Now that the Powerball winner has come forward to claim her prize of $758 million (before taxes), you can’t turn on the television or radio without hearing the word “annuity.” The winner of the lottery had a very important choice to make, and that was whether to an after tax lump sum, or the pay taxes and receive income for life. This got me thinking about the number of people who don’t understand exactly what an annuity is and how it can be beneficial to their lives when used in the following situations:

I was Driving down the Mass Pike this past weekend and saw a billboard that really caught my attention. It read, "We spend more time liking Facebook posts than we do planning for retirement." Isn't that the truth? Part of a good overall financial plan is to have enough in retirement, but it's just as crucial to have enough to cover the unexpected.

Introduction:
For most of my adult life and career as a broadcast journalist, I focused on daily challenges and deadlines. I worked really hard as a consumer reporter and advocate, protecting people from scams and rip-offs, providing information and advising them on what NOT to do; how NOT to waste their money.

Now, after retiring from television news, I'm doing the same thing, but in a different way - telling people what they SHOULD do to protect themselves, their money and their futures.

INTRODUCTION:

Probate is a legal proceeding conducted by a state court that oversees and manages the distribution of your property and estate after you die. Probate rules vary from state to state, but the main purpose of probate is to clear title ownership on your property so that it can pass from you to your beneficiaries as dictated by your will or by the laws of intestacy, if you don’t have a will. The probate process ends in a decree from the court that provides evidence that title has transferred and ensures that the property goes to those family members and loved ones you want to receive it.

June is annuity awareness month. How did this come about and why? In 2015, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts proclaimed June Annuity Awareness Month, to "educate consumers on annuity benefits, support them in considering annuities... and encourage them to seek professional advice for implementing annuities effectively in their income and legacy planning."

What if everything people were being told about retirement planning was not true?
Well, maybe lie is too strong a word. Perhaps misleading is better… or outdated. There, that’s it; outdated. Everythig we’re being told about retirement planning is outdated.

We’re all told to max out our 401k, 403b or other employer-sponsored plan. And when we’re done with that, we should put more money into an IRA or a Roth IRA, unless of course you can’t because of the restrictions and phase-outs. Here’s the big problem though. Things have changed, and they’re really important things.

The other day, a customer thanked me for being so kind on the phone. I thought that was odd. After all, it is my job to serve our customers. If I wasn’t kind to them, how would that be considered customer service? 

The fathers of the 401(k) plan as we know it today never intended it to replace the traditional pension plans most workers used to enjoy. But that’s exactly what’s happened over the last 30+ years. That’s what these individuals recently told the Wall Street Journal.

Many of our clients want to make sure that their assets stay in the family after they pass away.

In order to eliminate any potential risk to your wishes, we use trusts.

I have 4 kids. Two are in college and 2 are still in high school. As we were all sitting at the same table recently for Thanksgiving, I thought to myself, I really love having my kids around, even if it’s only for a few short days during Thanksgiving break.