When a Minor is a Beneficiary

Naming a minor as a beneficiary brings up a major concern. If parents or grandparents make a child a primary or contingent beneficiary of an insurance policy, IRA or investment account, they should be aware that most policies and investments will not directly transfer to a minor. They need to be received by a court-approved property guardian, a trustee of a children’s trust, or a revocable living trust beforehand.1

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Is It Time for Life Insurance?

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Many younger Americans lack life insurance. A 2014 report from insurance industry analyst LIMRA found that only a third of Gen Y Americans have any life insurance coverage. In the same survey of 6,000 respondents, six in 10 Gen X and Gen Y Americans said their households would be hard pressed to make ends meet if their primary breadwinner passed away.1

Why don’t more young adults buy life insurance? Shopping for coverage may seem confusing, boring, or unnecessary. Yet when you have kids, get married, buy a house or live a lifestyle funded by significant salaries, the need arises. Insurers are trying to make it easier these days, not only by making more choices accessible online but by shortening the window of time it takes to approve a policy.1

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An IRA – A Simple First Step in a Physician’s Retirement Plan

Retirement planning can easily start with these accounts.

When a physician decides to start saving for retirement, taking that “first step” can seem like a big deal. Opening an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) amounts to an easy “first step” in many physicians’ retirement plans.
When you invest through a traditional or Roth IRA, you give those invested assets the potential to grow with compounding and you also position yourself for present or future tax savings.

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What’s Your Financial Health Score?

 

Can a 5-question test predict how wealthy you will become?

In the future, will you become wealthier or poorer? Who knows, right? It seems like you would need a crystal ball to really answer that question given life’s up and downs. What if the answer is right in front of you? What if you can determine it from your present financial behaviors? Two economists present a brief questionnaire – and an audacious claim that these five questions can predict your financial future.

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A Physician’s Estate Planning Checklist

8 Things to Check & Double-Check as you Prepare

Estate planning is a task that people tend to put off, as any discussion of “the end” tends to be off-putting.

However, those who die without their financial affairs in good order risk leaving their heirs some significant problems along with their legacies.

No matter what your age, here are some things you may want to accomplish this year with regard to estate planning.

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Saving & Investing In Your Family’s Growing Years

It may seem like a tall order, but it can be accomplished.

If you have a young, growing family, no doubt your to-do list is pretty long on any given day. Beyond today, you are probably working on another kind of to-do list for the long term. Where does “saving and investing” rank on that list?

Plan to put yourself steps ahead of your peers. 

For some families, it never quite ranks high enough – and it never becomes the priority it should become. Assorted financial pressures, sudden shifts in household needs, bad luck – they can all move “saving and investing” down the list. Even so, young families have planned to build wealth in the face of such stresses. You can follow their example. It is less an option than a necessity.

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How to Work With An Investment Advisor

When it comes to working with an investment advisor, the value you receive is based in the quality of the relationship you establish and his or her ability to meet, or even exceed, your expectations.

Most clients don’t mind paying a fee for investment advice, and many don’t expect their advisors to perform superhuman feats with their portfolios; however, they do expect their advisors to fulfill their commitment to providing superior service that includes frequent communications, transparency, and conflict-free guidance.

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10 Benefits of a Roth IRA

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Why do so many people choose them over traditional IRAs?

The IRA that changed the whole retirement savings perspective. Since the Roth IRA was introduced, it has become a fixture in many retirement planning strategies.

We can sum up the key argument for going Roth in a sentence: Paying taxes on your retirement contributions today is better than paying taxes on your retirement savings tomorrow.

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