MANSFIELD -- Suzanne Meister has seen it all during her 31 years as a 911 dispatcher working with Mansfield police and fire departments. "We've been through it," said Lisa Abrams a fellow dispatcher. "We've done bank robberies, shootings, pursuits ... Suzanne has taught me a lot of things being a dispatcher. "She taught me it's not just about dispatching calls. It's about knowing your people and their families. Knowing their [...]

As planners and advisors, one of the most common opening questions we get when sitting down with a client is the age-old question of ‘how much do we need to retire’, coupled with ‘will we be able to retire’. Somewhat surprisingly, these questions come more frequently from those who have done a more than admirable job of saving and investing in order to help properly prepare for their golden years. [...]

Spend today, plan for retirement tomorrow is an attitude shared by Americans of all generations, but to a lesser degree by older baby boomers. Going into 2020, more than one-third of baby boomers near retirement age have not done any financial planning within the past two years, according to a survey sponsored by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), and more than half (59%) of millennials haven’t considered [...]

They say money can’t buy happiness. As a financial planner, I imagine being broke is miserable. Given a choice, let’s at least strive for financial freedom.  Either way, here are the 12 worst reasons for you to ignore retirement planning. Admit it, you’ve probably said a few of these over the years. Reason #12:  “I don’t have the time to deal with planning for retirement.” Today, it seems we are all [...]

Knowing how to spend your retirement money is often harder and more confusing than knowing how to save it. The basics for saving for retirement are pretty simple. For four, five or even six decades, you painfully learn how to spend less and save more. But once you reach retirement, there are few really good guidelines about how to wisely spend the money you’ve saved. “Most financial plans are fundamentally [...]

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 [...]