Retirement plans demonstrate the wisdom of the proverb “two heads are better than one” — a proverb that always brings to mind the music from the classic Sesame Street video. Now the “two heads” can be you and your spouse, or you and your financial advisor, but you can also benefit from encouraging a dialogue between the income-you and the spending-you.

If you asked earlier generations what their biggest fear was – they might have answered, “dying too young.” Asking that question today would probably get you the exact opposite answer: “I’m worried about outliving my money.” It’s a fear that is shared by many – even wealthy individuals. According to the 2019 AICPA Going Broke Remains Top Concern in Retirement: Survey of CPA Financial Planners, more than 41% of CPA’s indicated that running out of money was clients’ #1 concern.

Surprisingly, dealing with sudden wealth can become a nightmare. Learn the five steps you can take immediately to successfully manage the financial and emotional crises that can come with sudden wealth.

Businesses start with the best of intentions. While beginnings are an exciting time, a strong business foundation needs to include planning for multiple future scenarios and potential “what-ifs,” including business transition and succession. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t plan for their end game.

While everyone has different views about money, it’s important to have “money talks” with your kids about the basic concepts at an early age. You don’t want these conversations to be heavy-handed or hour-long lectures, but aim for brief observations whenever opportunities come up. My husband and I are regularly on the lookout for teachable moments to talk about money with our two kids – especially since we know that our oldest is a “saver” who hates to part with even a penny, and our youngest is a “spender” who will spend every penny she has and then ask for more. We hope to teach them about finding a balance between the two. Here are five important tips for helping your children learn to use money wisely today and throughout their lives.

Know that you are not alone if you toss and turn as you try to fall asleep. In 'Part 1', we focused on the financial concerns of a married couple with young children, but noted that the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index shows 61 percent of Americans worry about how to manage their economic life to reduce stress and increase security. That’s a lot of worrying going on!

Are you tossing and turning as you try to fall asleep? Is there a lot of mind chatter running through your head about your financial future? For many of us, finances are what keep us up at night (at least prior to the pandemic).  According to the Capital One CreditWise survey, 73% of Americans rank their finances as the No. 1 stress in life.  

Many people in their 70s are retired. Whether you're one of them or not, it doesn't mean you should stop your financial planning – in fact it means you should pay even more attention as finances in your 70s offer more opportunities (and risks) now than ever before. Here are seven tips to help make sure you're well prepared for your 70s and beyond.

Surprise, your 60s have arrived! If you’re someone who hasn’t paid much attention to your financial future before, the 60s are the years to buckle down and get serious. If you have carefully planned your finances throughout your working life, then your 60s is the time to take a second look. Retirement is just around the corner for most people, so whatever your financial habits have been in the past, this is the decade that will determine what the next third of your life will look like.

Key to a smooth business ownership transfer.

From the outside looking in, it may appear that transferring a business (through a sale to an outside party or succeeding control/ownership to an employee and/or family member) is an easy, if bureaucratic, process. But the tiniest of scratches to the surface reveals all sorts of issues that require careful consideration; not the least of which is maintaining the success and profitability of the business throughout the ownership transition.