When I got into this industry over 16 years ago, I’ll be honest and admit I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I started the Monday after I graduated from college and was thrown into the “bullpen” and told to start studying for my exams that I was to take over the next 4 months—I won’t bore you with the details.

Once I passed those, I then went through some really terrible sales training. When I returned back to the office, I was basically told to start bringing in new clients and good luck. Seriously, that was it.

This post was last updated on February 17, 2026, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

In addition to sounding cool, mega backdoor Roth conversions can be super helpful for long-term tax savings. For high-income earners, contributing more to a Roth account now will make retirement income planning much easier.

Remember when saving for retirement used to be so easy? Yea, I don’t either because I wasn’t alive back then. However, if you were, all you had to do was work 40 years at your employer, get your pension and social security and then sail off into the retirement sunset.

Today, on the other hand, it's a totally different story. It now basically falls completely on your shoulders. There are so many questions. How much should I save in my 401k? What do I even invest in? What about a Roth IRA? The list can go on and on. Let's take it step-by-step to get you moving in the right direction so you can get to retirement – or what I like to call financial independence – sooner rather than later.

What kind of legacy are you going to leave when you die? If you haven’t pondered that question yet, now is the perfect time to start. If you have money or any property that you want to pass on, it’s well past time to get a plan in place for when the inevitable happens. 

However, when it comes to estate and legacy planning, you will want to include your children in this process. It may be tempting to try and figure everything out on your own, but it’s often much better to keep them involved. 

You’ll encounter many important decisions as you transition into retirement. Almost none are as important as your access to quality healthcare. Your life insurance needs will probably change too.

If you’re trying to retire early, or at least before you’re eligible for Medicare, you’ll have to weigh your healthcare options carefully. You’ll want to make the best decision for you to preserve your health, wealth, and legacy.

Annuities can be incredibly confusing, but they don’t have to be. Once you understand the most common annuity acronyms, it’s a lot less scary. Each annuity contract will be unique to your needs, the insurance company, and the optional riders available.

When buying an annuity, it’s best to zoom out and look at your entire financial picture first, and then decide if an annuity is right for you. We don’t want you to get excited about one particular type of annuity first, and then figure out how to make it fit your goals. Your life and retirement goals should drive all your retirement decisions.

Looking for financial advice can be confusing and overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. The financial industry uses ambiguous and overlapping terms, but what do they really mean?

If you’re like most people, you just need an honest answer to tough financial questions. Yet, when you start looking for help, you’re met with a variety of terms like adviser, advicer, manager, and planner – all with the words financial, wealth, fiduciary, and investment added to spice things up.

This post was last updated on March 29, 2026, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

Losing a spouse is awful, and getting hit with a larger tax bill only makes things worse. Thinking about death is never fun, but failure to plan could mean serious tax issues for a surviving spouse. This is what’s often called the “widow’s penalty.”

This post was last updated on March 28, 2026, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

You might not care much about what age you are, but the government does. It’s very important you keep track of key age-related milestones in retirement. If you fail to properly plan for these, you may be missing out on some opportunities – or even face penalties.

This post was last updated on March 27, 2026, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

There are three main phases of retirement planning: accumulation, transition, and decumulation (retirement). Depending on which you’re in, you’ll need to focus on different aspects of your financial life. The advice and expertise you need also change as you move through these phases.

This post was last updated on February 17, 2026, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

You’ve reached many milestones in your life so far, but retirement brings new challenges and opportunities. You may already have many goals in mind, or you may be going back to the drawing board.

This post was last updated on January 19, 2026, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

You may have spent your whole life working towards retirement. However, as you get closer to retirement, there are so many feelings and doubts that can creep in and cause you stress. There’s no need to worry – as long as you have a plan.

This post was last updated on December 23, 2025, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

Roth conversions are among the most powerful long-term tax-saving strategies. If a Roth conversion might benefit you, the next question is how much you should convert. The right amount will vary based on your situation.

This post was last updated on November 30, 2025, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

Deciding when to draw Social Security benefits is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make as a retiree. You must carefully consider your specific situation and goals. Don’t wait until you’re eligible to make these important decisions.

When it comes to estate planning, it’s crucial to have all of your assets and beneficiaries listed and up to date. However, because this planning can be relatively messy at times, what you want may not always come to pass. For example, what happens if your beneficiaries predecease you? 

Although this situation can be rare, there’s already a process for what happens to your assets. It’s called per stirpes, and it can ensure that your money or property will pass down to living heirs should your beneficiaries die before you do. 

As you begin estate planning, you will face difficult choices, further complicated by the current pandemic. However, it’s essential that you have a plan in place to protect your loved ones financially. There are many different ways you can do so. 

Today, we’re going to discuss two of them. Wills and trusts are both estate planning tools, meaning they help you control who inherits your assets after you pass away. The similarities between the two end there, though.

Not everyone can qualify for a traditional life insurance policy. Depending on your health and lifestyle, an insurance underwriter might be reluctant to approve your application for a policy.

If you have only applied to a company or two, don’t give up on a traditional life insurance policy yet. Every company has different standards that they follow, and something that disqualifies you from one might not disqualify you from another. 

Let’s get right to it and answer the question before getting into the details. A power of attorney is a legal action that offers someone else of your choosing to make decisions on your behalf if you’re unfit or under contract. 

Its most common use is for people to have a go-to friend or family member to act on their behalf if they become sick or injured and can’t make decisions themselves. Power of attorney agreements are an essential part of the estate planning process and are usually connected to a will or trust fund. 

Thinking through your pension decisions and transitioning into retirement is hard enough. Adding in planning for your premature death is even more stressful. However, there’s no replacement for peace of mind knowing your family is covered no matter what.

Adding a survivor benefit to your pension isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. There are often many variations and levels of coverage to consider too. Make sure you take your time to think through this decision by looking at your whole financial picture.

This post was last updated on 31 May, 2023, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

It’s helpful to break your financial life into phases so you can focus on what’s most important right now. Understanding how decisions you make today affect what tomorrow looks like is vitally important. Keep in mind, these phases blend together and don’t always look the same as someone else’s journey.