Sivea Key 6/15/23 Sivea Key 6/15/23

How Do Your Retirement Savings Compare? [Updated for 2023]

According to Andrew Rosen’s article in Forbes, “Americans aren’t saving for retirement at all, or [not] enough.” We’ve updated our blog on retirement savings by age for 2023.

Sy 6/1/23 Sy 6/1/23

Lower Prescription Drug Costs - 2023

Rising drug costs and high inflation are hitting many people hard this year, leaving folks wondering where to find relief. If you or someone you’re caring for is looking for ways to lower prescription costs, this article is for you.

Sivea Key 5/18/23 Sivea Key 5/18/23

Giving Care Is Challenging - But What About Receiving Care?

Generally, the conversation about needing long term care to get through the day revolves around cost, availability, insurance and demands on care givers and family. Outside of professional caregiver forums, it’s rare to find a discussion of the emotional and physical distress of the person who receives care.

Sivea Key 4/27/23 Sivea Key 4/27/23

Sometimes Time Is On Your Side: Making Your Investment Work Twice as Hard For Your Family

Trying to balance work, children and anything resembling a personal life can sometimes feel impossible. Days rush by while dreams disappear into the future. Your budget feels stretched to the limit. How is it possible to keep the household expenses paid, pay for life insurance to protect the family in case you or your spouse pass away, put money away for the kids’ college costs, and still save for retirement? If this is happening to you and your children are high school age or younger, options may be here.

Sy 4/20/23 Sy 4/20/23

Long Term Care Planning - Even “Too Little Too Late” Can Be Enough

Are you one of the millions of adults who have let estate planning fall to the bottom your to do list for years? Does wondering about how you’ll pay for long term care nag at the back of your mind? Has life thrown some curve balls that smacked the life out of your retirement savings?

Sometimes it feels like it’s just too late or too hard to rescue your retirement dreams, but take a minute to remember all the times you’ve been knocked down yet found a way to get back on your feet.

Sivea Key 3/23/23 Sivea Key 3/23/23

A Tale of Two Small Estates: Lessons Learned

Last year brought home to me the reality of aging. My husband and I experienced five deaths of people close to us which included responsibilities for three of the estates. My mother, Joan, and a close family friend, Russell (through his wife Mary) chose me to handle their estates as Personal Representative – a role I’d never held before. Since both estates were small and had been prepared by the same local estate attorney, the comparison of how they turned out was eye opening.

Sivea Key 3/2/23 Sivea Key 3/2/23

What is Probate? How Does Probate Affect My Heirs?

Most of us have either experienced or heard about long, expensive, painful Probate proceedings. Many of us wonder if avoiding Probate will protect our legacy and ease the burden on our beneficiaries when we pass. As with most things involving the law, there’s no one answer.

Sy 2/23/23 Sy 2/23/23

Inflation Shock? Here Are Some Tips For Improving Your Retirement Income

During the current high inflation, many of us are rethinking our retirement plans and wondering if we’ll outlive our savings. If you’re still working and saving for retirement, it’s not too late to make some changes to account for higher inflation. If you find yourself in a bind with an unexpected expense or a view of the end of your retirement income, you may be able to recoup some funds.

Sivea Key 2/15/23 Sivea Key 2/15/23

9 Tips for Giving Care From Far Away

Chances are you or someone you know has opened their heart and dedicated their time as an unpaid caregiver. But what happens when a loved one that needs care is too far away to help day to day? The good news is that there are ways to lend support from a distance.

Sivea Key 2/2/23 Sivea Key 2/2/23

Love and Challenges - Caring for Loved Ones

According to the latest statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association, over 11 million Americans provide unpaid care (totaling more than 16 billion hours) for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. 1 in 3 seniors die with dementia. Like many of you, I am one of those eleven million Americans who has cared for a family member – my mother.

Sivea Key 1/26/23 Sivea Key 1/26/23

How Can IRAs Affect Estate Planning?

Estate planning is more than wills and powers of attorney. It’s having some control over what happens to your assets when you pass on. One of the most commonly used retirement savings plans, after 401(k)s, are IRAs. Many folks will pass away with assets in their IRAs yet most of us don’t think of IRAs as a part of our legacy.

Sivea Key 1/19/23 Sivea Key 1/19/23

Is the LegacyLock Estate Planning Package Worth It?

The folks at LegacyLock believe helping people is good business and they feel their success speaks for itself. They’ve worked hard to build an estate process that includes all the documents for your estate plan, a living trust, healthcare and financial power of attorneys, living will and advanced directives with simple, clear instructions.

Sivea Key 1/12/23 Sivea Key 1/12/23

How to Plan a Loving Legacy

Spending time with family and friends during the holidays may have you wondering about what you will happen when you leave this mortal coil. So many questions come up! None of these questions are easy to think about. But not knowing the answers can keep a person up at night. Our mission is to help you find a measure of safety and peace of mind. That’s why we’ve brought LegacyLock to the table.

Sivea Key 1/5/23 Sivea Key 1/5/23

How Do You Know If Your Retirement Plan Will Work?

When do you want to find out if your retirement plan will work? If your answer is “Before it’s too late!” you are exactly the type of person who can benefit from a Retirement Analyzer review with us. Together we can take a peek into the future – look at the probability of success for your game plan – then work to fine tune it effectively.

Sivea Key 12/29/22 Sivea Key 12/29/22

How to Make Financial Decisions Today That Strengthen Your Retirement Long Game

Whatever today’s pressing need might be, it stands to reason that when you can see where you are and you’re going a certain type of solution will make more sense than another.

That’s what completing a Retirement Analyzer review can do for you - help you build your long term strategy. Then, as each life stage comes along, you can review your plan and better understand what type of protection can help make the whole plan stronger.

Sivea Key 12/13/22 Sivea Key 12/13/22

Retirement Game Plan

Today we bring you Retirement Game Plan, a system to guide you through your retirement journey. It combines two powerful software tools into one integrated process - Thomas Gold’s Retirement Analyzer software and LegacyLock’s estate planning software. Retirement Analyzer allows us to put together a complete picture of your financial situation then look at it from different angles. It helps you figure out what you need to protect yourself and your loved ones during your lifetime. LegacyLock allows you to build estate documents and revocable trusts based on attorney built, state specific templates.

Sivea Key 12/1/22 Sivea Key 12/1/22

How to Pick a Medicare Plan in 2022 - [Video]

Medicare may be confusing, but the good news is that the complexity means you have a lot of choices. The key to choosing a plan is to narrow down the options by focusing on your unique situation. Start your list of priorities by considering your current health plan.

Sivea Key 11/17/22 Sivea Key 11/17/22

More Robocall Relief Ahead

Some good news in the midst of a dark year: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finally took aggressive measures to shut down unwanted robocalls and texts. Hopefully we’ll all find some relief.

Sivea Key 11/3/22 Sivea Key 11/3/22

Medicare Parts Explained 2022 - [Video]

Medicare In Depth: 2022

There are essentially three different Medicare “parts,” each offering a different aspect of coverage. Additionally, there are Medicare Advantaged plans, which take a more all-in-one approach. Let’s take a look at each of the types of plans.

Sivea Key 10/20/22 Sivea Key 10/20/22

What Does the Inflation Reduction Act Do for Medicare Rx?

In August of 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law. More than 80% of both political parties support this bill. Unusual in itself. Among the many, many provisions in the IRA, there are history making changes to Medicare Prescription Drug Plans. Medicare experts and attorneys are still analyzing the bill to tease out the changes that affect Medicare members. Here’s a summary of what’s been reported so far.