Articles

What exactly does it mean to “fully” protect your financial future?

Life insurance can be an ultimate security blanket, but how do you know if you’re buying it for the right reasons and from the right person?

Summer’s finally here. The sun is out, it’s warm, the days are longer, and your worries seem just a little bit further away. But, folks, I’m sorry to say, sometimes storms roll in on the sunniest of days.

Imagine the following scenario: You run a successful business with your business partner of 20 years. Your business partner dies unexpectedly. After the funeral, your deceased partner’s spouse shows up at your office with her two grown children. They ask for the key to your partner’s office – not to clean it out, but to move in.

Because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan that could possibly fit the unique needs of every family, risk management is a process that focuses on the problem of risk at every level of a family’s lifestyle in order to ultimately arrive at a solution for each. Each risk calls for separate measures, which usually require separate forms of insurance.

A home is a place to rest your head, to create memories, and to cook dinner. It’s where your pets are—your family. What people most often forget about their home is that it’s also your most valuable financial asset. And, if one of your financial goals includes a testamentary gift to charity, while also receiving substantive income tax deductions, this asset is important.

Over the last 2 decades, it has not mattered whether you owned U.S. bond mutual funds or a portfolio of individual bonds. Interest rates were going down and stayed down. So both bond mutual funds & individual bonds delivered consistent income, some growth, and a counterbalance to stock market volatility.

The figures out last year show that the average amount of student loan debt a student graduates with is a little more than $35,000.  Most graduates are carrying multiple student loans from multiple sources, and the cost and complexity of managing them can become overwhelming, especially if they are unable to secure steady employment with sufficient cash flow to make the payments.

Business owners have a tremendous opportunity to generate significant rewards from a business in which they have invested heavily. However, as with any opportunity with the potential for great rewards, there are great risks, many of which have the potential to create a serious financial hardship on a business.