Vacations don’t have to be expensive. They certainly can be, but there’s no rule that dictates vacations must exceed a certain monetary threshold in order for the individual to enjoy it. Here are some ideas that readers may consider in order to take much needed vacations, but keep expenses from running out of control, the first would be considering renting a house with twiddy rentals instead of a hotel, you will see a big difference with the price at the end. Shop around for the best deals. Some simple research while sitting in front of the TV can pay huge dividends. There are many websites that offer coupons and discounts for stays at various hotel chains, bed and breakfasts, etc. Websites such as Airbnb, VRBO.com, Expedia, etc., offer visitors the ability to search out different homes or condos that individuals have for rent (Airbnb and VRBO.com) or prices on the […]
July, 2016:
A Small Step (and it’s free!)
Quick – can you tell me your net worth? How about the balance on your credit card (okay, cards)? Your savings account balance? For many folks (okay, face it, most of us) the answer to those questions is only available after a multi-hour session of digging through statements, online accounts, possibly tax returns, and the like. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Getting a handle on questions like this doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, when you use free account aggregation tools. One of the first tenets of sound financial planning involves an understanding of where we are right now. What is our current financial picture? What assets do we have? What liabilities do we owe? What is coming due soon? What income can we expect? Without an understanding of where we are, it’s hard to figure just how we’ll move toward our goal, be it financial independence, […]
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Forget Your New Year’s Resolutions?
Six months ago I wrote a price regarding New Year’s resolutions. I’d like to follow up to ask whether or not readers have followed through and are making good on the promises they made at the beginning of the year. If you find yourself as one of the individuals that has put together a plan of action and you’re moving forward – good for you! If not, what happened? Understandably, many individuals renege on their promises made at the beginning of the year. Many factors can be the culprit. From not having enough time, not making goals a priority or simply lacking a plan of action, many folks struggle to make their resolutions a reality. So how do we get back on track? Or better yet, how do we even start? The good news is that while making good on the resolutions does take work, the plan of action is […]
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Withdrawals from an IRA – death, disability, and 59 1/2
Three of the most common ways that you can withdraw funds from your IRA without penalty are: 1) reaching age 59½; 2) death; and 3) disability. Below is a brief review of each of these conditions for penalty-free withdrawal: Reaching Age 59½ When you reach age 59½, you can withdraw any amount from your IRA without penalty, for any reason. The only thing you have to remember is that you must pay ordinary income tax on the amount that you withdraw. This means that, once you have reached the date that is 6 months past your 59th birthday, you are free to make withdrawals from your IRA without penalty. You are not required to take distributions at this age (that happens at age 70½). Death Upon your death at any age, the beneficiaries of your account or your estate if you have not named a beneficiary, can take distributions from your IRA in […]
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Check Your Vitals
Whenever you go into the doctor’s office for a check-up what’s the first thing he or she usually does? The doctor checks your vital signs. Generally, this is heartbeat, blood pressure, breathing, reflexes, etc. Sometimes either the doctor or the nurse practitioner will have a questionnaire asking various questions such as number of drinks per day, whether or not you smoke, and any allergies – to name a few. Most individuals give this information without thinking twice. Most of the time, the answers we give don’t change. So why does the doctor keep asking the same questions every time we have an appointment? The answer is because if one of these answers does change (such as an irregular heartbeat or high blood pressure) this changes the potential diagnoses and outcome. This is why it’s important in your financial planning to always check your vitals. In other words, even though you […]
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Age 72 RMD Rules
As an owner of an IRA or other qualified retirement plan (such as a 401k), when you reach age 72 (or 70½ under the pre-2020 rules) you are required to begin taking distributions from the account(s). There are several important factors about these distributions that could trip you up if you’re not careful. Listed below are some of the more important rules – but keep in mind that these RMD rules are only for the original owner of the account, not for a beneficiary of an inherited account. There is a different set of rules for inherited IRA RMDs. Required Minimum Distribution Rules Calculation of RMD – Determine your account balance from the end of the calendar year prior to the year for which the distribution is being calculated. Any additions or withdrawals after December 31 of the previous year are not included in this balance, even if an addition […]
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The Value of a Stay-at-Home Parent
In earlier posts we’ve discussed the importance of a spousal IRA for a spouse that stays at home taking care of the children in order to still save for retirement even though the “non-working” spouse has technically no “earned” income. Spousal IRAs aside, I wanted to shed some light on the value of a stay-at-home parent has, even though they might not be getting paid a salary for their work raising the children. The goal is to point out why stay-at-home parents still have a need for risk management and retirement planning as they (in my opinion) work one of the hardest jobs – raising children. According to the 2016 salary.com Mother’s Day Infographic, the value of a stay-at-home mom (parent) is approximately $143,102 annually, accounting for 40 regular hour work and 52 hours of overtime. This “salary” takes into account occupations such as driver, teacher, chef, nurse, and janitor. […]
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Early Withdrawal of an IRA – 72t Exceptions
If you have done much studying about IRAs and 401k plans, you probably know that there are several exceptions in the Internal Revenue Code that allow an early withdrawal from your IRA or 401k plan without the 10% penalty being imposed. The section of the IRC that deals with quite a few of these exceptions is called Section 72t (referred to as 72t for short), and there are several subsections in this piece of the Code. Each subsection, listed below, has specific circumstances that must be met in order to provide exception to the 10% penalty. Clicking on the link for each subsection will provide you with additional details about that exception. §72(t)(2)(A)(i) – age 59½ – this is the standard age allowing for penalty-free withdrawals from your IRA or 401k. In some cases there is an exception allowing for penalty-free withdrawals from a 401k at or after age 55; and […]
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on 
A Medicare Owner’s Manual, is updated with 2020 facts and figures. This manual is available on 
Social Security for the Suddenly Single can be found on Amazon at 
Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be 
An IRA Owner’s Manual, 2nd Edition is available for purchase on Amazon. Click the link to choose the 
Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the 
And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.