Lighthouse Financial LLC

Could You Retire at 55? Suppose you suddenly had to, or the opportunity presented itself. This prospect would not call for disregarding your carefully considered retirement strategy, but it would create some challenges. Social Security, Medicare, and popular retirement accounts were all created with the assumption that Americans would need retirement benefits and sources of […]

Figuring Out When to Start Your Second Act Many Gen Xers and baby boomers look forward to retiring on their terms. In such a circumstance, a key question becomes when to walk away from work. According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the average retirement age is now 65 for men and […]

Has the Pandemic Affected the Retirement Mind-set? Each year, the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies surveys baby boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials to gauge their perceptions about retiring. The 2020 survey, conducted in April, studied the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it may have affected their outlooks. Overall, 53% of respondents said that […]

You Might Spend Less—Later in Retirement A 2019 white paper by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) indicates that Americans tend to spend less as they age. EBRI analyzed a study from the University of Michigan, which tracked spending levels of Americans age 50 or older for 12 years. Looking at this data, EBRI found […]

How Should Preretirees View Illiquid Assets? Some people approach their retirement years owning illiquid assets worth more than their liquid ones. While long-held illiquid assets, such as a business or home, may become highly valued or appreciated over time, it can be wise to be frank and conservative when estimating their worth, especially if an […]

Using Your Quarantine as a Trial Run for Retirement Staying productive in the time of COVID-19 can be a challenge. Rather than pulling out the board games, you might want to use the opportunity to stress-test your plans for retirement. Specifically, if you are preparing to retire soon, you might be able to examine a […]

Good Career Choices May Lead to an Improved Retirement What is your most powerful tool for building retirement savings? Perhaps, your income. For that matter, the path of your career could influence when and how well your retirement begins. Is there merit in changing jobs (or even careers) with an eye toward what the move […]

What Matters More in Retirement: Income or Savings? Retirement saving is not just about accumulating assets. It is also about laying the groundwork for retirement spending. Any retirement strategy has a core goal: the goal of helping an individual or couple pursue their retirement dreams once their careers have concluded. So, from that perspective, the […]

How the SECURE Act Affects Retirement Accounts A new federal law, the Setting Up Every Community for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, directly affects retirees and retirement savers. It changes the rules regarding “stretching” an individual retirement account (IRA), as well as longstanding retirement account rules keyed to age 70½. Under the SECURE Act, in most […]