benrosenthalft

Your Cheat Sheet of Important Ages for Retirement Planning

When I worked as a U.S. financial advisor, I had to familiarize myself with a number of age-related rules, such as “How old do you have to be to start collectin...

Some Things to Be Aware of When Choosing a Fee-Based Financial Advisor

You’ve probably heard that when it comes to working with a financial advisor, you should choose a fee-based advisor (meaning one whose compensation doesn’t vary...

A Special Window of Opportunity for Roth IRAs

Happy New Year! If you’re familiar with my work, you know I’m a fan of Roth IRAs. Where else can you invest with almost total freedom and be able to look forwar...

How to (Legally) Exceed your Roth IRA Contribution Limits

I’ve written before that the easiest way to set yourself up with tax-free income (and the way that offers you the most investment freedom) is a Roth IRA. Howeve...

An Economical Way to Create an Instant Legacy

Today, I’m going to talk about a financial product that, like annuities, is highly controversial: cash value life insurance. Some people are staunch advocates o...

The Big One!

Ever since spring of 2009, when the stock market started to recover from its biggest meltdown that most of us alive today can remember, a lot of people have bee...

The Difference Between "Your Dreams" and "Your Purpose in Life"

I've always been a big fan of "following your dreams", but I've come to shift that to "finding and living your purpose in life". Why? Because a dream isn't nece...

Strategies for Coping with RMDs

This post is for anyone who has a pretax account and is at the stage of life when you have to take RMDs (required minimum distributions). (If this isn't you, it...

You Don’t Have to Work for Someone Else to Get a 401(k) & Pension!

A lot of “solopreneurs” (entrepreneurs with no employees) make the mistake of relying on their business as their sole retirement plan. But that’s like investing...

How to Make an Informed Decision about Annuities

(Photo by Jonathan Meyer from Pexels) In my last blog post, I talked about how annuities can provide value as a form of insurance against outliving your money, ...

A way to guarantee you never run out of money

(Photo by icon0.com from Pexels) Imagine if you had your own personal pension, guaranteed to send you a check every single month for the rest of your life (star...

Should I Contribute to the Retirement Plan at Work? (Part 5)

Up to now, we’ve focused on why you might want to put some of your paycheck into your 401(k) or other workplace retirement plan. Now, let’s turn to the question...

Should I Contribute to the Retirement Plan at Work? (Part 4)

Continuing from Part 3, here are a seventh and eighth scenario in which it might make sense to contribute to a workplace retirement plan. (7) You want to lock i...

Should I Contribute to the Retirement Plan at Work? (Part 3)

Continuing from Part 2, here are a fifth and sixth scenario in which it might make sense to contribute to a workplace retirement plan. (5) It’s a 457(b) (“Defer...

Should I Contribute to the Retirement Plan at Work? (Part 2)

Continuing from Part 1, here are a third and fourth scenario in which it might make sense to contribute to a workplace retirement plan. (3) You want to lower yo...

Should I Contribute to the Retirement Plan at Work? (Part 1)

In a recent post, I talked about how relying too heavily on your 401(k) as a retirement vehicle can lead to unintended tax consequences later in life. Well, ano...

The Easiest Tax-Free Account to Open

In my last post, I talked a little about tax-free accounts and how my wife and I are making use of them. So I thought it only fitting to introduce the easiest t...

Enjoy a Satisfying Tax Life! (Part 2)

In Part 1, we went over the hidden trap of making a pretax account like a 401(k) your primary retirement vehicle. Here, I want to give you some ideas on what yo...

Enjoy a Satisfying Tax Life! (Part 1)

Let’s face it: we all have a tax life. And most of us would like to make our tax life more satisfying (or at least less painful). Whatever your views on taxes a...

Lifes Blessings

Today I am going to write about the blessings that so many are often quick to overlook, while focusing on the negatives that surround them. I am going to use my...