Financial Planning

The purpose of this Navigator is to explain the basics of Social Security benefits, to discuss a few particularly useful saving strategies, and to provide additional resources that may be useful for anyone who is preparing financially for retirement about how to optimize his or her Social Security benefits. 

The purpose of this Navigator is to explain the basics of Social Security benefits, to discuss a few particularly useful saving strategies, and to provide additional resources that may be useful for anyone who is preparing financially for retirement about how to optimize his or her Social Security benefits. 

For retirees, the non-financial considerations of a move often revolve around weather, proximity to grandchildren, and access to quality healthcare and other services. However, if you are preparing for retirement, you should make sure you weigh the financial implications of any potential move.

If you’re one of the many homeowners who make monthly mortgage payments, you may have wondered if you should be taking any action to pay off your mortgage faster than planned. Reducing your debt load can be both a financially and an emotionally beneficial decision,...

Choosing to work with a wealth manager can come with many unknowns. Some advisors perform thorough due diligence and regularly vet potential investments before making a recommendation. Others might simply look at how ETFs and mutual funds performed in the past before...

In a persistently high inflationary environment, there are steps that you can take as a consumer that reduce the deleterious impact of inflation on financial management and your household finances.

Retirement is a prospect that can make even the most financially savvy investors a little uneasy. And if you’re someone saving for retirement in your 50s and beyond, you might feel as though there’s simply not enough time to get that target figure stashed away.

Investors who also wish to be donors likely have more options for making tax-efficient donations to charity than they realize. This Navigator provides an overview of what assets to give and the existing alternatives for how to give them.

If you are the owner or the recent inheritor of a large IRA, the SECURE Act is likely to have a material impact on you and/or your heirs. The SECURE Act made significant changes to the way heirs are required to withdraw funds from these accounts, which will likely produce larger tax bills for many beneficiaries. This Navigator outlines strategies for both IRA owners and beneficiaries to minimize the adverse impacts of the SECURE Act.

What You Need to Know About Virtual Financial Advising and Robo-Advisors The COVID-19 pandemic led wealth management advisors to get creative. Lockdowns and stay-at-home orders forced many to look at ways to continue engaging and counseling their clients without being...

If you are the owner or the recent inheritor of a large IRA, the SECURE Act is likely to have a material impact on you and/or your heirs. The SECURE Act made significant changes to the way heirs are required to withdraw funds from these accounts, which will likely produce larger tax bills for many beneficiaries. This Navigator outlines strategies for both IRA owners and beneficiaries to minimize the adverse impacts of the SECURE Act.

Retirement needs and circumstances evolve throughout the years and can change instantaneously, but there are habits you can practice over time to build a solid foundation.

Why would an investor incorporate their values in selecting investments? There are several answers to this question, and they apply in varying measure from investor to investor.

There is no shortage of opinions pertaining to investing the right way. Depending on who you are, that advice on general investing strategies could very well be spot on — but that’s the problem.

Socially responsible investing (SRI) has exploded in popularity in recent years and is now one of the most discussed topics in money management.

Many people wonder how to prepare financially for retirement. Here are three suggestions to help you get ready for retirement way ahead of time.

Are you considering investing in emerging markets? Here are a few things to keep in mind to have success with emerging market stocks.

While commodities have been in a bear market since 2008, the tide is starting to turn. Here are a few of the benefits of investing in commodities.

Trustees have a fiduciary duty to your trust, and they are responsible for finding high quality tax, investment, accounting, and legal expertise.  To make a wise selection of trustee, it is critical to understand trustee responsibilities.

We have published this Navigator at this same time each of the past several years in order to highlight the importance of IRAs and to encourage our clients to make their annual IRA contributions prior to the tax filing deadline.

Not all social impact investing is the same. Here are some pointers that we believe can help you build a socially responsible investment portfolio.

A car is a common but significant purchase, and consumers may not be aware of all of their options when it comes to acquiring a vehicle.

There are many ways grandparents can help fund college costs without giving funds directly to the student.

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) are both tax-advantaged accounts that allow you to pay for qualified medical expenses using pretax dollars. During open enrollment season for employment benefits,you may have the opportunity to choose between an FSA and an HSA. Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each type of account is essential when it comes to making the right decision for you and your family.

Regardless of your age, maximizing the benefit of your 401(k) and other retirement accounts now can lead to a more rewarding retirement later in life.

When adopting socially responsible investment strategies, it’s important to do your due diligence related to the environmental, social, and governance arena.

Illinois business owners deciding which retirement plan to choose should consider the tax benefits, oversight demands, and level of control of both options.

Although Millennials are usurping them in other areas, Baby Boomers still have a firm grip on much of the country’s wealth. According to a Cerulli Associates study, Boomers should remain the wealthiest generation until 2030 at the earliest. Moreover, it is expected that Boomers will transfer $68 trillion to their successors over the next 25 years. Such an enormous transition of wealth can create challenges for both grantors and their beneficiaries. In this Navigator, we first discuss some strategies that older investors should consider in order to help ensure a smooth and efficient transition of wealth to their heirs or other beneficiaries; furthermore, we discuss how those beneficiaries can prepare themselves for the complexities that often accompany newfound wealth.

In part two of this guide, we discuss some important considerations for families whose children are approaching college age.

In personal finance, women face a different set of challenges than men. Some of these challenges are well known, like the wage gap, and some have only recently begun to be discussed, like the effect that has become known as the “wealth gap.”

Asset protection isn’t just a safeguard in case of divorce; it’s a set of actions you can take to protect yourself against anyone that might want to claim your wealth.

The SECURE Act, which was signed into law at the beginning of the year, introduces new provisions intended to make retirement more secure for people across the country. Investors should be cognizant of the fact that the Act makes significant changes to IRAs, employer-sponsored retirement plans, and some aspects of the tax code, and will likely play a role in retirement planning.

As identity theft and data breaches become ever-more-common occurrences, protecting personal information and monitoring accounts for fraud have become increasingly important practices. In the aftermath of the 2017 Equifax breach, in which the personal information of 143 million Americans was stolen by hackers, it has become absolutely essential to take a proactive approach to your personal security. Fortunately, there are many ways to monitor your credit and reduce your risk of suffering from identity theft. Below are some steps that you should consider taking in order to better protect your personal information.

Password managers are digital vaults that help create and store passwords for online accounts and are an essential tool for ensuring your online security. Properly using a password manager can simplify your online life and, more importantly, make you less susceptible to problems like identity theft.

Roth IRAs can be highly useful retirement savings vehicles for investors. While it is true that you cannot deduct contributions to your Roth IRA, you can withdraw your money tax-free down the road in retirement if the appropriate holding period and age requirements are met. If your income level is above the minimum threshold, however, direct Roth IRA contributions are not permitted; thus, the back-door Roth IRA strategy allows savers who have a high income to nevertheless make annual Roth IRA contributions.

In a prior issue of the Navigator (Fall 2016), we delved into the complex and controversial world of variable annuities. In this Navigator, we tackle the somewhat simpler and less controversial but still very important topic of fixed annuities.

To achieve their financial goals, clients must be able to trust their financial advisors. Unfortunately, the financial advice industry is rife with conflicting interests, misguided incentives, and confusing terminology.

Behavioral finance combines psychology and economics to explain how investors act. Instead of assuming that people (e.g., investors) always make rational financial decisions, behavioral finance proponents argue that behavioral biases strongly influence financial decisions. Unfortunately, behavioral biases can have a detrimental impact on investment results; thus, it is crucial for investors to be aware of, understand, and be able to identify the various behavioral biases that may impact their investment decisions.

When a loved one passes away, heirs are often burdened with substantial responsibilities relating to the estate division and other personal matters. Heirs’ responsibilities may include preparing funeral arrangements, reconciling financial accounts, selling assets, and coordinating various commitments. These tasks add stress to an already difficult and emotional time. To mitigate the stress and confusion that your heirs will inevitably experience after your death, we recommend you assemble a detailed outline of your personal affairs, which we are calling a “Roadmap for Heirs”.

Variable annuities are highly complex financial instruments that, despite their popularity, appear to be unsuitable for most investors. While these vehicles offer various theoretical guarantees that may appear attractive to certain investors, the exorbitant costs, poor liquidity, and potentially low returns offered by variable annuities raise questions about their appropriateness for many investors.

In our financial advisory role, we seek to work with clients to address the full spectrum of their financial needs. The investments we manage are on the asset side of our clients’ balance sheets, but it is just as important to make good judgments on the liability side. This Navigator is intended to provide useful and actionable information regarding the lending capabilities available at the two main custodians our clients use: Pershing, a division of Bank of New York Mellon, and Charles Schwab. In addition, we discuss other services that these custodians, and their affiliates, offer to Pekin Hardy clients.

The costs associated with college education in the United States have skyrocketed over the past 40 years, creating significant financial challenges for families who wish to provide for their children’s education. The large and growing financial burden posed by college education calls for thoughtful planning and disciplined saving on the part of parents. Fortunately, valuable savings tools are available to help families meet their education savings goals. This article discusses the most common education savings vehicles and provides guidance regarding the extent to which families should consider saving for education. Additionally, we discuss alternative strategies for helping families meet the financial challenges posed by college education costs.

The purpose of this Navigator is to explain the basics of Social Security benefits, to discuss a few particularly useful strategies, and to provide additional resources that may be useful for anyone who is thinking about how to optimize his or her Social Security benefits. We are providing a general summary and approach towards Social Security, while recognizing that each individual’s situation will undoubtedly be unique. Your specific questions about Social Security may not be addressed through this overview; please reach out to us for more personalized advice on this topic if you have such questions.

Life insurance can be a highly effective risk management tool that should have a place in most Americans’ comprehensive financial plans, but life insurance products should not be viewed as investments for a number of reasons. For most people, a term life insurance policy should provide cost-effective protection against the financial repercussions of the untimely demise of a family member while leaving the policyholder free to invest his or her capital in suitable investments.

For many individuals, an Umbrella insurance policy is an important form of added protection; for affluent individuals, such coverage can be critical. The maximum possible loss that can impact a policyholder’s possessions is generally quantifiable and limited by their value; loss from liability to third- parties is both unknown and potentially devastating. An Umbrella policy serves to greatly reduce this exposure and can be an essential part of an individual’s portfolio of personal protection coverages.

The cost of long-term care has risen materially over the past few decades, creating financial hardship for millions of aging Americans and their families. As the cost of care continues to increase, so too does the need for a sound strategy for managing these potential costs. Purchasing long-term care insurance is one such strategy. This article discusses the structure of long-term care insurance, its advantages and drawbacks, and some key points to consider when deciding if long-term care insurance should be a part of your broader financial plan. In addition, we examine some alternative methods of managing this potential risk.

The risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud has risen to an alarming level for most Americans, yet both the frequency and severity of these crimes continue to accelerate. Investors must be especially wary of this risk, given the potential consequences that could occur if their confidential personal information were to fall into the wrong hands. In this article, we discuss some of the specific risks that investors face with regard to identity theft, as well as some of the measures that they can take to reduce their risk of becoming a victim and to minimize the damage that could be caused if they do, in fact, fall victim to identity theft.