These insurance products offer the promise of guaranteed income, an attractive proposition for many retirees in a volatile market. Variable annuity sales rose 16% in the first quarter over the same period last year.  What’s an annuity? In simple terms, an annuity is a contract between a customer and an insurance company. The customer makes…

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Generation X, comprised of adults between the ages of 40 and 55, have entered their prime earning years while at the same time enjoying a bull market for stocks. This demographic represents about a quarter of households in the U.S. (26.8%) and a similar share of household net worth (26.9%). However, many economists see Gen…

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If your tax return was a target, the bullseye would be $0. You don’t want a giant tax bill—that means you didn’t have enough money taken out of your paycheck for taxes. And that huge tax refund? That’s not free money—it’s your money, which you’ve been loaning too much of to the government throughout the year (with…

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In 2010, a study was published by two Nobel prize-winning economists purporting that people with more money feel better about their lives. However, that held true only up to an annual salary of $75,000 ($90,000 in today’s dollars). Past the $75k threshold, people weren’t necessarily any happier. That scenario has apparently changed in the ensuing…

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If there’s one thing that can move the economy and stock market forward, it’s hope. This year, that hope is being presented in the form of COVID-19 vaccines. Economists and Wall Street analysts have long proclaimed that comprehensive economic recovery is not possible until we have contained the virus. The prospect of wide distribution of…

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