Are Indexed Annuities bad products?

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Recently, some articles have called Indexed Annuities “terrible ideas” for senior citizens.  Proponents disagree and feel these are the perfect solution for people who need market returns but don’t want to take market risk.  Click here to read a  Bloomberg article on this topic.

First, a primer…an Indexed Annuity is a type of deferred annuity.  In theory, the purchaser gets to put their money in the stock market, realize some of the gains as the market goes up, but ...

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31
JAN
0

Financial Products

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Bond funds versus individual bonds

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Individual bonds and bond funds have many similarities.  They are both major components of the fixed income portion of your portfolio, both pay interest to their investors on a regular basis and both carry similar risks (call or email me with questions on the risks).  Below are some of the major differences:

A)  The current value of an individual bond in your portfolio does not impact the payments you receive, so its value at any point in time is only of ...

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17
JAN
0

Financial Products

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Reducing the impact of Illinois’ tax increase

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This week, Illinois increased the state income tax rate from 3% to 5%.  The items below are my top 5 ways you can minimize the impact of the tax increase to you and your family:

1.      Increase contributions to your retirement plan.  Increasing the contribution to your retirement account will reduce your taxable income, lowering your tax bill for both state and federal taxes.

2.      Increase the funding to your Health Savings Account.  Contributions to Health Savings Accounts are considered “Adjustments to ...

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17
JAN
0

Taxes

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