Articles – FMP Wealth Advisers

Bear Markets Come and Go

One of the longest bull markets in history lasted almost 11 years before coronavirus fears and the realities of a seriously disrupted U.S. economy brought it to an end. *If you are losing sleep over volatility driven by a cascade of disheartening news, it may help to remember that the stock market is historically cyclical....

Social Security Retirement Benefits

Social Security was originally intended to provide older Americans with continuing income after retirement. Today, though the scope of Social Security has been widened to include survivor, disability, and other benefits, retirement benefits are still the cornerstone of the program. How do you qualify for retirement benefits? When you work and pay Social Security taxes...

SECURE ACT OF 2019

Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 Summary of Legislation by FMP Wealth Advisers Congress passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act on December 19, 2019. We have reviewed the new legislation and summarized in this document the items we believe to be of most impact and interest...

Caring For Your Aging Parents

What is it? Caring for your aging parents is something you hope you can handle when the time comes, but something you probably hope you never have to do. Caring for your aging parents means helping them plan for the future, and this can be overwhelming, both physically and emotionally. When the time comes for...

How aggressive should I be when I invest for retirement?

Answer: It depends. The right answer in your case will depend on a number of key factors. These include, among others, your income and assets, your attitude toward risk, whether you have access to an employer-sponsored plan at work, the age at which you plan to retire, and your projected expenses during retirement. But it’s...

Sudden Wealth

What would you do with an extra $10,000? Maybe you’d pay off some debt, get rid of some college loans, or take a much-needed vacation. What if you suddenly had an extra million or 10 million or more? Now that you’ve come into a windfall, you have some issues to deal with. You’ll need to...

Repaying Your Student Loans

You vaguely remember signing a form every year at college registration time. Now that you’ve graduated, it’s all become painfully clear — those forms were promissory notes detailing your student loan obligations. Your loans aren’t going away, and you’ll want to repay them as quickly as possible. So whether you have a small sum or...

Social Security Retirement Benefits

Social Security was originally intended to provide older Americans with continuing income after retirement. Today, though the scope of Social Security has been widened to include survivor, disability, and other benefits, retirement benefits are still the cornerstone of the program. How do you qualify for retirement benefits? When you work and pay Social Security taxes...

Estate Planning: An Introduction

By definition, estate planning is a process designed to help you manage and preserve your assets while you are alive, and to conserve and control their distribution after your death according to your goals and objectives. But what estate planning means to you specifically depends on who you are. Your age, health, wealth, lifestyle, life...