While it’s a good idea to be reasonably frugal, and there are a lot of great and practical ways to save money, it’s possible to take things too far. Certain money-saving ideas may sound good initially but then they tend to backfire. Here is a list of 10 things that you should not do to […]

An essential part of every reverse mortgage loan is the home appraisal, which is used to determine the value of the home on which the loan approval and loan amount are largely based. Due to the social distancing measures now in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the health and safety […]

In plain English, sequence of returns risk means that if the stock market plunges at about the same time you retire and start taking regular withdrawals from your primary investment account, you could be in for a big financial shock. That’s because an investment portfolio exposed to stock market losses early in retirement, and then […]

If you’ve been asked to serve as the executor of someone’s will, you should feel honored. It shows the person has a lot of faith in your integrity, as well as in your ability and organizational skills to carry out his or her last wishes. But just because you’ve been offered the role doesn’t mean […]

By being both old (even age 50 may qualify) and bold, you may be eligible for all kinds of senior discounts to help you stretch your retirement dollars farther. Use your age advantage to score discounts at museums, national parks, and, of course, many of the establishments you frequent on a regular basis, like grocery […]

When your spouse dies, your world changes. It goes from “we” to “me” in a heartbeat. If you were used to dividing up the chores, such as cooking, cleaning, cutting the grass or changing the air filter on your refrigerator or HVAC unit, these tasks may now fall on you alone. And the truth is, […]

It’s one of life’s most maddening, stomach-churning, and anxiety-filled experiences: frantically rifling through a dusty attic, rusting filing cabinet or other hidden cavity of the house looking for a critical document that has suddenly gone missing. From birth certificates to death certificates, we accumulate vital documents that we should be able to locate in a […]

Are you looking around your cavernous single-family spread and thinking, “Do I need this much space?” Once your family has flown the nest, there’s probably little reason to still keep the nest. Downsizing is a tried-and-true feature of retirement. As much as people maintain they want to “age in place,” many opt for less space. […]

When you first bought your house, the last thing you may have thought about was its potential as a vehicle to fund your retirement. Your home was simply a place to share with your spouse, raise your children, and enjoy your family. It has been a humble setting for some of the best moments of your […]

Founding father Benjamin Franklin’s image is on the $100 bill, the largest denomination of U.S. currency, because he knew a thing or two about money. He knew that even if you have little to invest, you can still build wealth by taking baby steps. Franklin notably said, “Human felicity is produced not so much by […]