Play of the Day! – Stay Invested
Trying to time the market is an “iffy” proposition at best. Rebalancing? Yes. Jumping into cash when there’s volatility? No. For example, if you invested your money during the time period of 1965-1993 95% of your returns would have resulted from just 1.2% of the trading days. The problem is…you have no way of knowing which ones of the days will be the best! During that time if you missed 90 of the best trading days your return would have dropped from 11% to 3%. Don’t guess, stay invested.
When should you enroll in Medicare? As with most things in life…it depends. There are three enrollment periods depending on your birthday and whether or not you are and/or will be covered by a company health plan. Get to know these enrollment options and make sure that you enroll on time because once a penalty is assessed it stays with you for life! Want to know more? 
Yes, that is correct. There is a misconception that you will “lose” Social Security benefits if you work in retirement and earn over a certain dollar amount. The reality is that Social Security will withhold a certain amount over the thresholds for 2014 which are $15,480 and $41,400. One or both of these will apply depending on your W-2 earnings and your Full Retirement Age. In any event you will get the withheld benefits back and you will continue to earn Social Security credits if you continue to work in retirement so don’t worry about “losing” benefits because you won’t. Click here for a 
Most boomers tend to overestimate the likelihood of dying from unlikely causes like murder and underestimate their chances of dying from more likely causes such as cancer or heart failure. Why is this important? You should budget for the “likely” causes and insure against the “unlikely” causes. For example, if you get in a car accident and get sued for $1 million dollars. You wouldn’t set aside that much money “just in case” but you would insure against it.
According to a Merrill Lynch study boomers who discussed their retirement and estate planning with their families were twice as likely to say they were prepared in the event of a family emergency. Let your kids and spouse know where things are like your will and trust, powers of attorney and medical directives. Better yet, have a family meeting and discuss what your wishes are and how you want the finances handled if you are suddenly incapacitated. Have your financial advisor lead the meeting if you feel more comfortable doing it that way. This is about more than who gets the family silver or grandma’s wedding ring. Your family will thank you and you will sleep better knowing things will transition smoothly.