Time Magazine presents a poignant article today that gets to the heart of why so many people are in dire straits with their retirement. I can safely say that if you’re a regular reader or client of Annuity Straight Talk, you’re taking action to ensure this sad fate does not strike you- The article underscores [...]

Read The Post Here: Why Annuities Are The Answer- And Are A Tough Sell

Knowing when to take Social Security can be a real chore.  We frequently work with clients to determine the optimal time to take the benefits.  There are different ways to calculate the benefits of waiting, and this recent WSJournal article equates the return to a bond investment, with a surprisingly high payoff.

Consider [...]

Read The Post Here: How to Beat Bonds Using Social Security

This week, from SmartMoney, I’m going to feature a story about a supposed scam about two brothers from England who developed a magical strategy for picking stocks and selling advice. The SEC charges that this scam involved the brothers selling newsletter subscriptions to unwitting investors who believed in the ability of a mythical robot to [...]

Read The Post Here: Stock Picking Robots

This may be a little late but some of you may be looking for a few tax ideas at the last minute. If not then save this article for next year so you have a nice head start. Last week, Forbes published a very helpful piece that talks about several strategies that will help lighten [...]

Read The Post Here: Tax Bracket Magic… Forbes

What is your plan for retirement income? Traditional asset management with a 4% annual distribution is a popular idea with professional advisors and consumers alike. New research from the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Institute suggests this approach to be far too simple. An article published last week in Smart Money covers many of the potential [...]

Read The Post Here: The 4% Retirement Income Solution

Most people consider April 15th to be the only tax deadline they need to worry about, or the 17th if we’re talking specifically about this year. Well if you are withdrawing money from a qualified retirement account then April 1st is not a day you should forget either.

April 1st of the year following when [...]

Read The Post Here: Tax Talk- Did You Forget April 1st?

Perhaps one of the best ways to protect and conserve wealth in retirement is to purchase a quality long-term care insurance policy. My intention here is not to spout a litany of statistics right now but suffice it to say that research has shown that a large percentage of retirees will need some form of [...]

Read The Post Here: Consider Long-Term Care Insurance

Health care costs are without a doubt one of the greatest unknown factors we typically deal with when helping people decide exactly how much income is needed in retirement. Sure, Medicare will cover many of the costs for retirees past age 65, but what if you’d like to retire before then? And even if Medicare [...]

Read The Post Here: How to Control Health Care Costs

Many people we speak with have considered moving to a new state for retirement in order to lighten their tax burden. When you really think about it, some states take 10% or more which can have a substantial effect on retirement cash flow. If you’ve ever wondered whether your dream retirement locale might leave you [...]

Read The Post Here: The Most Tax-Friendly Retirement States

Understanding  the benefits of an index annuity can be a daunting task for investors, but it’s totally worth the effort to become proficient and give these a serious look.

Index Annuities are very safe investments much like a fixed annuity, yet they have the possibility for gains linked to a market index.  And further, they [...]

Read The Post Here: New Index Annuity Calculator