School Yourself Before You InvestMay 29th is National College Savings Plan Awareness Day. This annual day celebrates the importance of preparing for future college expenses and the advantages of 529 College Savings Plans. Did you know that an alarming 70% of studentswho graduated from college in 2013 left college with an average of $28,400 in […]

An annuity is a stream of income paid to the client over a specified time period.  Generally, annuities can be either: Fixed or variable-where the amount paid is based on the nature of the underlying investments, Single premium or flexible premium-how the annuity fee is paid, Immediate payout or deferred payout- which determines when the […]

Beta, in the investing universe, is a measure of risk relative to a chosen benchmark. For example, if a stock has a beta of 1 vs. the S&P 500, it should move just as far up (or down) as the index itself does. The definition and calculation of investment indices have numerous components (see our […]

Retirement is a popular topic of discussion and, in some cases, an item of concern. There have been television commercials of “What is your number?” and “Do you have enough money for retirement?” This Quarter’s newsletter discusses some of the factors that lead to a successful (financial) retirement. These factors can be complex and our […]

Have You Taken Your Required Minimum Distribution Yet?  The April 1st deadline is almost here! Unfortunately, you cannot keep funds inside a Traditional IRA forever; eventually the IRS will require you to take taxable distributions. What is an RMD? During the calendar year you turn age 70 ½ is when the IRS mandates that you […]

Corporate retirement plans have been, historically, either defined benefit (DB) or defined contribution (DC) plans. With a DB plan, the employer is “guaranteeing” a life-long retirement benefit to the employee at the time of retirement. That benefit is usually a function of the years worked at the company and the salary earned over a previous […]

This quarter’s edition of Paragon Perspectives discusses mistakes to avoid in your Individual Retirement Account and some simple steps for late contributions. Individual Retirement accounts (IRAs) have been great savings devices for many individuals.  Contributions have been limited to several thousands of dollars per year; however, rollovers of corporate retirement plans into self-directed IRAs have […]

The December 1, 2014 Wall Street Journal (Encore Section, pg R3) had an interesting article about how people spend time in retirement. The implication was that time spent in retirement was different than time spent when working. That time utilization difference in retirement is intuitively obvious. What is not so obvious, however, is the financial […]

On Monday, October 27, 2014, the Society of Actuaries issued new estimates of life expectancies in the U.S. A 65 year old female has a life expectancy of 88.8 years, an increase of 2.4 years from the 2000 age projection. Males age 65 have a life expectancy of 86.6 years, an increase of 2 years […]

More and more retiring employees are facing the question of whether to take their retirement benefits as a lump sum payment or a life-time monthly payment. The “correct” decision obviously lies with the individual’s particular circumstances (health of retiree and spouse, other financial assets, fund needs, etc.). There are compelling reasons for both scenarios in […]