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Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
The school year will soon be here. And if you have young children, you&rsquo;re one year closer to the day when they may be headed off to college. When that day arrives, will you be financially prepared?
College isn&rsquo;t cheap. For the 2023&ndash;24 academic year, the average cost &mdash; including tuition, fees, housing, food, books, transportation and other expenses &mdash; was nearly $29,000 for in-state students at four-year public colleges and universities, and about $60,000 for private schools, according to the College Board. Most students do get some type of financial aid or scholarships, or both, but even the &ldquo;net&rdquo; price of college can be considerable. So, it&rsquo;s a good idea to begin a savings program as early as you can.
One popular way to build money for college expenses is through a 529 education savings plan. When you invest in a 529 plan, your earnings can grow tax deferred and your withdrawals are federally tax free when used for qualified education expenses &mdash; tuition, fees, books and so on. And while you can invest in any state&rsquo;s 529 plan, you might be able to deduct your contributions from your state income tax or receive a state tax credit if you invest in your own state&rsquo;s plan.
Despite these tax benefits, some people are concerned that a 529 plan can prove costly in terms of lost financial aid. And the value of a 529 plan is looked at as an investment asset on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). However, recent changes to FAFSA may mean that a 529 plan has a relatively small effect on the amount of aid you may receive.
A 529 plan also can be used to pay for other costs, including:
<ul><li>K-12 expenses &ndash;You can use a 529 plan to pay K-12 expenses, up to $10,000 per student per year. Not all states comply with this 529 expansion for K-12, so you might not be able to claim deductions and your withdrawals could be subject to state tax penalties.</li><li>Apprenticeship programs &ndash; A 529 plan can be used to pay for most expenses connected to apprenticeship programs registered with the U.S. Department of Labor. These programs are often available at community colleges and combine classroom education with on-the-job training.</li><li>Student loans &ndash; You can withdraw funds from a 529 plan to repay qualified federal private and student loans, up to $10,000 for each 529 plan beneficiary and another $10,000 for each of the beneficiary&rsquo;s siblings.</li></ul>
Another potential advantage of a 529 plan is its transferability. If you&rsquo;ve named a child as a 529 plan beneficiary, and that child eventually chooses not to pursue any post-secondary education, you &mdash; as the account owner &mdash; can name another family member as beneficiary. And with the passage of the SECURE 2.0 Act, any unused 529 plan funds up to a lifetime limit of $35,000 can be transferred to a Roth IRA for a beneficiary, free of taxes and penalties. There are certain rules governing this 529-to-Roth move &mdash; for example, you must have had your 529 plan at least 15 years &mdash; so you&rsquo;ll want to consult with your tax advisor before making any moves in this area.
If you&rsquo;d like to invest in your children&rsquo;s future education, a 529 plan can be a good choice &mdash; so study up on it soon.
This article was written by<a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin </a>18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

529 plan can help ease college ‘sticker shock’

Submitted by Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones...

Submitted by<a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
Do you worry about running out of money during your retirement years? If so, how can you help prevent this from happening?
In the first place, if you have this type of fear, you&rsquo;re far from alone. Consider this: 58% of retirement savers from all age groups, including current retirees, say that outliving their assets is their greatest retirement fear, according to a study by Cerulli Associates, a financial services research organization.
This type of fear can certainly affect your quality of life when you retire. Still, there&rsquo;s no need to panic &ndash; because you can take steps to help prevent the running-out-of-money scenario.
Here are a few to consider:
<ul><li>Know how much you&rsquo;ll need during retirement. You need to get a clear picture, or at least as good an estimate as possible, of how much money you&rsquo;ll need to support your retirement lifestyle. Once you do retire, some costs, such as transportation or other work-related expenses, might go down, while others &ndash; medical expenses, in particular &ndash; will likely go up. The fear of running out of money, like many fears, is caused largely by what you don&rsquo;t know, so having a good sense of how much you&rsquo;ll need in retirement can help reduce your anxieties.</li><li>Build financial resources before retirement. You&rsquo;re probably at your peak earning capacity in the years close to your retirement, so consider contributing as much as you can afford to your IRA and 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan.</li><li>Maximize your Social Security payments. You can start collecting Social Security as early as 62, but your monthly benefits will be larger if you can afford to wait until your full retirement age, between 66 and 67. (Payments will &ldquo;max out&rdquo; at age 70.)</li><li>Re-enter the workforce. Going back to work in some capacity is one way to possibly help build retirement resources and delay taking Social Security. If you have a particular area of expertise, and you enjoyed the work you did, you might be able to go back to it on a part-time basis or do some consulting. You could boost your cash flow, and potentially extend your contributions to an IRA and to an employer&rsquo;s retirement plan.</li><li>Cut costs during retirement. Possibly the biggest cost-cutting measure is downsizing &ndash; are you willing and able to move to a less expensive area or scale down your current living space? Of course, this is an emotional decision, as well as a financial one, and downsizing isn&rsquo;t for everyone, but it might be something to at least consider. As for the lesser ways of reducing expenses, take advantage of senior discounts, which are offered in many areas, including entertainment, public transportation, restaurants and retail establishments. And look for other opportunities, such as cutting out streaming services you don&rsquo;t use.</li><li>Look for more income from your investments. As you get closer to retirement, and even when you do retire, you might want to adjust your investment portfolio to provide you with more income-producing opportunities. However, even as a retiree, you&rsquo;ll want some growth potential in your investments to help keep you ahead of inflation.</li></ul>
Ultimately, the more you can bolster your financial security before and during retirement, the less fear you may have of outliving your money.
This article was written <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin</a> 18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

Are you afraid of outliving your money?

Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
Like most Americans, you will probably take on debt at some point in your life. And by managing debt wisely, you can potentially improve your saving and spending habits &ndash; and even your ability to invest for the future.
Let&rsquo;s look at some of the common options available for borrowing and using credit:
<ul><li>Credit card &ndash; When used carefully &ndash; and not over-used &ndash; a credit card can be a valuable tool, especially if you travel frequently. Many people tend to stick with the same credit card without exploring what else is out there. Try to find a card that rewards you in as many ways as possible &ndash; and then keep your eyes open occasionally for even better rewards as they can change from time to time. Obviously, you want a card with a low interest rate, although ideally, you&rsquo;d like to pay the card off each month without incurring any interest. You also should take a close look at a card&rsquo;s other features. Are you getting a competitive amount of mileage points? How much is your annual fee? Do you have a generous &ldquo;cash back&rdquo; program? Do you have access to &ldquo;extras,&rdquo; such as airport lounges?</li><li>Home equity loans and home equity lines of credit &ndash; As the names suggest, a home equity loan or line of credit lets you tap into the equity you&rsquo;ve built up in your home, which can be considerable, especially if you&rsquo;ve owned your home for a long time. A home equity loan provides you with a lump sum, which you will repay over a set term with a fixed interest rate. A home equity line of credit usually carries a variable rate, although you might find a lender offering a fixed-rate option. You can generally draw on your loan or line of credit for any purpose, but keep in mind that unless you&rsquo;re using the funds for home improvements or additions, your interest payments are generally not tax deductible.</li><li>Securities-based lending &ndash; Just as a home equity line of credit lets you borrow against the equity in your home, a securities-based loan, such as a margin loan, lets you borrow against the value of your investments, including stocks, exchange traded funds and mutual funds. Some people take out margin loans to purchase more investments, but you can use the money for any purpose. The margin loan process is usually not complex and when you make repayments, you&rsquo;re paying yourself back. However, you should approach a margin loan with caution because if you borrow too much, the value of your margin account may fall below the maintenance requirement &ndash; the minimum dollar amount you must keep in your margin account after you&rsquo;ve started taking money out. When this happens, your brokerage institution may issue a maintenance call that requires you to either deposit more money or marginable securities or sell some of the investments in your account.</li></ul>
Ultimately, when weighing your borrowing and credit options, you&rsquo;ll want to evaluate several factors: the interest rate you&rsquo;ll be paying, the purpose for taking on the debt, your ability to repay it without impinging on your cash flow, and so on. With careful thought and planning, and, if needed, help from a financial professional, you can make your debt work for you &ndash; and not the other way around.
This article was written by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin</a> 18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

Look for different ways to borrow and use credit

Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
When you run your own business, your days are busy and there&rsquo;s always a lot on your mind &mdash; but have you also thought about the day when you&rsquo;ll leave the business?
In other words, have you started thinking about your exit strategy? If not, you have company: About one-third of business owners haven&rsquo;t prepared a business succession plan, and of these owners, slightly more than a third don&rsquo;t view succession planning as a priority, according to a recent survey from Morning Consult, NXT360 Partners and Edward Jones.
If you&rsquo;re not close to retirement age and you&rsquo;ve only had your business a short time, you might not think that creating a succession plan is a priority &mdash; or even a necessity. After all, you&rsquo;ve got plenty of other things to do, such as attracting new business, dealing with competition, managing a staff, and so on. So, what benefits can you gain by prioritizing a succession plan?
Here are a few to consider:
<ul><li>You&rsquo;ll be prepared if your plans change. You might be fully engaged in running your business now, but you can&rsquo;t always foresee where you&rsquo;ll be in the future. If a new opportunity came along, would you decide to take it? Or what if you experienced a health crisis and you could no longer run your business? If either of these situations were to occur, and you did not have a succession plan, you might be forced to act quickly and take steps &mdash; such as suddenly liquidating your business &mdash; that might not be in your best interest.</li><li>You can help avoid family squabbles. If you have family members involved in your business or those who feel they should have a financial stake in it, you&rsquo;ll be doing yourself, and everyone else, a favor by developing a business succession plan and communicating it to your family. Your choice of successor may not please everyone, but if family members know far in advance what to expect when you exit your business, there&rsquo;s less likelihood of bitter disputes that can arise when succession plans are ill-defined or poorly communicated.</li><li>You can develop your successor&rsquo;s management skills. If you&rsquo;ve decided that you want an internal successor, whether it be a family member or a current employee, your succession plan will give you time to help develop this individual&rsquo;s management skills, as well as their overall knowledge of your business and familiarity with your customers, vendors and other key parties. Of course, it&rsquo;s a different story if you plan to sell the business to an outsider, but even then, you&rsquo;ll want to be sure the new owner has the abilities needed to succeed.</li><li>You may help improve your company&rsquo;s performance. As you prepare your succession plan, you may well find existing vulnerabilities in your business that you can address now. You also may find that you need to innovate in certain areas, define your long-term goals more clearly and identify the resources you&rsquo;ll need &mdash; human and otherwise &mdash; to sustain the level of growth you desire.</li></ul>
It may seem a long time before you&rsquo;ll leave your business, but tempus fugit &mdash; time flies. So, put a succession plan on your to-do list.
This article was written by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin</a> 18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

Make succession plan a priority

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Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
You can&rsquo;t predict financial emergencies &mdash; but you can prepare for them.
To do that, you can build an emergency fund to pay for unexpected expenses, some of which may be sizable. Without one, you might be forced to dip into your investments, possibly including your retirement accounts, such as your IRA or 401(k). If this happens, you might have to pay taxes and penalties, and you&rsquo;d be withdrawing dollars that could otherwise be growing over time to help pay for your retirement.
In thinking about such a fund, consider these questions:
<ul><li>How much should I save? The size of your emergency fund should be based on several factors, including your income, your spouse&rsquo;s income and your cost of living. However, for most people in their working years, three to six months of total expenses is adequate. Once you&rsquo;re retired, though, you may want to keep up to a year&rsquo;s worth of expenses in your emergency fund &mdash; because you don&rsquo;t want to be forced to cash out investments when their price may be down, and you may not be replenishing these accounts any longer.</li><li>How can I build an emergency fund? Given all your normal expenses &mdash; mortgage, utilities, food, transportation and others &mdash; you might find it challenging to set aside some extra money in an emergency fund. But you do have opportunities. If you&rsquo;re working, you could set up a direct deposit so that part of your paycheck goes directly into your emergency fund. You could also save a portion of any extra income you receive, such as bonuses and tax refunds.</li><li>Where should I keep the money? An emergency fund has two key requirements: You need to be able to access the money immediately and you need to count on a certain amount being available. So, it&rsquo;s a good idea to keep your emergency fund in a liquid, low-risk account that offers protection of principal. For this fund, you&rsquo;re less interested in growth than you are in stability. But because interest rates have recently changed, you may be able to get a reasonable return without sacrificing liquidity or safety.</li><li>What types of emergencies should I prepare for? Your emergency fund could be needed for any number of events: a job loss or early retirement, housing or auto repairs, unreimbursed medical bills, unexpected travel, and so on. But this fund may also be needed to help you cope with other threats. Consider this: In 2023, the U.S. saw a record 28 weather and climate disasters, each of which resulted in at least $1 billion in damages &mdash; and often many times this amount &mdash; according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Depending on where you live, your home or business may be susceptible to tornadoes, floods, wildfires, hurricanes and extreme heat and cold waves. These events can, and do, result in property repair and relocation costs, higher insurance premiums and even price increases for basic goods, such as groceries and prescription medications.</li></ul>
One final word about an emergency fund: It takes discipline to maintain it and to avoid tapping into it for everyday expenses or impulse purchases. The name says it all &mdash; this is a fund that should only be used for emergencies. By keeping it intact until it&rsquo;s truly needed, you can help yourself weather many of the storms that may come your way.
This article was written by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin</a> 18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

How strong is your emergency fund?

Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
Are you anticipating an inheritance someday? If so, you may want to discuss it with your parents or other family members who may be leaving you the assets &mdash; because early, open communication will benefit everyone involved. However, many people are reluctant to have these conversations. More than a third of Americans do not plan on discussing a transfer of wealth with their families, according to a recent study by Edward Jones in partnership with NEXT 360 Partners and Morning Consult. And the same study found that only about a quarter of Americans have actually discussed generational wealth transfer with their families. Perhaps this low level of communication is not surprising &mdash; clearly, talking about wealth transfer and estate plans can be emotional. But having these discussions is important, for several reasons:
<ul><li>Strengthening family bonds &ndash; Generational wealth transfer shouldn&rsquo;t be seen simply as a transactional event. By discussing your parents&rsquo; plans and wishes, and your own expectations, you can build a sense of unity and shared purpose. And you can develop a common philosophy about how your family&rsquo;s legacy goals will be carried forward through the succeeding generations.</li><li>Avoiding unpleasant surprises &ndash; If you or other family members are expecting a certain inheritance and things turn out differently, disappointment and bad feelings may occur. But this can be avoided by having a discussion beforehand that clearly outlines your parents&rsquo; intentions. You still may not agree with them, but at least you&rsquo;ll know what to expect &mdash; and you won&rsquo;t make the mistake of acting in advance on any assumptions about what you&rsquo;ll inherit.</li><li>Developing appropriate strategies &ndash; Passing on wealth to a new generation as part of an overall estate plan can be more complex than you might think. Are your parents using tax-smart strategies? Would they benefit from establishing a living trust? Are the beneficiary designations on their retirement accounts and life insurance policies accurate and up to date? If you suspect your parents may not have properly addressed these issues, you may want to bring up the benefits of working with an estate-planning attorney and a tax advisor.</li><li>Protecting against incapacitation &ndash; Many people go through their senior years with few, if any, physical or mental impairments. But there are no guarantees. If one or both of your parents were to become incapacitated and unable to handle their financial affairs, it could cause serious problems with their wealth transfer and estate-planning goals. But if you can discuss your parents&rsquo; plans with them while they are healthy and alert, you can encourage them to take the proper steps, such as reviewing outdated estate-planning documents and designating you or another family member as power of attorney to make health care and financial decisions on their behalf should they become incapacitated.</li></ul>
While the benefits of having wealth-transfer and estate-planning discussions are clear, starting the conversations can be tricky. You need to show that you want to initiate these talks because you&rsquo;re concerned that proper plans need to be in place and understood by everyone involved. If you have a good relationship with your parents, you should be able to start these conversations, but you&rsquo;ll still need to be sensitive when bringing up the subject. One final word: Estate plans can take some time to develop &mdash; so, the sooner you have these discussions, the better. 
Edward Jones, its employees and financial advisors are not estate planners and cannot provide tax or legal advice. You should consult your estate-planning attorney or qualified tax advisor regarding your situation. 
This article was written by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin </a>18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

Talk to your family about wealth transfer

Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
If you&rsquo;ve retired, you may have thought you closed the book on one chapter of your life. But what happens if you need to &ldquo;reverse&rdquo; your retirement? Due to higher inflation and rising interest rates, many retirees are taking out more money from their retirement accounts than they had originally anticipated. As a result, some are headed back to the workforce. If you&rsquo;re thinking of joining them, you&rsquo;ll need to consider some factors that may affect your finances. First, if you&rsquo;ve been taking Social Security, be aware that you could lose some of your benefits if you earn over a certain level, at least until you reach your full retirement age, which is likely between 66 and 67. Specifically, if you are under your full retirement age for the entire year, Social Security will deduct $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit, which, in 2024, is $22,320. In the year you reach your full retirement age, Social Security will deduct $1 in benefits for every $3 you earn above a different limit, which, in 2024, is $59,520. Social Security will only count your earnings up to the month before you reach your full retirement age, at which point your earnings will no longer reduce your benefits, regardless of how much you earn. Also, Social Security will recalculate your benefit amounts to credit you for the months your payments were reduced due to your excess earnings. Social Security also allows you to pay back early benefits received if you withdraw your application within 12 months of starting benefits. This move could help you receive substantially higher benefits at full retirement age. Your Social Security isn&rsquo;t the only benefit that could be affected by your earnings. Your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums are based on your income, so they could rise if you start earning more money. Also, your extra income could push you into a higher tax bracket. Nonetheless, you can certainly gain some benefits by returning to the working world. Obviously, you&rsquo;ll be making money that can help you boost your daily cash flow and possibly reduce some debts. But depending on where you work, you might also be able to contribute to a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan. And regardless of where you work, you&rsquo;ll be eligible to contribute to an IRA. By putting more money into these accounts, you may well be able to strengthen your financial position during your retirement years. You might also be able to receive some employee benefits, such as group health insurance &mdash; which could be particularly valuable if you haven&rsquo;t yet started receiving Medicare. In addition to the potential financial advantages of going back to work, you might get some social benefits, too. Many people enjoy the interactions with fellow workers and miss these exchanges when they retire, so a return to the workforce, even if it&rsquo;s on a part-time basis, may give you an emotional boost. In the final analysis, you&rsquo;ll want to weigh the potential costs of going back to work against the possible benefits. There&rsquo;s no one right answer for everyone, but by looking at all the variables, you should be able to reach a decision that works for you.
This article was written by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin</a> 18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

What to know before ‘reversing’ your retirement

Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
By the time you reach retirement age, you may have accumulated a 401(k), IRA and other investment accounts, along with insurance policies and physical properties. You&rsquo;ll use some of these assets to support your retirement, but the rest may end up in your estate &mdash; which is why an estate plan is so important.
So, to leave a legacy for your family and those philanthropic groups you support, you need a comprehensive estate plan &mdash; and you need to avoid making mistakes. Here are some of the most common ones:
<ul><li>Procrastinating &ndash; Estate planning, and its implications about our mortality, may not be a pleasant topic to think about. Yet, putting off your estate plans can be risky. If you were to pass away or become incapacitated without doing any estate planning, the results could be costly for your loved ones. One possible consequence: If you haven&rsquo;t at least created a basic, simple will, the courts could decide how to divide and distribute your assets, and they may do so in a way you wouldn&rsquo;t want.</li><li>Not updating wills and other documents &ndash; Drafting a will and other legal documents, such as a living trust, is an important step in your estate planning. But you shouldn&rsquo;t just create these arrangements and forget about them. Changes in your life and among your loved ones &mdash; deaths, divorce, remarriage, new children and more &mdash; may result in the need for you to update your estate plans, so it&rsquo;s a good idea to review them periodically.</li><li>Not updating beneficiaries &ndash; Similar to updating your will to reflect changes in your life and family situation, you may also need to update the beneficiaries listed on your financial accounts and insurance policies. These designations carry a lot of weight and can even supersede instructions in your will, so you&rsquo;ll need to make sure they are current and accurate.</li><li>Not properly titling assets in a trust &ndash; Depending on your situation, you may benefit from establishing a living trust, which may allow your estate to avoid the time-consuming and expensive process of probate. A living trust also helps give you control over how, and when, you want your assets distributed. However, you need to retitle your assets in the name of the trust for the trust to be effective.</li><li>Not choosing the right executor &ndash; An executor carries out your wishes based on the instructions you&rsquo;ve given in your will or trust documents. But fulfilling an executor&rsquo;s duties is not as simple as, say, following a recipe for a basic meal. Consequently, while you might just want to pick a close family member as executor, you need to be sure this person is competent, good with details and won&rsquo;t be overwhelmed by the financial and legal issues involved in settling an estate. If your initial choice doesn&rsquo;t have these skills, you may need to find a responsible person outside the family.</li></ul>
Finally, here&rsquo;s one more mistake: going it alone. Estate planning is not a do-it-yourself activity. To help ensure your estate plan addresses all the issues involved, you&rsquo;ll need to work with a legal advisor, and possibly your tax and financial professionals, too.
 Devoting the necessary time and effort can help you avoid many of the mistakes that threaten the effectiveness of estate plans &mdash; and the fewer mistakes you make, the better off your beneficiaries can be.
This article was written by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin </a>18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

Avoid these estate planning mistakes

Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
Losing a spouse is one of the most painful experiences anyone can have. Unfortunately, widows and widowers have to deal with more than just the emotional trauma &mdash; they also must consider a range of financial issues. If you&rsquo;ve recently been widowed, what financial moves should you consider?
For starters, don&rsquo;t rush into any major decisions. If you&rsquo;re still in the grieving process, you are unlikely to be in the best shape to make significant choices affecting your finances and your life.
But once you feel ready to look at your situation objectively and make appropriate choices, consider the following steps:
<ul><li>Review your finances. Look at your entire financial picture &mdash; your assets, investments, debts and income. If you and your spouse had communicated well about your finances, and you shared decisions, you hopefully won&rsquo;t encounter any big surprises. But if your spouse was the partner who mostly handled financial matters, you may need to get up to speed quickly on what you have and what you owe. And if your spouse had provided a large amount of your household income, you will also need to determine what changes you may need to make to your lifestyle.</li><li>Address insurance issues. If you will receive a death benefit from your spouse&rsquo;s insurance policy, what will you do with the money? It may prove helpful in funding your own retirement or meeting other financial goals. But you&rsquo;ll also want to be clear about what other beneficiaries, such as your children, might receive. And while you&rsquo;re looking at insurance, you also might want to look at your own policies &mdash; do you need to change beneficiaries?</li><li>Review your Social Security options. If you are at least 60 and you were married at least nine months, you may be entitled to Social Security survivor benefits. (If you remarry before age 60, you typically cannot receive survivor benefits, but you can reinstate them if this subsequent marriage ends.) The amount of your survivor&rsquo;s benefits depends on your age and the age of your deceased spouse. You can&rsquo;t claim your deceased spouse&rsquo;s benefits along with your own retirement benefits, so if you qualify for survivor and retirement benefits, you&rsquo;ll receive the larger amount. Depending on your situation, you might come out ahead by delaying your retirement benefits, giving them the chance to grow, while you accept survivor benefits. For more details on receiving Social Security benefits, visit the Social Security Administration&rsquo;s website at <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/" id="anchor-link-88" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.ssa.gov</a>.</li><li>Review your estate plans. The death of a spouse can certainly affect your family&rsquo;s estate plans. So, it&rsquo;s a good idea to review these plans to see what changes, if any, need to be made. When conducting this review, you&rsquo;ll benefit from working with an estate-planning professional.</li></ul>
Finally, keep in mind that you don&rsquo;t have to go it alone during this difficult time. If you&rsquo;re already working with a financial professional, they can help. If you aren&rsquo;t currently working with one, now might be the time to start. By looking at your finances and your family situation holistically, a financial professional can provide guidance that can help ease the stress you are naturally feeling.
Few events are as sad as losing a spouse. But when you feel ready, start taking the steps necessary to continue forward on your life&rsquo;s journey.
This article was written <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin</a> 18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

Financial tips for widows and widowers

Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
Summertime is almost here &mdash; and for many people that means it&rsquo;s time to hit the road. But even if you decide to take a vacation, you&rsquo;ll want other areas of your life to keep working &mdash; especially your investments.
So, how can you prevent your investments, and your overall financial strategy, from going on &ldquo;vacation&rdquo;? Here are a few suggestions:
<ul><li>Check your progress. You want your investments to be working hard for you, so you&rsquo;ll need to check on their performance periodically &mdash; but be careful about how you evaluate results. Don&rsquo;t compare your portfolio&rsquo;s results against those of a market index, such as the S&amp;P 500, which tracks the stock performance of 500 large U.S. companies listed on American stock exchanges. This comparison may not be particularly valid because your own portfolio ideally should include a range of investments, including U.S. and foreign stocks, corporate and government bonds, certificates of deposit (CDs) and other securities. So, instead of checking your progress against a market index, use benchmarks meaningful to your individual situation, such as whether your portfolio is showing enough growth potential based on a compounding rate of return to keep you moving toward a comfortable retirement and other long-term goals.</li><li>Invest with a purpose. When you work intensely at something, it&rsquo;s usually because you have a definite result in mind. And this sense of purpose applies to investing, too. If you buy a stock here, and another one there, based on &ldquo;hot&rdquo; tips you might have seen on television or the internet, you may end up with a jumbled sort of portfolio that doesn&rsquo;t really reflect your needs. Instead, try to follow a long-term investment strategy based on your financial goals, risk tolerance, asset accumulation needs, liquidity and time horizon, always with an eye toward where you want to go in life &mdash; how long you plan to work, what sort of retirement lifestyle you envision, and so on.</li><li>Be strategic with your investments. Over the years, you will likely have a variety of competing financial goals &mdash; and you&rsquo;ll want your investment portfolio working to help achieve all of them. That means, though, that you&rsquo;ll likely need to match certain investments with specific goals. For example, when you contribute to an IRA and a 401(k) or similar plan, you&rsquo;re putting away money for retirement. But if you want to help your children go to college or receive some other type of post-secondary education or training, you might want to save in a 529 education savings plan, which allows tax-free withdrawals for qualified education expenses. Or, if you want to save for a short-term goal, such as a wedding or a long vacation, you might choose an investment that offers significant protection of principal, so the money will be available when you need it. Ultimately, this type of goals-based investing can help ensure your portfolio is always working on your behalf, in the way you intended.</li></ul>
When you take a vacation, you will hopefully be more relaxed and refreshed. But if you let your investments stop working as hard as they should, the results could be stressful. So, be diligent about your investment strategy, monitor it regularly and make those moves appropriate for your situation. By doing so, you can&rsquo;t necessarily guarantee a long day at the beach, but you&rsquo;ll have a good chance of enjoying a sunny outlook.
This article was written by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin </a>18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

Don’t let investments take a vacation

Submitted by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patrick Zamkin, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones</a>
If you own a business and you offer a 401(k) or similar retirement plan to your employees, you&rsquo;ll want to stay current on the various changes affecting these types of accounts. And in 2024, you may find some interesting new developments to consider. These changes are part of the SECURE 2.0 Act, enacted at the end of 2022. And while some parts of the law went into effect in 2023 &mdash; such as the new tax credit for employer contributions to start-up retirement plans with 100 or fewer employees &mdash; others were only enacted this year. Here are some of these changes that may interest you:
<ul><li>New &ldquo;starter&rdquo; 401(k)/403(b) &ndash; If you haven&rsquo;t already established a retirement plan, you can now offer a &ldquo;starter&rdquo; 401(k) or &ldquo;safe harbor&rdquo; 403(b) plan to employees who meet age and service requirements. These plans have lower contribution limits ($6,000 per year, or $7,000 for those 50 or older) than a typical 401(k) or 403(b) and employers can&rsquo;t make matching or nonelective contributions. These plans are low-cost and easy to administer but the credit for employer contributions doesn&rsquo;t apply, as these contributions aren&rsquo;t allowed, and since start-up costs are low, the tax credit for these costs will be correspondingly lower than they&rsquo;d be for a full-scale 401(k) plan.</li><li>Matches for student loan payments &ndash; It&rsquo;s not easy for young employees to save for retirement and pay back student loans. To help address this problem, Congress included a provision in Secure 2.0 that allows employers the option to provide matching contributions to employees&rsquo; retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), 457(b) and SIMPLE IRAs) when these employees make qualified student loan payments. Of course, if you offer this match for student loan payments, your costs will likely increase, although these matching contributions are tax deductible. In any case, you may want to balance any additional expense with the potential benefit of attracting and retaining employees, particularly those who have recently graduated from college.</li><li>401(k) eligibility for part-time employees &ndash; Part-time employees who are at least 21 years old and have at least 500 hours of service in three consecutive years must now be eligible to contribute to an existing 401(k) plan. The inclusion of part-time employees could lead to higher business expenses for you, depending on the amount of contributions you may make to employees&rsquo; plans. Again, though, you&rsquo;d be offering a benefit that could be attractive to quality part-time employees.</li><li>Emergency savings account &ndash; Many people, especially those who don&rsquo;t earn high incomes, have trouble building up emergency funds they can tap for unexpected costs, such as a major home or car repair or large medical expenses. Now, if you offer a 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) plan, you can include a pension-linked emergency savings account (PLESA) that allows non-highly compensated employees to save up to $2,500, a figure that will be indexed for inflation in the future. PLESA allows for tax-free monthly withdrawals without incurring a 10% tax penalty. PLESA contributions are made on an after-tax (Roth) basis and must be matched at the same rate as other employee contributions.</li></ul>
You may want to consult with your tax and financial professionals to determine how these changes may affect what you want to do with your retirement plan. The more you know, the better your decisions likely will be. 
This article was written by <a href="https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/patrick-zamkin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Patrick Zamkin</a> 18735 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430, (708) 798-9066. Edward Jones. Member SIPC.

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