Information of Interest

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Michigan Tax Law Changes for 2012

Michigan Tax Laws have changed as of January 1, 2012.  The details can be found at the Michigan government website (www.michigan.gov/taxes).  For your convenience, summaries can be accessed below:

• Pension Tax Changes
• General Tax Law Changes  

summaries summsummariesSocial Security

If you are approaching retirement, no doubt you have some questions about what role Social Security might play in your retirement income stream.  You may even have questions about the viabilty of the program.  The following documents will provide you with some answers to your questions.  If they do not, please give us a call and we will work through your specific circumstances.

• Planning for Social Security
• Myths and Facts about Social Security
• How Secure is Social Security?
• Social Security - What Should You do At Age 62?

College Planning Strategies

Whether you are a new parent or a parent of teenagers, it is never too early or late to begin looking at funding options for your child’s college education.  As a grandparent, you too can get into the  action of helping to fund future college education costs.  Take a look at the links below for more details.

• Planning for College - Options
• 529 Basics
• Grandparent opportunities 

Investing In the Market 

The recent market decline has reinforced the volitile nature of the stock market to all of us.  However, looking throughout the history of the stock market, it is still one of the best long term investment tools we have at our disposal.  It is important to understand the basics of investing and to have professional financial advisors to assist us in our decisions.  The link below will provide you with a basic understanding of the different types of investments and introduce the concept of asset allocation

• Investing Basics
• Lump Sum versus Dollar Cost Averaging
• Growth versus Value - What is the Difference?
• Exchange Traded Funds
• Asset Allocation   

 Annuities

Annuities can be an important part of your retirement income plan but they are not for everyone.  We have included two documents below that may help you understand Annuities and whether they (or other types of annuities) are right for your retirement income plan.

• Retirement Planning with Fixed Annuities
• Variable Annuities

401K Rollovers

• A 401k rollover is a transfer of funds from one retirement savings vehicle to another.  Sounds simple but there are aspects that you need to be familiar with in order to make intelligent decisions with your financial advisor.  Please review the document below to better understand this concept. 
   
• Rollover Basics