For Mark Roberts' Use: Do you imagine what will happen to your estate after your death? Undoubtedly, you want your loved once to receive what you've left them, and you don't want it to take a long time. But if your estate is subject to the probate process, the lengthy process could prove to be [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Whether you're preparing for retirement or you've already begun that chapter in your life, you know that making every dollar count is a major key to your financial success. Before retirement, stretching your budget helps you to find extra money to stash in savings. After retirement, living a thrifty life helps your [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Back in your working days, you looked forward to your annual raise. It helped to offset inflation, and provided you with extra cash to spend on luxury items or save for retirement. Now that you're retired, you may find that your “raises” from Social Security are less exciting. But you still need [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Inflation – the rise in prices of goods and services over time – can have a significant impact on your retirement budget. Once you stop working, you will most likely be faced with the prospect of living on a fixed income for the rest of your life. When prices of food, [...]
For Mark Roberts's Use: Estate planning can be a complicated process for anyone. You have to consider the possible needs of your heirs during a difficult time in life, and balance those needs with the legal and tax ramifications of your decisions. As a business owner, you have the same considerations of anyone else, but [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Throughout your career, contributions to the Social Security fund have been deducted from your paychecks. You expect those benefits to be available to you when you need them someday, and you may even be depending upon Social Security as a significant part of your future retirement income. It's important to keep [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: As you approach your retirement years, it's time to start thinking about your future budget. Once you quit working, you'll be living off a combination of Social Security and the pension or investment income you've managed to establish during your career. As you enter the home stretch of your working years, [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Employer-sponsored retirement plans are a valuable tool in securing your financial future. But like most tools, they must be used correctly in order to achieve the best results. Managing the assets within your retirement plan can be confusing. While it's important to keep in mind that there is no single plan [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: The Social Security administration has announced that all benefits recipients will see a 1.7 percent increase in their monthly checks, beginning January 15, 2015. The increase is due to the program's annual cost of living adjustment (COLA), which is tied to the Consumer Price Index. When prices of goods and services [...]
For Mark Roberts' Use: Most people are aware that having life insurance is important, but a much bigger question is usually, “How much life insurance do I need?”. The truth is that there is no single answer that will work for everyone. But there are definitely factors most of us need to consider before arriving [...]