A couple in their mid-60s recently asked me about when the best time would be to take Social Security. After discussing their financial situation along with their family longevity history, we settled on a preliminary plan that involved waiting on Social Security for a few years.

The plan was to lean more heavily on their investments now, and then dial back withdrawals once Social Security begins. Because of this, we made some modest adjustments to their asset allocation to accommodate this…

A new client recently asked me if they should max out their 401(k) early in the year to get the benefit of compounding growth earlier. If the market goes up most years, it makes sense to max out your 401(k) as early as possible so all those dollars can grow throughout the year.

I told them that we needed to take a closer look at their specific 401(k) summary plan description (SPD) – a document that tells you how the plan works and outlines and specific plan rules. One of those rules is how the company matching contribution is calculated.  There are two ways that plans typically calculate the matching contributions...

One question I’ve been hearing more recently is, “Will the US dollar collapse in the future?” It’s a fair question, given the rising levels of debt in the US and the rise of other alternative currencies (Euro, Yen, and digital currencies as of late).

No fiat currency has lasted forever across history, and I suspect the US dollar will be no exception, given enough time. But how high is the risk that we could face the “death of the dollar” during our lifetime? Let’s take a closer look.