Lighthouse Financial LLC

Could a Second SECURE Act Tweak Retirement Rules? When the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act became law in 2019, it altered retirement plan contribution and distribution rules. There may be an encore. The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, nicknamed SECURE Act 2.0, has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, and […]

Pandemic Economy or Not, Some Aspire to Retire Early A new study from Hearts and Wallets, a research firm founded in 2010 to study American retirement saving and investing trends, hints that the dream of retiring in late middle age is alive and well, although perhaps in need of a reality check. The survey results, […]

Are Your Federal Income Taxes Due in May? Maybe, Maybe Not In March, the IRS announced that it was pushing the deadline for 2020 federal tax returns ahead to Monday, May 17. This extended due date does not apply to all individual taxpayers, though. For example, if you live in Texas, Oklahoma, or Louisiana, you […]

Need Cash? Avoid Tapping into Your Retirement Account Imagine if your 35-year-old self magically appeared in front of you one day and asked for a percentage of your retirement savings or a bit of your retirement income. While this would never happen, something financially analogous happens in the lives of too many people. They withdraw […]

Evaluating an Opportunity for an Early Retirement The pandemic has hastened the retirement of some baby boomers, and the linked furloughs and layoffs in many industries have led others to wonder if a retirement transition might come sooner than they think. Buyouts became common last year as businesses cut costs. What if you receive one […]

To Retire, or Not to Retire? For some of us, the coronavirus pandemic has complicated the question of when to retire. As Yahoo! Finance reports, a Harris Poll study conducted this past summer found that 25% of Gen Xers and 14% of baby boomers think they will retire later than they planned because of the […]

This Year, There Is More Incentive to Givet When the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act became law in March, it broadened charitable tax deduction opportunities. These special 2020 tax provisions are worth reviewing before they expire on December 31, 2020. First and foremost, the CARES Act allows individuals and couples taking the […]

Most Americans Think They Will Work in Retirement A life of leisure? That may not be what retirement looks like for baby boomers and Gen Xers—and in fact, it may not be what they want their retirements to look like. Market research firm Ipsos surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. adults earlier this year and found […]

Are Vehicle Costs Blocking the Road to Retirement? Logically, investing tens of thousands of dollars toward retirement may make more sense than adding an equivalent amount of consumer debt here and now. Practically, though, we need a good car or truck, and emotionally, we get a kick out of driving something new. So, we buy […]