Blog - North Light Financial Services

How Could a Fed Rate Hike Affect Retirees?

How Could a Fed Rate Hike Affect Retirees? As the central bank starts tightening, some positives & negatives may emerge. Economists widely expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this month. Additional incremental rate hikes may follow in 2016. If you are retired (or soon will be), you will want to consider what gradually higher interest rates could mean for you financially. Some of the effects are already being felt. Glancing at Freddie Mac’s weekly surveys, average interest [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:17-04:00December 3rd, 2015|Business/Economic News, Interest Rates, Investing|Comments Off

The End of File & Suspend for Married Couples

The End of File & Suspend for Married Couples A great claiming strategy to try & optimize Social Security benefits disappears. Congress just changed the Social Security benefit rules. On October 30, Capitol Hill lawmakers approved a two-year federal budget deal. As part of that agreement, they authorized the most significant change to Social Security policy seen in this century, disallowing two popular strategies people have used to try and maximize retirement benefits.1 Dreamstime image id 6253 The [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:17-04:00November 23rd, 2015|Congress, Personal Finance, Social Security|Comments Off

Terrorism & the Financial Markets

Terrorism & the Financial Markets Wall Street has the potential to recover quickly from geopolitical shocks. The worst terrorist attack in Europe since 2004 has rattled governments and investors. The French government has closed the nation’s borders and placed thousands of soldiers on the streets of the country’s major cities.1 As an anxious world watches the response of France (and perhaps other nations) to the ISIS attacks, there is also concern about European and global financial markets. Wall Street, which [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:17-04:00November 16th, 2015|Business/Economic News, International, Stock Market|Comments Off

End-of-the-Year Money Moves

End-of-the-Year Money Moves Here are some things you might want to do before saying goodbye to 2015. What has changed for you in 2015? Did you start a new job or leave a job behind? Did you retire? Did you start a family? If notable changes occurred in your personal or professional life, then you will want to review your finances before this year ends and 2016 begins. Even if your 2015 has been relatively uneventful, the end of the [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:18-04:00October 30th, 2015|Financial Fitness, Income Taxes, Saving & Budgeting|Comments Off

National Save for Retirement Week

National Save for Retirement Week Are you on target to reach your retirement goals? October 18-24 is National Save for Retirement Week – a reminder of the importance of saving and investing with the goal of a comfortable future. Are Americans saving enough for tomorrow? All kinds of articles will tell you that Americans are not. Those articles may not be telling the entire story, however. Undeniably, the average IRA balance in this country is smaller than it should be. [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:18-04:00October 16th, 2015|Retirement, Savings and Investing, Well-being|Comments Off