Amazingly, just 28 percent of Americans received a passing grade (60 percent or higher) when asked basic Social Security questions, a new study from MassMutual finds. Moreover, from a pool of 1,500 respondent’s ages 18 to 65, just one person answered all 10 questions correctly. The quiz touched on a range of topics, including the national retirement age, spousal benefits and eligibility for benefits. The high failure rate suggests what a number of advisors already know: Too many Americans … [Read more...]
What Makes You Different From All the Other Financial Professionals?
The career of a financial services professional is, by far, the best job in the world. This is particularly true for investment professionals and wealth managers. We have the unique opportunity to build our own dreams, rather than helping other companies and business owners build theirs. We are directly in control of our success or failure. Best of all, the only possible way we can achieve long-term success is if our clients succeed. Think about that for a minute. What could be better than … [Read more...]
#10 of the Top 10 IRA Mistakes (Full Download Included)
Mistake #10 – Not Getting a Second Opinion Here is a PDF version of the entire 10 mistakes – your’s for free. (Best used by having your clients or prospects read) 10th mistake of 10 from the Book “Top 10 IRA Mistakes and How to avoid IRS Tax Traps” Failure to seek counsel from a second source is the granddaddy of all retirement planning mistakes. It is how many investors and retirees find themselves taking financial losses, and paying unnecessary taxes, penalties, fees and loads. … [Read more...]
Term Vs. Whole Life – Why Rent If You Can Afford to Own?
For decades, economists, financial advisors and insurance agents have studied, researched and offered a wide variety of ways to explain the differences between Term and Whole Life Insurance. Regardless of how you choose to review the key differences, client decisions almost always boil down to cash flow. Is it affordable and will it fit into their budget? When you remove the real estate downturn and mortgage problems of recent years, owning a home has traditionally been a much better … [Read more...]
#9 of the Top 10 IRA Mistakes
Mistake #9 – Too Many Retirement Accounts (Best used by having your clients or prospects read) 9th of 10 from the Book “Top 10 IRA Mistakes and How to avoid IRS Tax Traps” Stay tuned for “Mistake 10” People saving for their retirement years commonly find themselves with more accounts than they know what to do with. How does this happen? Throughout our working years, we have sporadic opportunities to save for retirement and we are told diversification is the key to retirement … [Read more...]