For most of us, contemplating the loss of a spouse or other loved one is the most difficult thing imaginable. In his classic book A Grief Observed, beloved writer C. S. Lewis offers this description of how the world can appear to someone grieving such a loss: “Her absence is like the sky: spread over everything.”
Phased retirement programs have long been a tool used by universities to retain key faculty members, facilitate institutional knowledge transfer, manage costs, and attract new talent.
As a professional financial advisor dedicated to helping professors plan for retirement, I’m an advocate for phased retirement programs, but that doesn’t mean they are right for everyone.
“Retirement age” doesn’t mean the same thing it did twenty years ago—or even ten years ago. From the “FIRE” movement—with advocates focused on retiring in their 50s or younger—to those pursuing a “second act”—a second career following a full first career—retirement age has come to mean many different things to many different people. But what’s the right age for you? Our article can help you decide.
An older businessman once asked a young associate what the term “financial independence” meant to him. The young man thought a moment, then replied, “It’s when your paycheck is always enough to take care of your expenses.” The older man smiled and shook his head. “Financial independence,” he said, “is when it doesn’t matter whether you get a paycheck or not.”
The nuances of executive compensation require careful attention to some specific elements and potential issues. Let’s talk about some of the basics of executive compensation, how they might fit into your long-term financial strategy, and some particular matters that deserve specific focus.
Most of us have heard the stories about famous people who died without a will or other estate planning documents: Aretha Franklin, Pablo Picasso, Howard Hughes, and even Abraham Lincoln all passed away without leaving documents to guide their heirs as to the disposition of their estates.
Since their creation by the state governments of Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Wyoming in the late 1980s, 529 education funding plans have become an increasingly popular way for parents, grandparents, and others to fund the education of the next generation while also saving on taxes.
To borrow a baseball metaphor, the year 2023 is “rounding third and heading for home.” Typically, this is the time of year when you should start looking at your income for the year and considering what might be needed to be ready for filing your 2023 tax return, next April.
One of the most memorable scenes in the movie City Slickers is when Curly, the crusty ranch foreman (played by Jack Palance) explains to Mitch, one of the city dudes (played by Billy Crystal) what really matters most in life. Turning toward the inquisitive greenhorn, Curly holds up an index finger. “This,” he says. “Your finger?” Mitch asks. Curly goes on to explain that the secret of life is knowing what your “one thing” is: the thing that matters most—that lies at the center of everything else you do and are. “So,” Mitch asks, “what is the one thing?” “That’s what you gotta figure out,” Curly replies.
As Baby Boomers continue to age, more and more of them are facing the reality of life without a spouse. Because of women’s statistically longer life expectancies, many Boomer women will be forced to adapt to widowhood, with all the new responsibilities and liabilities that entails. Finally, because many in this generation grew up with the assumption that “the money is the man’s business,” large numbers of recently widowed Boomer women are confronted with a steep learning curve with respect to their finances.
According to a recent survey by Nationwide Retirement Institute, two-thirds of the owners of small- and medium-sized businesses in the US expect a recession within the next six months. And of that two-thirds, a strong majority expect such a recession to be as severe as the Great Recession of 2007–09.
For parents and grandparents who want to give the next generation a leg up in life, providing funding for education costs is typically a high priority. But it’s not getting any cheaper. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the cost to obtain a degree at a public four-year institution has nearly tripled since 1980.
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