6 Oct 2014

Help Your Kids and Grandkids with a 529 Account

Last year, Fidelity Investments did a study called the College Savings Indicator to measure how families deal with college costs. They found that 26 percent of parents will pay for all college costs, four percent will not pay for any college costs and the remaining 70 percent plan on paying a portion of college costs.  In short, college is still a high priority. On average, these families expect to pay… Read More

25 Sep 2014

Retiree Spending

In our retirement planning model, the Acropolis Financial Forecaster, there are essentially five key variables that affect the probability of meeting your goals.  They are as follows: Saving Before Retirement When to Retire Spending in Retirement Market Returns & Inflation Rate Portfolio Risk The first three factors are entirely under your control and the second one is the most critical because the timing of your retirement stops contributions to your… Read More

29 Aug 2014

Retire Your Mortgage or Retire With Your Mortgage?

I am frequently asked whether you should pay off your mortgage prior to retiring. The calculus is a little trickier today than it was five or ten years ago because interest rates are so low now. According to 2011 data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 81 percent of Americans age 65 and older own a home and 30 percent of those homeowners still carry a mortgage. Ten years earlier,… Read More

12 May 2014

IRA Rollover Rule Changes

I am a little embarrassed to admit that there are so many rules about IRAs that I find it difficult to keep them straight and I have to refer back to a guide that I have and constantly have to ask other Acropolitans if I’ve got my facts straight.  There are a lot of rules, even more exceptions and getting it wrong can be costly. A recent IRS ruling highlighted… Read More

6 Mar 2014

When to Take Social Security Benefits

Stocks were basically flat yesterday after Tuesday’s strong rally.  Some smaller economic releases like the ADP private payrolls report and the ISM services data were softer than expected, but the news from the Fed’s ‘beige book’ was modestly positive.  All of the reports included the negative impact of this winter’s cold weather.