Retirement is just as much a leap of faith as any other significant life change. No matter how much you prepare, you will only really understand all the implications when you start your new life. That’s one reason we believe that the first requirement of a good retirement plan is that it needs to be flexible enough to efficiently encompass changes in your life as you adjust to your new situation. How do we get to maximum flexibility? It starts with avoiding retirement risks…

The New Year’s resolutions process starts with good intentions, an honest assessment of how things are now, and then a visualization of what you want your new life to look like. The next step is usually action – going to the gym, starting a diet, limiting alcohol, whatever your goal is, the first few weeks and months of the year are when the desire begins to go beyond intentions and starts to be implemented in your life…

The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 makes it easier to accumulate retirement savings at every stage of the financial journey. But the Act also took steps to potentially enhance retirement savings for those close to or in retirement. Required minimum distributions (RMDs) can be burdensome from both an income and a tax planning perspective. The Act creates some breathing room by extending the age at which RMDs kick in and builds in some opportunities to prepare a multi-year plan to maximize income and minimize taxes…