There are no rules of thumb as it relates to your Social Security planning, and each and every situation is different. You get one chance to make the correct claiming strategy, and you don’t want to get it wrong. But over the years of helping people plan for the overall Social Security claiming strategy, below is a list of life hacks as it relates to Social Security. GENERAL Social Security [...]

Officer Loretta Cool was the first female to hold several positions in the department, including first female K-9 officer and first female SWAT team officer: A trailblazer for the Tacoma (Wash.) Police Department ended her career this week. In 35 years, Officer Loretta Cool was the first female to hold several positions in the department.

Norman “Dusty” Young Jr. stands at the law enforcement memorial outside the Blair County Courthouse. Young spent nearly 40 years in law enforcement positions throughout the area, starting at the Altoona Police Department and retiring Jan. 8 as a county detective for the District Attorney’s Office. Mirror photo by Greg Bock In his nearly 40-year career in law enforcement, Norman “Dusty” Young Jr., who retired Jan. 8, was never one to [...]

There’s one tax mistake that can trigger a 50% penalty. I think it’s the steepest in the tax code. Of course, you might owe interest on top of that penalty. The mistake is to fail to take at least the required minimum distribution (RMD) from a qualified retirement plan, which includes IRAs and 401(k)s. The penalty is 50% of the amount that you should have distributed but failed to. To [...]

The 401(k) is one of the most powerful tools in your retirement planning toolbox, but in order to make the most of it, you'll need to have a good understanding of how it works. The most important thing you can do right now is to simply start saving. Roughly half of Americans are not contributing anything to their 401(k), according to a survey from Edward Jones, which can lead to [...]

Preparing for retirement can be intimidating. You’re facing great uncertainties about how your financial future will unfold, with a lot at stake. Fortunately, a comfortable and sustainable retirement should be within your reach if you prepare for it properly. You’ll find that a little planning can go a long way to getting you where you need to go, although that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily easy. You will need to gradually [...]