Your Life Your Wealth

May 9, 2019

I discuss tax loss harvesting, a way to realize losses to offset gains in your investment portfolio. It’s a strategy that could give you a half point increase in your investment returns, but there are some specific conditions you need to consider.

May 2, 2019

Questions about the future solvency of the social security system populate our news feeds. There are a variety of gloomy predictions about the survival of the system. As a preamble to future podcasts on social security, I briefly discuss whether or not our nation’s pool of social security money should be more aggressively invested. Could more aggressive investing of those dollars reduce the likelihood of a coming social security shortfall? Some consider the failure to more aggressively invest a real social security scandal.

April 25, 2019

My guest Michael Finke, Chief Academic Officer of the American College of Financial Services, has been researching the elements of true retirement happiness for years. His findings indicate that there are three strong predictors, the first two are money and health. The third, perhaps equally as important to the first two, is the nurturing of personal and social relationships, especially the quality of your relationship with your spouse. We go in-depth discussing his findings and focus, as we so often do, on the all-important life side of retirement. Our guest reinforces the fact that true happiness in your retired years can not be found exclusively through money or wealth.

April 19, 2019

At Cordasco Financial Network, we don’t “do” your taxes, but we do offer the invaluable service of looking over the details of your return to ensure accuracy and make certain every tax-saving opportunity is realized. CFN...

April 4, 2019

The biggest fear many retirees have is running out of money. I’m joined by Aline Holzworth, a Behavioral Scientist at Duke University, who recently co-authored a Wall Street Journal article on her research to help determine the amount of money you may need in retirement. It’s a surprisingly high percentage of the annual income earned during your working years...

March 28, 2019

Too many investors spend too much time chasing specific stocks or trying to time the market, while at the same time are careless about maximizing their tax benefits. Carefully managing your taxes is an area where you can have a significant impact on the growth of your investments. Being smart about where you invest for retirement and even smarter about which retirement accounts you withdraw from, and in what order, can make a significant difference in the amount of money you keep and how much you send to Uncle Sam. I share tips and strategies you need to know.

March 22, 2019

Chairman Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve is going to be rate neutral for now. What do his comments mean to you? I talk with Senior Financial Analyst Joe Cortese. We discuss market fundamentals as we approach the end of the first quarter of 2019. Plus, talk about the Fed’s inflation fight, corporate debt and the strength of the U.S. dollar. I also give my take on the markets and how volatility can bring opportunities.

March 15, 2019

It’s considered either a “fantastic new idea” or “the path to financial ruin.” There's a controversial new and growing trend relating to retirement called FIRE, Financial Independence Retire Early. It’s a movement, largely supported by millennials, promoting the idea of living frugally while saving up to half of your income early in your career, then retiring in your mid 40’s. I discuss the FIRE concept and look at the possible benefits and many problems connected to this very different type of financial life plan.

March 7, 2019

Research indicates that the increase in property values at some Jersey Shore towns is being stunted by rising sea levels. Towns including Brigantine, Atlantic City, Sea Isle City, and North Wildwood are among the top 20 locations impacted, with the burgeoning retirement town of Ocean City being the hardest hit. I'm a resident of the Jersey Shore and skeptical of these findings, but wanted further detail. I’m joined by Columbia University researcher Jeremy Porter to explain his perspective on the data.

March 1, 2019

If you’ve worked for various companies during your career, you may have accumulated several 401(k) accounts. As retirement approaches, perhaps you should consider consolidating those accounts. This streamlining process can be complicated, and there could be benefits to maintaining separate accounts. I’ll walk you through the process and detail the pros and cons of retirement account consolidation.