Many people believe that retirement accounts and life insurance are two separate tools used for planning two separate events, retirement and death. This is not the case. Life insurance can be a valuable tool for retirement planning if your situation allows for it.

Did you get a smaller tax refund this year? If so, you’re not alone . However, the average tax refund this year was still a good $3,000. Whether your refund is more, less, or about what you expected, the key is to make the best use of it. Here are some options to consider in general order of priority: 1) Get caught up on old bills. For many of the people we talk to on our financial coaching line, a tax refund can be a lifeline to get caught up on overdue mortgage payments and other bills.

Health insurers are reporting unprecedented growth in the number of seniors flocking to private Medicare Advantage plans amid talk of a single payer government-run approach that could uproot such coverage.

The same week U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) made news with her support for “Medicare for All,” insurers Anthem and Cigna reported strong growth from Medicare Advantage, private coverage sold via contracts with the federal government.

Paying taxes is rarely something you look forward to. It is perfectly legal to arrange your affairs to pay as little as possible. But if you think that paying taxes can't get any worse, you would be wrong. The least satisfying of all taxes would be paying taxes that are not even yours. That might be how some people view some 'responsible persons' who are stuck paying their employer's taxes. Let's start with the basics. If you have employees, paying employment taxes is inevitable.

This Christmas, Austin Frakt gifted New York Times readers with a superlative precis of the health spending burden that faces elderly Americans [1]. Prof. Frakt--who writes far more succinctly and clearly than one might ever expect from a health economist--points out that half of lifetime health spending occurs after reaching the age of 65. This chart from my book amplifies this point, showing how health costs rise rather persistently through retirement years. Fig.

When tax geeks arose from their slumber on January 1, 2018, we were greeted by a strange and unfamiliar world. Gone were personal exemptions, Section 199, and 50% bonus depreciation. In their place were a doubled standard deduction, Section 199A, and 100% bonus depreciation. These changes, in addition to countless others, were the end result of a whirlwind legislative process that overhauled our beloved Internal Revenue Code in a mere seven weeks, an act of Congressional hubris that tax professionals will rue for years to come.

Medicare updates the U.S. by “joining the rest of the industrialized world, where health care is universal” and will save money and improve health outcomes.

Timing is everything, and that’s especially true when it comes to enrolling in Medicare. Anyone nearing Medicare eligibility should be aware of the enrollment periods and deadlines and be prepared to sign up for the coverage of their choice.

Now that tax season is over (well, except for those of us on extension), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning taxpayers to remain on alert for phishing emails and telephone scams. According to the IRS, summer attracts the attention of scammers since so many taxpayers expect to hear from the tax agency - so much so that tax pros refer to this time of year as correspondence season.

Just how bad is it to be playing video games 23/7?  Scrolling through Facebook might be one of the worst things we can do for our mental health.

Every parents wish is for their child to make more money and be more successful than them, but nowadays it seems we're destined to make less, unless....

Don't be fooled. Connecticut taxpayers have been warned by the Department of Revenue Services (CT DRS) not to open, make a payment or reply to an email claiming to be a tax bill for Amazon and/or NewEgg purchases. The email, which is a scam, directs taxpayers to a fake website that appears to be legitimate to trick taxpayers into making payments or revealing personal and financial information.

As with many scams, thieves are trying to capitalize on a legitimate effort to collect tax revenue. CT DRS has been sending out tax notices about use tax that might be due.

Under Armour has admitted that around 150 million MyFitnessPal user accounts were hacked in February of this year.

The sports giant has stated that “an unauthorized party acquired data associated with MyFitnessPal user accounts” occurred last month but it only became aware of the breach earlier this week. 'The company quickly took steps to determine the nature and scope of the issue and to alert the MyFitnessPal community of the incident,' read a statement.

Life insurance for children is often marketed to parents or grandparents as a way to save money for kids and to “protect their insurability,” meaning their chance to buy more life insurance later no matter their health. For these reasons, some life insurance agents say purchasing life insurance on a child can be a smart financial move, but many financial advisors caution against it.

Robots, Artificial Intelligence, in this digial age it's responsible leaders and strong partnerships that are showing to be key for the manufacturing sector to thrive.  

Keeping your long-term goals in mind at all times requires a lot of willpower and effort. But having a process in place that replaces willpower and eliminates temptation makes it easier to progress toward what you want. Here's how...

Life insurance is not sexy. It’s not fun to talk about and it’s definitely not a process anyone enjoys. However, much like death and taxes, buying life insurance is an essential part of life and a crucial element of sound financial planning. Most everyone is aware that they need life insurance but, from my experience, most people procrastinate until there is an important life event that pushes them to buy it. However, there are some serious benefits to buying insurance early on, especially if you have debt, are married or planning on marriage, have or are planning on starting a family, or you are a business owner.

It used to be that retailers couldn’t wait to hear the unmistakable sound that said the holidays had arrived — ringing cash registers. Today’s businesses are adapting to the new signs of the holiday season — digital clicks and online carts. Black Friday, the most joyous of all shopping days in the year for retailers and customers alike, still tops the list of sales spikes for the year, followed closely by its relatively new cousin Cyber Monday.

First there were influencers. Then came micro-influencers. What next? Nano-influencers?
As the trend carries on and brands get a whiff of influencer marketing, one question haunts many: What makes someone a so-called influencer?