Blog

Advisors and their plan sponsor clients have a handful of administrative tasks to complete before enjoying their families, good food, and the reflection that the holidays bring.

Buying a house is one of the biggest, if not the biggest purchase you’ll make in your lifetime. Here are some tips and tricks for ensuring that the entire process is as stress-free as possible. 

A tight housing market is leading many young adults to postpone purchasing a home, choosing instead to go the rental route. Many simply don’t want to be encumbered with a mortgage and all of the responsibilities that go with home ownership.

There were 43 million renters in the U.S. in 2017, the highest number of renters in the last 50 years.  Yet according to the Insurance Information Institute, only 37 percent of those currently renting have renters insurance, leaving 27.1 million renters without protection should catastrophe strike.

By Jess DeGabriele

A sometimes-overlooked tool in the advisor and plan sponsor’s analytical toolbox is investment manager style. Style is used to help segment different asset classes and investment managers into comparable subgroups, such as labeling a growth manager as “growth” as opposed to “value.” The objective of placing different managers into style groups is to assist in building diversified portfolios that are exposed to return factors from many different sources, and using the style group to compare managers and determine talent. Style simplifies these tasks.

By Jess DeGabriele

As plan sponsors wrap up their annual plan coverage and discrimination testing, the updated census allows for a perfect opportunity to clean up their plan by conducting mandatory distributions of certain terminated participants with balances still in the plan. Where allowed by plan document, force out procedures can have several benefits for plans. For example, distributing small balances can simplify plan administration by reducing the number of tracked participants who require annual disclosures and notices, or possibly increase plan-level average account balances which could help improve vendor pricing metrics.

Generally speaking, conversations about life insurance revolve around whether you should buy term or permanent insurance. However, every decision to buy life insurance begins with deciding what is the right amount of life insurance. And, integral to determining the right amount of life insurance is understanding the role of your Social Security Survivorship Benefit (SSSB).

Accumulating wealth turns out to be a double-edged sword for business owners. It certainly has its privileges, but it also comes with additional risk exposures. In a 2011 Zogby survey, 92 percent of people with a high new worth indicated concerns over the possibility of home invasions, muggings, kidnapping, and even random street crimes.

Remember way back to your first paycheck. The moment you open the envelope anticipating the windfall when all your hard work pays off. Then, like a swift kick to your gut, realty hits. Your takeaway earnings are almost always way lower than what you expected.

Congratulations Newlyweds! Your fresh union symbolizes a new beginning facing the world. But before the glow of wedded bliss wears, it’s crucial to talk about finances.