s necessary to start by improving on traditional advice.  If an annuity isn’t the better option then there’s no reason to buy one.  The only reason I sell annuities for a living is because I know there are many instances where an annuity […]

Below is a basic list of items to consider when working to formulate an income plan for retirement.  Much of what makes up this list requires a more detailed explanation as to why you might run into trouble when taking advice from someone else. I’ve heard of some advisors telling clients of mine they don’t […]

We’re going to start this off by talking about two of the more pressing issues that relate to retirement planning:  interest rates and market volatility. The Fed met this week and decided to delay a rate increase this quarter but confirmed plans for two more rate increases later this year.  I don’t mean to be […]

  Bonds: The Traditional ‘Safe Money’ Choice Bonds are traditionally used as a safe, fixed rate asset in an investment portfolio. As retirement approaches, conventional wisdom is to shift to a greater concentration of bonds to decrease risk. Many people end up in bond funds that further diversify risk and return by actively trading multiple […]