Take 'Em or pay the price
Ashlea Ebeling Forbes wrote an article that over half the people who are required by law to take money from their accounts individual retirement (IRA) at year-end failed to do so from the beginning of this month, according to a recent survey by Fidelity Investments. Maybe these people do not need the money in their IRA to cover the expenses of every day.
Why should you be concerned about the deadline for the end of the year? If you miss it, you pay the penalty is 50% 
Here is a summary of the basic rules :. IRA owners must normally start taking required minimum annual distributions (RMD) after they turn 70½ from their own traditional IRA or IRA inherited from a spouse, but not their Roth accounts. IRA heirs Non-spouses of any age must take RMD both traditional and Roth accounts.
The amount you have to make is not arbitrary, but calculated based on your life expectancy and your IRA balance in the end of the previous year. There are also special rules. When you turn 70½, you have until April 1 of the following year to take your first distribution. There is also a required RMD in the year of death, if the deceased is about 70½.
One reason to wait until the end of the year to take your RMD distribution is to let the money continue to grow tax deferred as long as possible. Another reason to hold off on taking distributions for the year is whether Congress will restore law Rollover IRA-charity, which expired on 31 December 2011. It allows you to direct the custodian of your pretax IRA to transfer up to $ 100,000 a year to a public charity, as the LIFE Foundation without having to count the distribution in your income. In return, you forgo the tax deduction on charitable income. But this strategy can leave you in advance whether or not you itemize deductions normally or not.
For more advice on your IRA, contact your financial advisor.
Make Room for Long-Term Care in your family vacation plans
The holiday season is always special; it is a time when we gather with friends and family to celebrate long 
But where to start? Your overall goal should be to welcome an honest conversation about their current health status. Here are some questions to keep in mind:
Assess their ability to live independently
- Do they struggle to dress or use toilet without help?
- Are they able to give a hand in the kitchen or feed properly during dinner?
- can they get around their home safely or that the house has security problems?
- they are dealing with other daily tasks?
consider their overall health
- How are they feeling?
- Have they had any recent visits to the doctor or exams they are willing to discuss?
- Have they clearly lost weight and are they maintain their health?
observe their emotional and mental state
- are they are they a positive or often need encouragement to perform ordinary tasks?
- are they still participate in their usual Activities and hobbies?
- Are periodic memory lapses, such as forgetting names of relatives or household items, disrupt their lives?
- Do they ask the same questions repeatedly?
You can also test their memory during holiday visits by requesting dates or significant events or by giving a few key words to remember and asking them to repeat any words long your visit.
phone calls and emails are a great way to check regularly aging parents and relatives, but the holiday tours can be a valuable opportunity to get a clear picture of their well-being. As you catch up on the events of the year and relive old memories to your holiday gatherings this year, spend some time considering the future of your family. It may prove to be the right time to take the first step toward planning for long term care and discuss how solutions such as long term care insurance can help preserve their independence and ensure that their needs are satisfied.
It's time to submit your own realLIFEstory
One of the best things that the Foundation is Life offers its realLIFEstories. These are not advertisements; do not use actors pretend to be someone else. Instead, realLIFEstories tell the moving stories of how people's lives-and the lives of their families have been affected by death, disability or illness, and how insurance helped to see their way through these difficult times.
Take the case of the family Montes de Oca. Lissete lost her husband, Felipe, and Felipe Jr. and Lucas have lost their father when he was aged 47, after a harrowing battle with cancer. You can watch their story here
As shown their history, life is never, ever the same after a loved one dies. However, the fact that her husband had life insurance meant Lissete not to worry about finances, in addition to the pain she and her son have to deal with. As she says, "Life insurance is something you pay for, but never expect to use. But I'm here, and I can not imagine not having this support to help me through. "
as powerful stories helps people of Montes de Oca understand what insurance really not . That's why each year of life demand that agents and advisors (and we know that 'there are some of you who read this blog!) to submit stories of their own to realLIFEstories LIFE Client services recognition Program, which demonstrate how insurance they helped set up a family makes a difference a time of need. for more information, click here
If you or your family have enjoyed life, disability or long-term care insurance and would like to share your story with the American public, send this link along your agent .: www.lifehappens.org/reallifestories-program-application.
Six Things You Need To Know About Protecting Your Paycheck
While most of us understand the need for our cars and homes, many do not consider the insurance that pays for those things ... our paychecks. It is crucial to understand the importance of properly insure your paycheck with disability insurance. Here are the answers 
1. Where does the disability insurance shaped my financial plan?
Disability insurance is there to protect your income if you become sick or injured and unable to work. In essence, it protects your paycheck. Your financial plan must start and end with the income planning. Unless you first protect your income, there is no financial plan!
2. What about disability insurance through my work-isn't that enough?
who called disability insurance group. With this particular coverage, you are just a tenant. You are not in control because you do not have politics. It can be taken from you in an instant; your employer may waive or insurer may decide to stop the insurance group. You are their thank you.
In addition, 70% of employers do not offer insurance long term disability in the workplace, which means that if you have coverage, there is probably a short-term disability, it that would not help you meet your financial obligations if you were sick or injured for a long period of time.
Also, keep in mind that long-term disability group generally only covers your base salary, so bonuses, commissions, incentives, deferred compensation, the options purchase of shares and pension contributions are generally not covered. In most disaster scenarios, people are very disappointed with the adequacy of their group disability coverage.
3. How long-term care insurance differs disability insurance?
Simple. Disability insurance pays you and long-term care insurance generally pays someone else who provides care service.
4. How Disability Insurance differ from life insurance?
Regarding the replacement of the income and preservation of assets, there is no difference. The difference between the disability insurance and life insurance is that you are above or below six feet of earth. The main concept is to think that the chances of becoming disabled are much more than dying prematurely.
5. How much disability insurance should I have?
must have as much disability as possible. No less than 65% of your gross income is considered adequate. I have not met anyone who receives disability benefits who said that their advantage is more than enough. Unfortunately, when you are disabled, the truth is always the opposite; there is never enough money. That is why the additional disability insurance is often required to adequately protect the income of a person. You can get a working idea of how much you might need here.
6. Where can I get disability insurance?
A good counselor or financial insurance agent will always offer disability insurance, which should be a clue when choosing an advisor. If you do not have an agent or adviser, you can start your search here.
Ensure Your Love
We do a lot of great things to show our families and loved ones how much we appreciate and love them, planning big family vacation to take our significant other to a romantic night.
All these gestures show our love, but there is one thing you can do to cement that love in the future, even after you are gone, and that is to buy insurance -life.
to the LIFE Foundation, we Aore celebrating who, AOVE taken that extra step and life insurance coverage obtained with our line Ensure Your Love Mosaic. Over a thousand people have already downloaded photos to the mosaic of those They, AOVE protected. It, AOS therefore interesting to see how each story is different, but in its essence: take care of those you love. Take a look at these:
And, of course, I added my own:
And how about ? It only takes a few minutes and in doing so, you can help spread the word about the importance of protecting those you love with life insurance.
For each photo that gets uploaded to the mosaic, LIFE will donate $ 1 to fund scholarships for life lessons studies, giving tuition to college-age students who lost a parent.
and if you post a photo and caption of February 29 you, Äôll be entered LIFE, AOS photo competition, with a chance to win one of five $ 100 gift certificates so that you can take your loved one (s!) for a lovely evening.
Help for a family of One
We spend a lot of time talking about how couples, families and businesses can protect their financial future with life insurance. But what about if you only do you need life insurance, too?
There are people who have no children, person depending on their income, no financial obligations current and sufficient liquidity to cover their final expenses. But how many of those people do you really? And, more importantly, are you one of them?
I think it's important, then, to illustrate how a purchase of life insurance can be a smart financial move for someone who is single with no children. Ask yourself these three questions can help you get to the heart of the matter:
• Do you provide financial support for elderly parents or siblings
• Do you have a large debt that you not want to spend? the surviving family members if you were to die prematurely?
• Have family members pay for your education?
life insurance is a great way to meet these obligations, and in the case of tuition fees, pay the family members for their support. But do not take my word for it. Instead, "do your own calculation." A need that life insurance Calculator can help you quickly understand if there is a need, a need that you might not be aware of that could be easily treated with life insurance.
In addition to meeting all financial obligations you may have, the current economic climate was the permanent life insurance an attractive way to help you build a secure long-term rate of return on assets safe currency. cash value in traditional life insurance can provide a long-term rate of 3% to 5% return over 20 years. This can provide you money for opportunities, emergencies and even retirement.
For young singles, keep in mind that you have youth on your side. I do not want to sound trite. Instead, I want you to think about the fact that buying life insurance is very affordable when you are young and you can protect your insurability when there is a future need, perhaps, in time the spouse and children.
Although these reasons are valid, the most important reason for you to consider life insurance can be peace of mind you have knowing that your financial obligations will be met if some happens.
You want to get your financial life on track?
We are lucky enough to have some of the best insurance agents and financial advisors at our disposal (they form our board). So we thought we put them to work for you. We asked them: "What is your best advice for helping someone get their financial lives back on track or on track" And here's what they had to say:
The economy was hard on almost everyone. We had to cut things here and there. take a look at what you spend on a daily and weekly basis, keep a diary of expenses. you might be surprised at how much money you could save if you take your lunch to work a few days a week or make your own coffee in the morning. Then create an appropriate budget. Include in this budget how much you could save for the things that are really important. and remember to review your budget regularly to keep you on track. -Cindy Gentry, CLU, CHFC, LUTCF
We spend more time planning a vacation than we keeping our financial lives on track. Get your "home" in good financial order with a budget by keeping track of your monthly expenses compared to your monthly income. Your goal should be to have money left over at the end of each month. If so, you are on the road to financial fitness. There will be bumps in the road, but as long as you maintain a balance limit expenses with the understanding of your income, and knowing that you can not spend more than you earn, you'll be on track in no time . -Robert N. Garneau, CLU, CHFC
It's time for a "financial physical." You can "feel" financially well, but on further analysis by a qualified professional, you can determine you jeopardize your financial future. You get a physical check to feel confident that you will not put your health at risk. Is not it logical to give the same respect to your financial health, too? "-Clarke Langrall, Jr., CEPA
Many people make plans for their holidays in the beginning of the year. How about spending some time making plans for your retirement or what happens to your children if something happens to you? -Michael L. Weintraub
Make a budget! most people do not know how and how much comes out. so they can never get a handle on the amount of "discretionary" income they have to ... spend, save, invest or buy insurance. If you do not know where you are, you will never be able to understand how you can go anywhere elsewhere! -Brian H. Ashe, CLU
Having a financial advisor to review your tax return. She can advise you if a tax-deferred annuity would reduce your taxes, for example. It can also provide advice on life insurance loans and / or dividends, and answer questions such as: Do you maximize the tax benefits of your policy? Would and long-term political benefit of care you and your heirs? -Patricia L. Krarup, CLU, CHFC, MSFS
Let us know what advice resonated most with you.
What will your retirement Look Like?
Did you know that for women aged 65 and over Social Security represents two-thirds of their income? Without Social Security, it is estimated that 58% of widows (age 65+) would live in poverty, according to a report by the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress in 2010. With inflation and other economic pressures, women who count income from social security in retirement may be faced at some point with the choice between food or medicine, rent or car repairs, or a myriad of other financial dilemmas.
Have these women are considering such a lean future? Probably not. Only a few probably wish they understood the best money issues or actively invested in retirement.
You have the power to change your future by being aware of these situations affect your ability to save for retirement and taking proactive steps now to prevent problems in the future
Know that these factors will influence your ability to earn, save and will not outlive your money in retirement :.
women spend on average 12 years in the labor market. Often this is due to women taking responsibility-for children or adult members of the caregiving family. This means they have 12 years less than men in which they put money into their retirement funds
Women live longer On average, they live five years longer than men .. 80.5 years against 75.5 for men, according to the Centers for Disease Control 
Women face an earnings gap. Women earn only $ 0.78 for every dollar that men, according to the Bureau of Government Accounting. And the gap is even greater for women of color
Here are some areas where you can be proactive about ensuring a financially successful retirement :.
Make sure you get paid what you are worth in the workplace. Some women are reluctant to negotiate a better salary. Do not worry that it looks too aggressive; Men do it all the time. It takes confidence and probably a little research to affirm your professional value with your boss, but you need to do.
Do not equate a rich spouse with a pension plan. Remember, that destiny knows where that spouse and the money could end one day.
Make sure you have a plan in place. Most sensible is to sit down with a counselor who can guide you through what you might need now, as life insurance (for both you and your spouse, if married), the 'disability insurance and a solid investment strategy for your retirement. As you reach your middle years, the assurance of long-term care becomes an important factor in order not to destroy your retirement nest egg, if you or your spouse need care.
Preparing for a healthy retirement requires attention, patience and dedication. But most importantly, it requires you to take that first step. I invite you to do it now.
Did we not say enough?
When I was 25, I understand the value of life insurance and planning for the unexpected.
My father died suddenly at the age of 44 years without life insurance.
I remember I left college and go home for the funeral. My aunt took me aside and told me that the family was pooling money together to pay the fee. What could I do?
We all did what we could. It is not enough to dampen my family the financial gap that my father had left behind.
Although my story is not uncommon today as a financial professional with over two decades in the field, I know it is useless.
When my father (right) died, I was still in college. My young brothers and sisters had to be done.
Although my parents divorced when I was 13, my father's ability to contribute to our future well-being was paramount. As the eldest of three children, I learned to do with what was available. It was not always easy, but it was a full education of important life lessons that eventually led me to my career. My mother cleaned hospitals for life and taught me how to manage resources like any business school ever could. She relies on me to take care of my siblings and our house while she was at work. I earn money by mowing lawns, raking leaves and shoveling snow in the neighborhood. I worked throughout college and got my license for life insurance as a junior through an internship program at a financial services company.
untimely death of my father took a heavy emotional impact on all of us: We grieved the father that we liked, and we were struggling with questions about why he has not taken even a policy small group to protect his family. Do not he know? Did we not say enough?
Despite uplifting stories like mine, many people choose to give up to even the most basic plans in place. Involuntary lesson my father taught me to do the planning made me determined to lift the economic well-being of my own family and helping others to do the same in my community. My choice to help others with their plans for a financial future is not a career choice, it is a mission.
If your own history does not move to take action, you are allowed to borrow mine!
Organize your home office Celebrate Day by reviewing your Business Insurance
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 64 percent of independent people do at least some work at home. For these entrepreneurs and small business owners, it can be difficult to keep the paperwork under control when there are so many other priorities on their list. And it is not only a question of where to put what. Being organized also means ensuring that your business has all it takes to function properly and profitably.
Why not celebrate "Organize Your Home Office Day" today, March 8, by getting your business environment under control. Start with the physical improvement of your space, then go a step further, examining how this space and, by extension, your company is protected.
An organized office is more efficient, more productive and ultimately more profitable. And carrying the appropriate types of business insurance protects the profitability in case of unfortunate circumstances or life events. Insurance and other benefits are also attractive incentives to help you recruit the best talent and retain and compensate your members most valuable team.
While you may think that the policies of property and liability insurance are all you or your business needs, you should be aware of other equally important kinds of business insurance .
business suite
the objective of the business continuation coverage is to protect your family and your business in case of adversity. Options include individual insurance keyperson insurance and buy-sell agreements.
- Individual Insurance -In a business owner, you need enough insurance to cover business debts secured by personal assets. Otherwise, your family may be forced to sell or liquidate the company, perhaps at a loss to repay these debts, which may leave little or no money for their living expenses in progress. (I do not know how much you need? Use Life Insurance Calculator Life needs.)
- Keyperson Insurance -According to your business, get a keyperson insurance on some employees may be beneficial because it helps make for sales or loss of income or cover the cost of research or training a replacement should a staff member become disabled or die.
- Buy-sell agreements -In a company with shared ownership, a buy-sell agreement allows owners to purchase from the company to another owner if death, disability or retirement. Buy-sell agreements are generally funded by life insurance policies, which further allows business owners to buy the company interests on the part of a co-owner, if he or she were to die at a previously agreed price. Business owners should also ensure against the risk of becoming disabled and unable to work. In this case, disability insurance buy-out fund the purchase and sale agreement, allowing the owner to invalidate redeemed, usually after a waiting period of one year.
Employment Benefits -When working weighing offers, candidates examine both the rate of pay and the pay plan, which may include pension life health and disability insurance, as well. If you want to recruit and retain the best employees, discuss all the benefits package options (including voluntary benefit programs) with your insurance advisor to ensure that you have the right combination.
Executive Compensation -Executive compensation schemes, designed for your most valuable employees, offer a higher level of benefits and compensation as well as tax benefits. Options include deferred compensation plans (including SERPs), section 162 plans and supplemental disability insurance. Again, rely on your insurance advisor for recommendations and information.
Although all this information can seem overwhelming at first, your insurance professional can guide you through the details and help you develop a comprehensive plan for protecting your business and those with on her. Use "Organize Your Home Office Day" as an incentive to organize an assessment of the business policy with your insurance advisor. Then you can relax and enjoy your well-ordered office space, knowing that everything, including your insurance cover, is well organized and on track.