The typical retirement planning story that we read about in the financial news involves a Baby Boomer looking to make the right choices at the end of a 35-year (or longer) career. We read them because most of us can probably relate to them. But we can also learn a lot from another kind of […]
As anyone trying to choose a Medicare plan can tell you, transitioning into retirement isn’t as straightforward as it looks. There are a lot of decisions to make, and most of them don’t have easy answers. One of the biggest issues in transitioning to retirement is income planning. How can you plan your income in […]
Several years ago (time flies!), I wrote an in-depth article about selling covered calls for a group of clients who wanted to know more about the strategy. Since then, I’ve had a number of conversations about it with investors looking to generate income from their portfolios or possibly unwind large positions. It’s time to revisit […]
In my experience, most people remember to do basic estate planning tasks like adding beneficiaries or a Transfer on Death designation to important financial assets. But what about your home? Just designating a beneficiary in your will or assuming the home will pass to your children could create problems for your heirs. After all, probate […]
Political news has been dominating the headlines since the start of the election cycle last year, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be letting up any time soon. After a strong end to 2016, we have started off 2017 equally as strong. This has led people to ask me what I think about […]
There are two huge mistakes that business owners commonly make when it comes to their company 401(k): they don’t understand the gravity and breadth of fiduciary responsibility, and they shoot themselves in the foot with high cost structures and poor investment options. Once you see the hard numbers in front of you, streamlining costs is […]
The roller-coaster of this year’s election ended last night with what most pollsters considered a surprise victory by Donald Trump. The Republican party is also in control of the House and Senate. While stock futures were rocked overnight, as of this writing (12:30 pm EST on November 9, 2016) the broad American indices were in […]
Pre-retirees spend a lot of time planning their investments, budgets, and lifestyles for the transition to retirement. But Social Security is just as important, if not more so, and by making the most of it you could significantly boost your retirement income. But how do you do it? The biggest blanket piece of advice out […]
With interest rates so low for so long, I’ve fielded a number of calls from clients looking for ideas for additional income/dividends. The question is always the same: where to find it? Depending on the client, preferred stock can be a great asset class to complement the right portfolio, but it can also be confusing […]
You’ve probably heard of margin loans, but do you know about investment lines of credit (ICLs)? Like margin loans, ICLs are backed by the assets in your portfolio but are used for non-securities investments — meaning you can’t use them to buy stocks and bonds. In my experience, ICLs also tend to be cheaper and […]
Brad holds the following registrations:
4, 7, 24, 63, 65, Life & Health (LA-513612 NY)