| Mortgage Refinancing Considerations
- February 2012 With mortgage rates so low, does it make sense to refinance?
Historically low mortgage interest rates have prompted many homeowners to think seriously about refinancing [...]
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| 2011 Tax Season Considerations
- February 2012 You do not want to pay more in taxes than you have to. That means taking advantage of every deduction and credit that you are entitled to, and recognizing [...]
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| Retirement Plan and IRA Limits for 2012
- February 2012 Many retirement plan and IRA limits are indexed for inflation each year. Some of the key numbers for 2012 are discussed below. [...]
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| Keeping Market Volatility in Perspective
- February 2012 When markets are volatile, sticking to a long-term investing strategy can be a challenge. Though past performance is no guarantee of future results, it might help you keep [...]
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| Investing: Stop Limits, Market Orders and Stop-Loss Orders
- January 2012 Is a stop limit the same as a stop order?
A stop limit is typically used when you are trading during a volatile market and want to target a specific price as closely as possible. When placing a market order, the price you pay [...]
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| Making Financial Resolutions? Look Back at Last Year
- January 2012 Each New Year brings the chance for a fresh start, and the opportunity to improve your financial picture. As you make financial resolutions for 2012, looking back at what happened last year can help you make some positive changes this year. [...]
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| Financial Planning - Helping You See the Big Picture
- January 2012 Do you picture yourself owning a new home, starting a business or retiring comfortably? These are a few of the financial goals that may be important to you, and each comes with a price tag attached. That is where financial planning comes in. [...]
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| Q & A on Filing the Federal Financial Aid Application
- January 2012 The federal government's Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the FAFSA, should be filed as soon after January 1 as possible in the year your child will be attending college. The reason is that some federal aid programs operate [...]
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| What You Need to Know about Cost Basis Reporting Requirements
- December 2011 If you think you do not need to track cost basis on your own because brokers must now report to both you and the IRS the cost basis for any stock sold, be aware of some potential pitfalls.
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| Gift Tax Strategies
- December 2011 The current large gift tax exclusion amount, low gift tax rates, depressed property values and low interest rates create a historically favorable environment for making certain gifts.
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| How Much Do You Know about Social Security?
- December 2011 Social Security is in the news more and more, as the first wave of baby boomers retire and economic pressures on the program increase. More than 90% of Americans are covered by Social Security, but how much do you know about this important program?
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| Qualified Charitable Distributions Qualify for RMDs
- December 2011 If you are an IRA owner who must take a required minimum distribution (RMD) in 2011, you can avoid some or all of the resulting income tax liability by donating a portion of it to charity. [...]
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| Federal Financial Aid for College
- November 2011 The federal methodology for financial aid examines your family's income, assets and household information to calculate your expected family contribution, or EFC. Your EFC represents the amount of money the government deems you can afford to put toward college costs each year before any financial aid is forthcoming. [...]
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| Can You Get to a Million Dollars?
- November 2011 Often in life, you have investment goals that you hope to reach. Say, for example, you have determined that you would like to have $1 million in your investment portfolio by the time you retire. But will you be able to get to a million dollars? [...]
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| Long-Term Care Planning Is Important for Women
- November 2011 The prospect of needing long-term care is an important, yet sometimes overlooked, part of financial and retirement planning. Yet it may be especially vital for women to consider as they often face the need for long-term care as both a caregiver and recipient.
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| Five Year-End Tax Planning Considerations
- November 2011 Legislation passed in December of 2010 extended lower tax rates, deductions and other expiring provisions for an additional one to two years. As a result, you can consider 2011 year-end tax planning moves with a relative degree of certainty. [...]
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| Ask the Experts: Taxes during Retirement
- October 2011 I'm retiring to a state with no income tax. Can my former state tax my retirement benefits?
The short answer is "no." In the past, several states enacted "source tax" laws that attempted to tax retirement benefits if they were earned in that state, regardless of where a taxpayer resided when the benefits were ultimately paid. [...]
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| Factoring Health-Care Costs into Retirement Planning
- October 2011 There are many factors to consider in determining how much you will need to save in order to enjoy a comfortable and financially secure retirement. One often overlooked retirement expense is the cost of health care. You may presume that when you reach age 65, Medicare will cover most health-care costs. [...]
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| Making Benefit Decisions during Open Enrollment
- October 2011 The end of the year is traditionally open enrollment season, your annual opportunity to review your employer-provided benefit options and make elections for the upcoming plan year. Even if you are busy, take a look at the enrollment packets or information you receive from your employer. You generally only have a few weeks to make important decisions about your benefits, and with health-care costs rising, it is more important than ever to choose your benefits wisely. [...]
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| Year-End Investment Planning: The Clock Is Ticking
- October 2011 Investment planning at the end of 2010 was complicated by uncertainty over whether existing tax rates would be extended. This year, it is the congressional "supercommittee" charged with tackling the country's deficit financing problem that is the source of uncertainty. Even though you may not be sure how the committee's work might ultimately affect you, here are some factors to keep in mind as you plot your year-end strategy. [...]
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| Who Will Inherit Your Online Accounts and “Cyber” Assets?
- September 2011 These days, using a personal computer is just a normal part of life. You may have email or online accounts that require a password, or you may have pictures, videos or documents stored online or on your hard drive. You may even maintain a blog or website. Like your physical assets, these "digital" or "cyber" assets can have both sentimental and economic value. [...]
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| Could You Handle a Financial Windfall?
- September 2011 Receiving a financial windfall is often a life-changing event. It's a relatively common one, too. You might never win the lottery, but the odds are that at some point you'll receive a significant amount of money, perhaps from an inheritance, bonus, insurance settlement or the sale of a home or business. [...]
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| Do You Need Flood or Earthquake Insurance?
- September 2011 We would like to believe that disasters caused by floods or earthquakes are rare. But as we have seen with the recent natural disasters in the United States and abroad, the impact can be financially devastating. [...]
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| Life without Life Insurance
- September 2011 What if you were no longer here to provide for your family and loved ones? What if you couldn't watch your children grow, graduate from college, and begin their own families? [...]
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| Two Common State Tax Questions Answered
- September 2011 There are currently five states that do not have a sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. If you live in one of the other 45 states, or in the District of Columbia, you are probably [...]
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| Medicare and Medicaid: Do You Know the Difference?
- August 2011 Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law 36 years ago to protect older and poorer Americans against the high cost of health care. [...]
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| Market Volatility and Your Emotions
- August 2011 When dealing with a volatile market, sometimes the most difficult challenge is to manage your emotions. If you decide you need to re-examine your game plan, it should be done with as much care as you put into developing that plan in the first place. Certified Financial Planners (CFP®s) may be able to help you decide if any of the following may be appropriate for you.
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| Talking to Your Child about College Expectations
- August 2011 If you are the parent of a high school student who is looking ahead to college, it is important to have a grown-up conversation with your child about college expectations. A frank discussion can help everyone get on the same page. Here are some talking points. [...]
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| All about Indices
- August 2011 No doubt you've seen headlines reporting that a particular index is up or down. But do you know how an index works, and why understanding the nuts and bolts of a specific index can make a difference to your portfolio?
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| Ask the Experts: Income during Retirement
- July 2011 What if my income during retirement won't be enough to meet my retirement expenses?
Fortunately, you may have no need to despair. The further you are from retirement, the more time you have to resolve the expected shortfall. Even if you are closing in on retirement, there may be steps you can take to bridge the gap.
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| Getting an Early Start on Saving for Retirement
- July 2011 Many people assume they can hold off saving for retirement and make up the difference later. But this can be a costly mistake. Waiting too long to start saving can make it very difficult to catch up, and only a few years can make a big difference in how much you will accumulate. This does not mean that there is no hope if you have not set aside anything for retirement yet. It just makes it all the more important that you implement a plan today.
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| Tax Advantages of Homeownership
- July 2011 Although tax considerations are probably not the motivating force behind most home purchases, the tax advantages associated with homeownership are significant enough that they may factor into the decision process. Here is a quick review of federal tax benefits available.
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| Crisis Investing: Keeping Your Head
- June 2011 When a crisis creates uncertainty, markets often become volatile, especially when the scope of the disaster isn't clear. A crisis is like Janus, the Roman god with faces that looked forward and back.
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| IRA Rollover Rules
- June 2011
This week we seek to answer two frequently asked questions about IRS rules regarding IRA rollovers.
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| These Deferred Annuity Mistakes Can Be Taxing
- June 2011
The tax treatment of nonqualified deferred annuities, this is annuities that are not part of a tax-qualified plan such as an IRA or 401(k), appears to be fairly clear-cut, except for those particular circumstances that trigger unexpected tax consequences.
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| The New Face of Socially Responsible Investing
- June 2011
Feeling strongly about the societal benefit or harm your money might be supporting doesn't mean you have to forgo pursuing a return on your investments.
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| Mid-Year Tax Considerations
- June 2011
Though it may seem as if the ink has barely dried on your 2010 federal income tax return, the end of 2011 is now visible on the horizon. Here are some things to consider as you take stock of your current tax situation.
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| Tax Implications Regarding Charity and Your IRA
- May 2011
Are you considering using your IRA to make a charitable contribution or plan to name a charity as beneficiary of your IRA? You will want to read the two articles relating to this topic and the tax implications associated with each action before you do. [...]
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| Retirement Plans for Small Businesses
- May 2011
If you're self-employed or own a small business and you haven't established a retirement savings plan, what are you waiting for? [...]
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| Estate Tax Exemption Is Portable (for Now)
- May 2011
Picking up from last month’s insight “The ABC’s of Estate Planning Trusts,” recent legislation introduced a new, but perhaps temporary, estate planning concept – exemption "portability." [...]
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| Inflation or Deflation: Watching for Warning Signs
- May 2011
As a follow-up to last month’s insight “Rising Interest Rates: The Downside of Economic Recovery,” there's been much debate in investing circles over the last year about whether inflation or deflation represents a more likely threat to the future of the U.S. economy. [...]
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| What Health-Care Changes Become Effective in 2011?
- April 2011
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), signed into law in 2010, makes significant changes to our health-care delivery system. Here are some of the most important changes scheduled to take effect in 2011. [...]
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| The ABC's of Estate Planning Trusts
- April 2011
If you're married, a combination of trusts, often referred to as A/B, A/B/C, or A/B/Q trusts, may be useful for estate planning purposes. [...]
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| Rising Interest Rates: The Downside of Economic Recovery
- April 2011
Over the last several years, investors have grown accustomed to historically low interest rates. [...]
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| Saving for Retirement and a Child's Education at the Same Time
- April 2011
You want to retire comfortably when the time comes. You also want to help your child go to college. So how do you juggle the two? [...]
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| Pathways
- March 2011
Recent legislation includes changes that will affect small businesses in 2011. Here are some of the changes worth noting. [...]
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| Pathways
- February 2011
Investors have been pouring money into bonds. Investment Company Institute statistics show that since January 2007, average net new money going into bond mutual funds each month has been roughly fourtimes greater than net outflows from equity funds. So does that mean we're in the bond market's equivalent of the late-1990s tech bubble? [...]
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| Pathways
- January 2011 Roth conversions, mortgages, and health-care reform were a few of the most talked about topics in 2010. Here's a look at five topics you're bound to hear
about in 2011. [...]
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| Pathways
- December 2010
When you're contemplating the purchase of a mutual fund, some of the factors you'll need to consider carefully before buying are its investment objectives, risks, costs, and expenses. Information about all of these can be found in the prospectus available from the fund. [...]
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| Pathways
- November 2010
One of the longest-standing debates in investing is over the relative merits of active portfolio management versus passive management. [...]
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| Pathways
- October 2010
Required minimum distributions, often referred to as RMDs, are amounts the federal government requires you to withdraw annually from traditional IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans after you reach age 701⁄2 or, in some cases, after you retire. [...]
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