As a future or current retiree, it is important for you to take into consideration the big picture of your retirement planning. Once you have the full picture, it helps you make more detailed and necessary decisions to achieve the retirement for which you have worked your whole life. One of the first steps to take when planning your retirement is to find a financial professional who puts your needs and interests first. At American Financial Security, we take your whole financial and tax … [Read more...] about Retirement Planning: The Big Picture
Ronald F. Stevenson
Building Wealth Might Be Simpler Than You Think
Wealth building isn’t about get-rich-quick schemes or chasing the trends in the stock market. Often, it just comes down to making the right financial decisions, big and small, over an extended period of time. Recently, we came across an Investopedia.com article from May 2019 entitled, “3 Simple Steps to Building Wealth.” We thought these steps were worth sharing. Sometimes, it can seem like the secret to wealth building is a mystery, when in fact it can be simpler than you think. Don’t get … [Read more...] about Building Wealth Might Be Simpler Than You Think
Are You Prepared for a Bear Market?
If you’ve ever visited New York City, you may have seen the famous bull statue in the Financial District. That bull is considered a sign of optimism, indicative of what’s known as a bull market. A bull market generally refers to a time when the stock market is rising and expected to continue to rise, but it can refer to any group of securities in which that is the case. The flip side is a bear market. A bear market is generally a period marked by pessimism and potentially falling prices in … [Read more...] about Are You Prepared for a Bear Market?
Do You Feel Prepared for the Cost of Long-Term Care?
According to Genworth Financial, the average annual cost of a private nursing home room in the United States is $92,378, while a home health aide runs about $45,760. Many people assume that Medicare and other forms of health insurance will cover these costs, but in reality, long-term care is not considered a medical expense and Medicare will only cover certain aspects. Medicaid will help many seniors pay for long-term care, but in order to qualify you will have to spend most of your assets, … [Read more...] about Do You Feel Prepared for the Cost of Long-Term Care?
Empowering Women in Retirement
Despite being more educated and financially empowered than past generations, the majority of women are still uncertain when it comes to investments, retirement planning and their financial future. While more women are becoming responsible for handling their family finances, they feel overwhelmed with all of the options and decisions required when planning for retirement income and leaving a legacy. There are a handful of main drawbacks that affect women when they are preparing their financial … [Read more...] about Empowering Women in Retirement