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For anyone approaching retirement you’ve probably got a checklist for your countdown to the big day.

Do I have enough saved for a long, financially secure retirement? Check.

Did I file the right paperwork at the office? Check.

Is my professional exit strategy in place and ready? Check.

Even as the stock market works its way to new highs, retirement savers, still shell-shocked from the extreme volatility of recent years, are slow to wade back into equities. Smaller investors tend to ignore the history that shows that the market eventually rewards those who can withstand the fluctuations and stay the course through the various market cycles.

For anyone who has dealt with an aging parent or grandparent the concept of long term care is likely a familiar one. Those unfortunate enough to suffer from Alzheimer’s or other cognitive illness can end up requiring nursing care that can reach and exceed $80,000 per-year depending on the quality of care.

The need for retirement planning didn’t really exist until well into the 1970s. Up to that point, people worked until age 65, spent a few years in leisure through their life expectancy which was about 69. Many retirees of that era were able to coast into retirement with a cushy pension plan.

Most people think estate planning is only for wealthy people.  Certainly, the 55% of Americans who died without a will thought so, even though all of their estates ended up in probate court subject to the laws of the state.  Sadly, the surviving families were thrust into a situation that resulted in unnecessary distress, expense and, for many of them, devastating financial consequence

In the realm of financial planning, time is our most valuable asset.  It’s available to all of us, providing each individual with the same opportunity to optimize its value in building wealth. It’s the only resource we all have over which we have some degree of control.

In our discussions with clients, the term “wealth” has always been tossed about somewhat loosely. We talk about building wealth, wealth management, wealth enhancement, and wealth preservation and wealth in general as if it were universally understood.

There are many who would suggest that, in a digitally-wired world in which information travels at light speed to all corners, the investment playing field has been leveled between individual investors and the institutions. In reality, however, the incessant noise and information overload can do more to fuel the irrational behavior of investors than it can to provide any sort of advantage.

It is not often that the topics of life insurance and annuities are brought up in the same discussion, primarily because they serve two very distinct purposes. Although they are both products of life insurance companies, life insurance policies are protection against dying too soon, and annuities are protection against living to long.