Some couples elect to consolidate their personal finances, while others largely keep their financial lives separate. What choice might suit your household?

A major shift has occurred in the financial world. More and more financial professionals have moved away from the industry’s traditional compensation model to a new one — in the eyes of many of them, a better one.

Imagine an income stream you cannot outlive. That sums up the appeal of an annuity. If you are interested in steady retirement income (and the potential to defer taxes), you might want to look at the potential offered by annuities. Before making the leap, however, you must understand how they work.

Imagine an income stream you cannot outlive. That sums up the appeal of an annuity. If you are interested in steady retirement income (and the potential to defer taxes), you might want to look at the potential offered by annuities. Before making the leap, however, you must understand how they work.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, more than 70 percent of the nation’s taxpayers received a tax refund in 2017, averaging nearly $3,000, and they will get a similar amount this year.

Many people save and invest vaguely for the future. They know they need to accumulate money for retirement, but when it comes to how much they will need or how they will do it, they are not quite sure. They will “wing it,” hope for the best, and see how it goes. How do they know they are rea…

As a young woman, you have an opportunity to make some major financial strides. You truly have time on your side when it comes to investing, saving and harnessing the power of compounding. Now is the time to pay yourself first and do those things that could make you wealthy in the future.

When you marry or simply share a household with someone, your financial life changes — and your approach to managing your money may change as well. To succeed as a couple, you may also have to succeed financially. The good news is that is usually not so difficult.

What kind of retirement do you think you’ll have? Qualitatively speaking, what if the success or failure of your retirement begins with your perception of retirement?

Stocks sometimes retreat. That reality can be overlooked in a long bull market. Bear markets do appear, and a deep downturn could force you to sell securities in retirement, so you can pay for necessary expenses.

Behaviors worth changing for the New Year

Build your emergency fund this year

Is 80 percent of your portfolio held in equities? Perhaps it is without you realizing it. You could invite this risk, and others, if you go too long without rebalancing your portfolio.

An executive transitions into a consulting role at age 62 and stops working altogether at 65; then he becomes a buyer for a church network at 69. A corporate IT professional decides to conclude her career at age 58; she serves as a city council member in her 60s, then opens an art studio at 70.

Are you making charitable donations this holiday season? If so, you should know about some of the financial “fine print” involved, as the right moves could potentially bring more of a benefit to the charity and to you.

Some of us may retire at 65 and live to 100 or 105. Advances in health care may make this a strong possibility. The corresponding question is: will we outlive our money?

You may have seen this statistic before or one resembling it: the average 65-year-old retiring couple can now expect to pay more than $250,000 in health-care expenses during the rest of their lives.

Whether your 65th birthday is on the horizon or decades away, you should understand the parts of Medicare – what they cover and where they come from.

When you buy a home, are you investing? If you buy it to flip it or buy it as a rental property, the answer is yes. If you buy a home simply to live in it, the answer may be no.

We have seen some uneasy times lately. Uneasiness impacts the financial markets. When it does, we all need to keep some long-term perspective in mind. Those who race to the sidelines and exit equities may regret the choice when crises pass.

As you start a family, you start to think about certain financial matters. Before you became a mom or dad, you may not have thought about it much, but so many things change when you have kids.

Whether you want to leave work at 62, 67 or 70, claiming the retirement benefits you are entitled to by federal law is no casual decision. You will want to consider a few key factors first.

Picture an 18-wheeler, its 4,000-cubic-foot cargo trailer filled to capacity with stacks of $100 bills. The driver shuts and locks the trailer, closing the door on roughly $10 billion.

Directly and indirectly, you might be able to save more per month than you think. Hidden paths to greater savings can be found at home and at work, and their potential might surprise you.

Are you an owner of a thriving business or a medical or legal practice? Are you a highly paid executive? If you have children, at some point they may discern how wealthy you are — and in turn, learn how “rich” they are. How will you handle that moment? How will they handle that knowledge?