estate planning

Finances are complicated for some of us. That’s okay, we’ve all been there. Featured today are some real-life financial mistakes that real people have made, that they’ve learned from, that they want you to also learn from so you don’t make the same mistakes. (Or if you’ve made these same mistakes, just know that you’re not the only one!

Everybody wants to know ways to save money. Finding “life hacks”, searching through the couch cushions, you know the drill. 

Here are some simple skills that you can learn to save some money in the long run so you can stop spending and start saving. 

1. Learn to Sew 

Let’s get to the point 

What is an estate? Essentially, everything you own. 

So, what’s estate planning? Essentially, controlling where all those things go after you pass away. Instructions on where/ to whom your possessions will be going. But, it’s also so much more than that. 

Retirement Income Recipe

By Jeffrey R. Karp, CLU®, ChFC®, CASL®

One of the “early in life” messages we get from our parents- Get a job if you want to be able to buy things.  They did not call it an income stream but that is really what it was.  This single message formed the connection between a job and spending, which continued throughout our working career.  Some people can be driven off this message by life events like a temporary job loss or a need to care for family/friend, but there is never a question about the goal for re-employment.  The reliability of a paycheck keeps the focus on accumulating wealth not on the fear of income flow. 

A congratulations goes out to Julie Woods, MSc, MD of Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. 

Dr. Woods has recently become one of the few doctors to accomplish creating a Lynch Syndrome clinic, which is 1 of 4 full service multidisciplinary clinics in the country. 

Student debt is scary. Getting out of that debt is even scarier. But, the good news is, that it’s possible to get out of student debt. 

The Facts 

Echoes from the partial government shutdown persist.  Income and outlays data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis were delayed for December and incomplete for January, so they were released together in one report.  We have both income and spending to end the year, but just income data to start 2019.

Hints of Spring are starting to pop up and March Madness is just around the corner and all this can only mean one thing…income tax season is upon us. Whether you are receiving a W2 or 1099 or filling out a Schedule C or a Schedule A, there are a flurry of forms that you are receiving, sending, filling out, and signing for the IRS.

There are a lot of things that go into finance. A lot of words that people don’t understand, a lot of concepts that people can’t quite grasp. Thankfully, we’re here to help! Let’s break down what an annuity is. 

First, we’ll go over some basic terms that you’ll need to understand. 

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