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Financial Independence Day
by Michelle Smalenberger, Financial Design Studio, Inc.
Independence Day means different things to different people. To some it means the Declaration of Independence for our country. To others it’s a favorite movie or even the day they finally retire.
I love to read books, blogs, or articles. I recently came across the concept of independence defined by the acronym F.I.R.E.
F: Financial
I: Independence
R: Retire
E: Early
This simply means the ability to have and to make choices. So to each person this is going to mean something different. What does Financial Independence mean to you?
She Who Dies with the Highest Net Worth...
by Britton Gregory, Seaborn Financial, LLC
...loses.
Bet you thought I was going to say "still dies", didn't you? No -- it's worse than that.
We've talked a lot about the importance of cash flow management on the blog these past few weeks. We've discussed how it's the foundation of financial success. We've gone into "four rules" of cash flow management. In particular, I'd like to draw your attention to Rule #1: Give Every Dollar A Job. If you die while sitting on top of hundreds of thousands -- or millions -- of dollars in net worth, have you really followed rule #1?
How Do You Stack Up?
by Steven Geri, Denny Park Investments
Employees at technology companies—as a group—are highly compensated. Nonetheless, it may not feel like it, given the high cost of living in tech hubs like Seattle or the San Francisco Bay Area.
To keep grounded in reality, I look forward every three years to the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances for the latest household income and net worth trends—a little financial voyeurism.
How do your finances stack up? Are you accumulating assets faster or slower than your peers? How does your income and net worth compare to the rest of the country?
Your HSA Is Better than Your 401(k) for Retirement Savings. Don’t Waste it on Actual Health Care Costs
by Meg Bartelt, Flow Financial Planning, LLC
Like you, I’ve been going through Open Enrollment lately. Only I’ve been going through a whole bunch of open enrollments, for all of my clients. (It’s actually pretty cool, being able to compare—and, perforce, contrast—what a variety of tech companies offer to their employees.)
One conversation I keep running into is how you should best use a Health Savings Account (HSA), which you can get if you select a high-deductible health care plan.
So, let’s start with the end of the story:
Your best use of an HSA is to save for retirement, not to pay for current health care costs.
Now let’s get into the “hunh?” and “but how?” part of the story.
Your HSA Is Better than Your 401(k) for Retirement Savings. Don’t Waste it on Actual Health Care Costs
A growing contingent of millennials and Gen Xers are stashing away between 40 to 80 percent of their take-home pay to join the FIRE movement. Their goal is to reach financial independence and free themselves from their corporate nine to five’s, allowing them to travel, raise families and work on their own terms. The lucky ones are reaching Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) in as little as five to 10 years by working hard to increase their earning while simultaneously living a lifestyle of frugality.
Caring for Retiring Parents
by Nathan Schorsch, Head to Toe Financial
Most of my clients fall into a younger demographic by design, which means that I frequently get the question of how to take care of aging parents. We would of course prefer that all financial aspects be taken care of as our parents enter retirement, but it’s often far more complicated and may require your significant involvement in making sure the process works smoothly. While there are some support systems for those of retirement age like Social Security and Medicare coverage, life can be unexpected and bring unexpected costs. To that end, I wanted to discuss some of the top issues to be aware of as you care for your aging parents.
The High Cost of Healthcare in Retirement
by Robert Stoll, Honey Lake Advisors LLC
Last week I talked about using Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as another form of retirement savings account. The reason is that HSAs enjoy a “triple-tax” advantage that other accounts don’t enjoy.
The question is: How can you figure out your healthcare costs in retirement? The honest answer is that it’s difficult to pin down an exact dollar amount for a cost as uncertain as healthcare. But there are 3 factors you should be thinking about when trying to “size” your retirement healthcare costs.
Following along with the blogs of financial advisors is a great way to access valuable, educational information about finance — and it doesn’t cost you a thing! Our financial planners love to share their knowledge and help everyone regardless of age or assets.
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