As retirement approaches: Become as well-prepared emotionally as you are financially

A well-planned retirement is something to look forward to. Those who are paying attention to the financial aspects are setting the stage “where they can experience their second childhood without parental supervision,” says Kenneth Moraif, CFP®, CRPC®, senior retirement planner and founder at Retirement Planners of America. Done right, “it can be like having the whole summer off for the rest of your life.”

When weighing retirement investment options and your tax responsibilities, your answer to this question is pivotal.
Do you want to pay taxes while you are working and socking away funds for retirement, or pay taxes when you stop working and begin withdrawing those saved funds?

Your answer determines if you will use tax-deferred accounts or tax-exempt accounts. Tax-deferred accounts are funded with monies that pay taxes later – when the money is taken out for spending. This strategy potentially creates a situation in which the saver’s income falls within a lower income tax bracket than

Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone keeps looking for a return to “normal.” We long for life to settle down – especially when it comes to our finances. However, as the saying goes, “normal” is just a setting on the clothes dryer.

Some suggest that we’re moving into a “new normal” as evidenced by our new standards for social interactions and workplace rules. But this new normal extends beyond replacing handshakes with hand sanitizer.

Behind the Scenes of Restaurant: Impossible

As of December 2020, more than 110,000 U.S. restaurants were closed for business temporarily, or permanently, according to the National Restaurant Association. America’s eating and drinking establishments finished 2020 nearly 2.5 million jobs below the pre-coronavirus level, and total restaurant and food service industry sales fell by $240 billion in 2020.
Staggering data by almost any measure, the restaurant sector was negatively impacted more than any other industry in the country, according to the Washington-based association.

But they lack confidence in their skills

Nearly half of American teens say they are concerned that their general lack of understanding basic financial matters will keep them from achieving economic security in their adult lives.
In a new survey from Junior Achievement – the national organization dedicated to helping high school students learn how to run businesses and gain financial skills – 46 percent of the respondents ranging in age from 13 to 17 indicated they view their own lack of knowledge regarding money matters as a “major” barrier to their future financial security.

What May Keep Working During the Pandemic Recovery

Hindsight is 20/20 as they say – and as we look back on the year 2020 the idiom serves us well.

Entering the second quarter of 2021, financial advisors across America are sharing what strategies worked as they advised their clients throughout the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic – and how it shapes their approach moving forward.

The consulting industry in the United States generates more than $150 billion in revenue a year, according to the website Consulting.us. The number of independent operators is steadily rising and most consulting firms are solo enterprises.

Among those more than 700,000 consultants in the U.S., Steve Mayer, PhD, PE (professional engineer) — and owner/principal of SF Mayer LLC — is likely one of the few who use poems to help set him apart. Writing poetry is one of his creative outlets.