80/20 Financial Services-Blog

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Time is our most precious resource and I thank you for allowing me to get a few minutes of your time each week. I hope you find the blog helpful and informative. Send me an email if there is ever a topic you would be interested in learning more about. I will research it and write a future blog about it.

Owning The Best Companies In The United States

January 22, 2024 Retirement Funding Insights

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we’ve seen first hand how world events can affect the markets here in the United States. We’ve seen lots of market volatility since the beginning of the year. But guess what? The market is always volatile. And the reason for that is many investors make all their decisions based on emotion. And by doing this they blur the lines between volatility and risk. Risk and volatility are not the same thing. In fact, they aren’t even remotely related.

The Secret To Successful Investing

January 14, 2024 Investment Retirement Funding Insights

The secret to investing is complex. There is no silver bullet, there is no pill to take, there is no hot new stock, etc. Everyday we are bombarded by advertisers trying to sell us quick fixes to complex problems.

Are Annuities A Good Investment Option For Your Retirement?

January 8, 2024 Investment Retirement Funding

If you are about to retire or already retired, chances are you've been approached or heard a pitch from an Annuity Salesman. (I'm referring to after market annuities in this blog. Not the annuity option available from your NRECA R&S Plan).

Roth Conversions-Why, When & How

September 27, 2023 Retirement Funding Minimizing Taxes In Retirement

Many investors understand the basics of Roth conversions, however just as many do not. In this blog we will discuss the basics of Roth conversions as well as why you might do them, when you might do them and how you actually do them.

Receiving A Lump Sum Retirement Distribution From Your Co-op? Don't Make This Mistake!

September 23, 2023 Retirement Funding

When you retire from your cooperative you have several options on how to receive your R&S pension. For example, you can take it as series of payments, you can take it as a lump sum distribution or you can do a combination of both. For those of you interested in the lump sum distribution, I want to make sure you avoid a critical mistake that I have seen retirees make.

Let's Make A Deal! (With your R&S Pension)

September 17, 2023 Retirement Funding Insights

Let's Make A Deal! (With your R&S Pension)

What the heck is a financial plan?

August 6, 2023 Retirement Funding

You probably hear the term “financial plan” often, but what does that mean?

Cooperative Retirement Decisions

May 6, 2023 Retirement Funding Insights

Many of you are blessed to be employed at a cooperative that offers a defined benefit pension plan that provides you with a lump sum payment or a monthly pension payment for life when you retire. Congratulations! Such plans are uncommon today. Many of you will face a challenging decision at retirement. Should you take the lump sum payout or should you take the monthly annuity payment for the rest of your life and, in some cases, the life of your spouse and beneficiaries as well?

What Lesson Can We Learn From A Postage Stamp?

May 1, 2023 Retirement Funding

The U.S. Postal Service announced price increases for 2023. The cost of a postage stamp will increase from 60 cents to 63 cents. That's a 5% increase! What lesson can we learn from a postage stamp that also applies to your retirement plan?

Could You Retire From Your Cooperative At Age 55 or Before?

April 24, 2023 Retirement Funding

Considering early retirement from your cooperative? Here are two options that can make that a reality.

Don't Listen To The Serpent

March 20, 2023 Investment Retirement Funding Insights

In the Book of Genesis, God gives Adam and Eve authority over the earth, forbidding them of only one thing. They are forbidden from tasting the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. And for a few moments, their innocence is perfect. Then it happens. They taste the fruit and commit the original transgression. And after that, everything bad and wrong with earthly life suddenly enters the world: sin, shame, struggle, sickness and death. They only made one little mistake, but it was the only mistake they couldn't afford to make.

Do You Have Time To Wait For Stocks To Recover?

March 6, 2023 Retirement Funding

It's March 2023 and we're smack dab in the middle of a Bear Market. What should you do with your investments? Should you do anything? Do you have time for them to recover? Let's talk about that for a minute..

The Biggest Misconception In Retirement

February 19, 2023 Retirement Funding Insights

As I write this blog in February 2023, the last 14 months have given us a master class on how inflation can affect retirement planning and your purchasing power in general. Probably the biggest misconception I see when talking to retirees or soon to be retirees is that they worry about losing their "money" in retirement but they don't worry about losing their purchasing power.

3 Tips For A Recession Proof Retirement

January 23, 2023 Retirement Funding Insights

It's January 23, 2023 and all the media pundits are trying to predict a recession as if they have any idea about anything at all. In my opinion, and by definition, the American economy was and is already in a mild recession. Let's define what a recession is and what the Gross Domestic Product is and what this means to you. Then we will talk about tips to help you through a recession. And before we start, I urge you not to panic. Recessions are common and often they are exactly what can cure a struggling economy. They are NOT to be feared!

Secure Act 2.0 What You Need To Know

January 12, 2023 Retirement Funding Minimizing Taxes In Retirement

If you'll recall, the original Secure Act was passed at the end of 2019. It raised the Retired Minimum Distributions (RMD) age to 72, limited Stretch IRAs to just 10 years, allowed you to pay off $10,000 of your student loans with a 529 plan, and mostly encouraged employers to provide better 401(k)s. Secure Act 2.0 provides additional changes, almost all of which are great for savers, investors, employees, and employers. Let's go over them.

What Is My Tax Bracket For 2023?

December 25, 2022 Retirement Funding Minimizing Taxes In Retirement

Being "in" a certain tax bracket doesn't mean you pay that federal income tax rate on everything you make. The progressive tax system means that people with higher taxable incomes are subject to higher federal income tax rates, and people with lower taxable incomes are subject to lower federal income tax rates.