A recently widowed client asked me an important planning question, one that many parents eventually face. One of her sons was preparing to enter graduate school, and his 529 plan had been depleted during his undergraduate years. At the same time, she had just received life insurance proceeds following her spouse's death. Should she use some of that money to help pay for graduate school for her son instead of requiring him to take out federal student loans? And if so, should s

Most physicians have their number in mind—their retirement number. The amount that they have determined that their net worth must reach to sustain them for the rest of their lives. Once they hit it, they assume that they will be ready to hang it up and call it a career. They may have come up with this number on their own, using a tool like the 4% rule, or perhaps a financial advisor has helped them with some more sophisticated planning. Either way, the number becomes the g

I recently had a client who is approaching an early retirement ask me about the best way to handle their health savings account moving forward before Medicare kicks in. I thought it would be a useful and instructive blog post. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can become one of the most tax-efficient tools available in early retirement and a potential source of future tax-free income. The Triple Tax Advantages of Health Savings Accounts HSAs are unique from a tax perspective.