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The decision to buy life insurance is one of the most important a person can make in their financial lives, and buying a life insurance policy can be one of the more difficult things a person does. Why? Because life insurance is a complex financial instrument full of many different moving parts that people need to be able to understand.

Perhaps the most important factor in formulating your investment plan is your risk tolerance; that is, the amount of risk you’re willing to assume in order to achieve your most important objectives.

401(k) plans were established by Congress to encourage individual savings towards retirement. Offered through employers, the plans are generally available to eligible employees who are allowed to contribute a percent of their salary to the plan.

When the decision to buy life insurance is finally made it brings a sense of relief and comfort to most, until they begin the agonizing process of deciding which kind of life insurance to buy. The choices are many, and the process can be daunting, however, it is made easier when you have at least a basic understanding of the difference between term life and whole life.

While the current stock market boom has some people rejoicing it doesn’t appear as though their level of anxiety has abated much. Investors sometimes have short memories, but a stock market rally s is not likely to make people forget the carnage left behind in their 401(k) s and stock portfolios after one of the worst market declines in our history.

It’s tax season again, and a question we get from a number of clients after receiving their yearend statements is, “Are my investment advisory fees tax deductible?” And the answer is an equivocal, “It depends.”

A will is the foundation of your estate plan and it is essential if your financial affairs are to be settled in accordance with your wishes. If you die without a will, or “intestate” as the law refers to it, essentially the state becomes your executor and your property will be distributed according to its laws.

The current economic environment has caused most everyone to reconsider their personal finances with many people having to drastically change their spending and savings habits. Out of this economic malaise may come an opportunity to finally instill the right habits in your teens that can carry them into adulthood on the right financial footing.

As anyone would have expected, the extraordinary convergence of extreme stock market volatility, low interest rates, declining home values, diminished retirement savings accounts, and chronic economic sluggishness has taken a severe toll on the American psyche. For many investors, it may have forever altered the way in which risk is perceived and managed.

If you have read any literature on retirement planning or have received advice from a financial professional, chances are you were presented with the 70% rule, the one that suggests that retirees will need between 70 and 80% of their pre-retirement income in order to maintain their standard of living.