If you’re contemplating hiring a financial planner or advisor or if you’re currently working with one, here are some fair and important questions you may consider asking him or her. Are you a fiduciary? Being a fiduciary means that the adviser must legally act in your best interest. While not an absolute guarantee that the advisor will never act otherwise, most advisors who are fiduciaries embrace the responsibility – they want to be fiduciaries. Any other answer then yes to this question means you need to keep searching for an advisor who is. How are you paid? Generally, three different answers will follow. It will either be fee-only, fee and commission, or commission. If the advisor says fee-based or salary, you’ll want to dig deeper. These two responses don’t say how the compensation is derived. More importantly, you want to know how you will pay the advisor. And if you’re […]
June, 2017:
Interaction of Survivor Benefits with Your Own Benefits
Social Security Survivor Benefits can be a critical lifeline for surviving spouses. The interaction of survivor benefits with your own benefits can be a bit confusing though. Does starting to receive one benefit affect your future amount of the other benefit? How about vice-versa? There’s a lot written about the topic in Social Security’s POMS manual, but it becomes very simple after you study it a bit. The interaction of survivor benefits with your own benefits can be played out in one of two ways: either you take your own benefit first and the survivor benefit later; or vice versa, taking the survivor benefit first followed by your own benefit. We’ll look at each of these methods and review the interaction of survivor benefits with your own benefits. Note: in our examples, we are assuming that the survivor benefit has been calculated correctly per the late spouse’s circumstances. See How […]
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IRA or 529?
After my post last week (Higher Education Expenses Paid From an IRA) I received a question from a reader: “If it’s possible to pay QHEE from an IRA then why would it be beneficial to contribute to a 529 specifically?” In today’s post I’ll cover the reasons you might choose an IRA or 529 plan. These two types of account will help you prepare for the twin future requirements of retirement and college expenses. As covered in the prior post, an IRA plan can be used in part to pay for college expenses. This is allowed in the Internal Revenue code, §72(t)(2)(E). So why would you choose to place funds in an IRA or 529 plan? Specifically, why would the 529 plan ever be superior to an IRA for this saving activity? Segregation One reason a 529 plan might make sense is to specifically segregate your education saving activities from […]
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Frugality Versus “Buying on Sale”
I wanted to write a brief note on the difference between being frugal and frugal spending. I think it really boils down to the mindset of the individual. Frugality, in my opinion, is making smart purchases when necessary, and forgoing purchasing altogether if not. I also believe that frugality is making purchases that reduce the need to spend more in the future (i.e. buying a quality product for more money in order to reduce or eliminate repair expenses in the future). Frugal spending, on the other hand, is buying something simply because it’s on sale or cheap – regardless of need. For example, many times we see items in the store advertised as “buy one, get one half off” or “2 for $5.00”. It can be easy to fall into this trap of buying these items and leaving the store feeling good about having saved money. Sometimes we may even […]
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How to De-clutter Physically and Financially
Throughout our lives we acquire things. This can start at an early age when we were given things as gifts and of course, the childhood tendency to collect and save many of the items that we came across. As we mature into adults, the desire or habit to continue to hold onto things may still linger. This leads to garages, basements, closets, bedrooms, and even storage facilities full of stuff. It can also creep into our financial lives – as we acquire different savings accounts, retirement accounts, or purchase things that continue to be automatically deducted from our bank account (a monthly subscription to a gym, perhaps). Decluttering can have a profound effect on our behavior. It can help lower the stress of trying to keep track of so many things. It can also free up time to enjoy the things in life that are important to us. Finally, it […]
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”.