Discussing Life Insurance
8 Tips for Financial Success
As a financial advisor I thought I would share with you my personal favorite 8 tips I believe all individuals, couples or families should be practicing.
- There are no get rich quick schemes. Embrace this mindset. Once you realize the path to prosperity is through a slow methodical plan of attack the better off you will be.
- Build your emergency fund. You should be thinking along these lines: If a storm damaged your roof, could you comfortably replace it? If your car suddenly dies, could you comfortably replace it?
- Be aware of your costs and expenses. Many of us turn on automatic payments and deductions and may not take the time to reconcile our monthly expenses. It is a smart exercise to look through and review bank and credit card statements, reviewing receipts, and turning off services you are not using.
- Start investing today. The path to retirement begins the moment you start saving for retirement. Remember tip 1: there is no get rich quick scheme. Don’t wait to start planning ahead, the earlier you start the better off you will be.
- Walk away from that purchase. Take 24 hours from that impulse big expenditure. If you still need it or want it 24 hours later, it will most likely still be there. Do you want money or things?
- Protect your loved ones. If something were to happen where you, or your spouse, lost your ability to earn an income you will want disability and/or life insurance to protect against this loss.
- Basic estate planning. At the very least, you should have a legally binding Will in place to determine where and how assets will be distributed. Do not leave this task up to the government to decide.
- Set goals! Setting goals is important for a few reasons. Setting and meeting goals grants us a feeling of achievement, of a job well done. Setting goals also allows us to hold ourselves or our professionals we hire to a high standard. If your goals are unattainable your financial professional can set you straight. If you are investing for yourself and never making your goals it may be time to seek help.
If you would like to learn more about my thoughts related to personal finance and how easy building blocks can begin a lifetime of wealth please email me at [email protected] or find me on Facebook at Paul Hundley, Lighthouse Capital. You can read more of my blogs at the Lighthouse Capital Blog.
Make it a healthy, happy and profitable day!
Paul Hundley
Impact of Trump’s Tax Plan on Your Family Income
Below is my analysis of how the Trump Administration’s tax proposal may impact American families. I have outlined the dollar amounts the Trump plan may save families in each of the four specified income categories below. Keep in mind that the Trump tax proposal is just that – a proposal, and not law. Furthermore, if tax reform is passed it will likely be a compromise of sorts between Trump’s plan and whatever comes from Congress.
Family Income = $75,000.00
Current Federal Taxes = $10,322.50
Trump Federal Taxes = $9,000.00
Savings = $1,322.50
Family Income = $125,000.00
Current Federal Taxes = $22,792.50
Trump Federal Taxes = $21,500.00
Savings = $1,292.50
Family Income = $200,000.00
Current Federal Taxes = $42,985.50
Trump Federal Taxes = $40,250.00
Savings = $2,735.50
Family Income = $350,000.00
Current Federal Taxes = $90,913.00
Trump Federal Taxes = $85,621.50
Savings = $5,291.50
**The tax calculations contained herein are estimates based on the tax rates of “Married-Joint Filers,” and do not include deductions or exemptions.
Disclosure: Lighthouse Capital, LLC does not provide tax advice. The illustrations contained herein are for illustrative purposes only, and should not be considered fact. For tax advice we recommend you contact a tax professional.
Discussing Life Insurance
Life insurance: this is a topic I avoided for most of my professional career. I always liked to view myself as an “investment” guy. I would rather focus on equity, fixed income, asset allocation, macroeconomics, and how the world around us can affect your investments. However, when I became a father almost a year and a half ago life insurance was a topic I could not continue to ignore. My daughter depends on me for everything, financial support being one of them. It is not fun to think of my mortality at just 37 years of age, but my mother passed at 48 years old and my uncle passed at 32, both due to cancer related complications. Unfortunately, my family history is my reality and it would be irresponsible to not plan defensively, should a day come and I am unable to provide for Cadence.
The most common question I encounter regarding life insurance is determining how much insurance an individual needs, and what kind of insurance coverage they may require. There are a few simple starting points that I take into consideration.
How much are your earnings? How much does your spouse earn?
What are your current liabilities – mortgages, cars, credit cards, student loans etc.?
What are your future projected liabilities- children, college etc.?
The next issue is determining what type of life insurance coverage is needed. Do you need temporary, or more commonly referred to as term insurance? Term insurance covers you for a set number of years. Or is a permanent policy through whole or universal life more appropriate for you and your family? Permanent policies are typically for families with special needs children or possible estate planning needs.
Click Here for an explanation of different types of life insurance.
Planning for the cost of life insurance should not be a burden..There are extremely affordable policies on the marketplace, and we would be happy provide you with a number of different quotes and policy types.
Personally, life insurance is extremely unfun. But I promise you this, if for some unforeseen reason your spouse calls me with tragic news we will not be talking stock. We will be talking about how you did the right thing protecting your family.
I look forward to regularly sharing with you my views relating to personal finance. I would appreciate any feedback that you may have, and if you have a topic that you would like me to cover, please email me at [email protected] or find me on Facebook at Paul Hundley, Lighthouse Capital. Or read more of my blogs at the Lighthouse Capital blog.
Make it a healthy, happy, and profitable day.
Paul