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Should you buy an annuity? Investing your capital and planning for retirement are important practices, but there are a ton of options out there for how and where to park your money to realize potential growth in the future. Simply put, an annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company. You essentially give…

While some baby boomers believe paying off a home mortgage is a better financial decision than saving for retirement, industry experts say home ownership is often overrated, and soon-to-be retirees should consider more liquid investments. In part due to the recent housing bubble, Americans are now more likely than they used to be to have…

Retirement can sneak up faster than you think. It’s understandable: Life happens, years go by, and then suddenly you realize retirement is a lot closer than it seemed just a year or two ago. Although most financial advisers recommend at least starting a modest retirement plan as early as in your 20s, that doesn’t always happen.…

Thorough planning helps you make the right decisions about a reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage is a long-term commitment, and one that shouldn’t be entered into lightly. It’s not actually a true mortgage at all, but a loan against the equity that you have in your home. That difference alone is enough to show just…

Homeowners looking to use a reverse mortgage to tap their home equity have a new option that could provide more in proceeds than the government insured HECM reverse mortgage product. Scheduled to roll out in September, the HomeSafe is a private reverse mortgage product — also known as a jumbo reverse mortgage — from Urban…

Baby boomers are a a generation of firsts. You were the first to attend integrated schools, the first to take birth control pills and the first to bring feminism to the cultural forefront. You are also the first modern generation to largely manage your own retirement investments and the first generation without widespread access to pensions.…

Most retirement experts advise that retirees plan on securing 100 percent of their pre retirement income for retirement — though annual spending may decrease as retirees age. However, many pre-retirees are not nearly as prepared for retirement as they had hoped—and by no fault of their own. The economic crisis, housing crash and market downturn…

Mapping your path to a comfortable retirement calls for personalization. At its best, financial planning for this life phase should resemble a shopping trip: you decide your priorities, set your budget, then make selections from an array of offerings based on your needs. As with hitting the stores, tastes and desires in planning for retirement…

The 2008 recession and financial crisis deteriorated American baby boomers’ confidence in retirement planning, spurring a shift in their financial goals related to their later years. And while the ability for baby boomers to reach their goals should improve with the recovering economy, not everyone is confident about realizing their priorities in retirement. Only one-third,…

While 71% of Americans say they would consider buying an annuity to meet a variety of needs, more than half admit they don’t understand the product, according to a survey by Phoenix Companies, Inc., a financial services firm. Annuities are used for a number of reasons, but about half (49%) of survey respondents indicate they…

The journal Neurology recently published compelling research showing a strong association between low Vitamin D Levels and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The study, led by Dr. David Llewellyn at the University of Exeter Medical School, found that study participants who were severely deficient in Vitamin D were more than twice as likely…

You want to plan your retirement, but you are probably having some trouble getting started. Here are 4 reasons why an online retirement calculator is a great way to get off the dime and make a better future for yourself: 1. No Judgements, No Negative Feedback When you use an online retirement calculator, no one…

It is not like you don’t WANT to plan for retirement, right? There are real reasons that make planning for retirement difficult. Taking the first step toward retirement planning might seem like pursuing a major lifestyle change — it sounds intimidating, and you may not know where to start. But there are easy first steps…

Noticing an increase in the number of unprepared Americans beginning to retire, federal and state governments are launching special programs to help. According to the New York Times, 17 states are exploring simple, low-cost savings plans that would allow workers to direct pre-tax earnings into retirement accounts to help guard against future risk—and help protect…

The retirement years are supposed to be golden. There’s time for travel, relaxation, trying out new hobbies, and perhaps even starting a whole new career. Financial worries shouldn’t factor in heavily how you choose to spend your retirement. But for many people, that’s exactly what happens. Reverse mortgages for seniors might be the answer. A…

In much of life, there’s a tendency to compare your lifestyle to others, whether it’s the size of your house, the kind of car you drive, or where you go on vacation. Now, financial firms are asking whether keeping up with the Joneses might actually be a good strategy when it comes to saving for…

How do you know if a reverse mortgage is right for you? Reverse mortgages have a reputation as a tool for retirees that are tight on funds and more recently as a tool that can help people who have saved more for retirement, but they are not for everyone.
In this infographic, we explore eligibility requirements and all the uses for a reverse mortgage, along with some alternatives in case it is not the best option for you.
Read on to find out how to have a rich retirement.

Veterans and service-members approaching retirement age may need to take a slightly different strategy to financial planning relative to their civilian counterparts, factoring in time spent in the service, pensions, and other available benefits. Career military servicemembers who serve 20 or more years are eligible for a pension that includes annual cost of living adjustments…

Leading up to retirement, many people focus on building up enough wealth to last throughout their golden years. But the focus should be on something a Nobel Prize winner in economics says is even more important: creating income throughout retirement. Without this attitude, your retirement could be a disaster. “The seeds of an investment crisis…

You have probably read and reread that you should delay the start of your Social Security benefits until at least your full retirement date (typically around age 66 if you are retiring soon). This advice is probably good for most people because delaying the start of benefits increases your monthly Social Security checks for your…

You may have recently seen a new reverse mortgage ad on TV.  It talks about the new reverse mortgage.  Is it really new?  The answer is both yes and no.  Reverse mortgages have evolved considerably, but they are still a product that help older Americans fund retirement by enabling them to tap into some of…

Not all Baby Boomers are headed for a retirement community as they get older. In fact, many are finding walkable, action-packed urban areas as the perfect setting for aging in place, according to recent U.S. Census data analyzed by Trulia. Trulia’s big finding: Baby Boomers, defined as adults between the ages of 50-69, are getting…

On July 4, an Arkansas woman celebrated her 116th birthday and was named the oldest confirmed living American. While that’s old by any standard, birthday girl Gertrude Weaver is actually the second-oldest person in the world—a sign of global longevity trends; we are living longer now than we ever have before… and paying for these…

New changes to the government’s reverse mortgage program will provide more money to most new borrowers as long as interest rates remain low. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on Friday a new set of principal limit factors. Principal limit factors are the calculations used to determine the amount of money borrowers…