How U.S. Savings Bonds Work How to keep track of your savings bonds’ maturity dates. Did you buy U.S. Savings Bonds decades ago? Or did your parents or grandparents purchase them for you? If they’re collecting dust in a drawer, you may want to take a look at them to see if any of your bonds have matured. If your bonds have matured, that means they are no longer earning interest, and it also means you may want to consider [...]
The Need for Power of Attorney POAs and other advanced directives are becoming more important The point of the POA. A power of attorney (POA) is a legal instrument that delegates an individual’s legal authority to another person. If an individual is incapacitated, the POA assigns a trusted party to make decisions on his or her behalf. There are nondurable, springing, and durable powers of attorney. A nondurable power of attorney often comes into play in real estate transactions, or [...]
Measuring the Value of a Financial Professional Findings suggest that these relationships can make a difference for investors. What is a relationship with a financial professional worth to an investor? A 2019 study by Vanguard, one of the world’s largest money managers, attempted to answer that question. Vanguard’s whitepaper, concluded that when an investor works with a professional and receives that level of investment advice, they may see a net portfolio return about 3% higher over time.1 How did this [...]
2020 IRA Deadlines Are Approaching Here is what you need to know. Financially, many of us associate April with taxes – but we should also associate December with important IRA deadlines. December 31, 2021 is the deadline to take your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from certain individual retirement accounts. April 15, 2021 is the deadline for making annual contributions to a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and certain other retirement accounts.1 Some people may not realize when they can make their [...]
Year-End Estate Strategies What you need to know to get ready for the end of the year. With one year ending and a new one on the cusp of starting, many people will consider their resolutions—not their estate strategy. But the end of the year is a great time to sit down and review your preparations, especially when you're spending more time with your loved ones; even more important if you have a complicated estate that may need to get [...]
