Timberchase Financial Wealth Brief

“How much money do I need to retire?” Or better yet, “How much money do I need to make work optional?” To be more precise, “How much net worth is needed to support my lifestyle?” The answer depends on many variables. Rules of thumb can be useful as a quick check, but they should not be mistaken for a plan. Links: How Much Do I Need to Retire (or Make Work Optional)? Retirement Planning Series, Part Three About Timberchase Financial Wealth Brief One smart money idea in five-ish minutes. A calm...

Which retirement account is best? It is a fair question, but it can lead people in the wrong direction if the account label becomes the focus. Of the many different types of accounts available, some are considered retirement accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, while others are not retirement accounts at all. Taxable brokerage accounts, Health Savings Accounts, and 529 plans are a few examples. So, which one is best for the next dollar you invest? Before deciding which type of account to use, ...

For many people, retirement still means working for decades, stopping in your sixties, and gradually slowing down. But that view can make the financial plan too narrow. What if retirement were less about stopping work—and more about making work optional? Links: Is Retirement the Right Goal? Retirement Planning Series, Part One About Timberchase Financial Wealth Brief One smart money idea in five-ish minutes. A calm, intentional take on financial planning for families managing meaningful wealth.

Families sometimes don’t track their finances at all, while others track income, bank balances, investment accounts, home values, or the performance of a particular asset. Those numbers matter, but they do not tell the whole story. The most comprehensive financial metric is net worth. Net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe. It is the simplest snapshot of where you stand financially at a specific point in time. It does not tell the whole story of your financial life, but it p...

Whether a long-term care insurance policy is right for you is really several questions under the same umbrella. “Do I need long-term care insurance at all?” “Should I keep the policy I already have?” “If someone has approached me about coverage now, which type of policy deserves consideration?” “And if the proposal is a paid-up policy, what exactly am I being asked to buy?” A useful place to begin is with the basics. The purpose of insurance is to transfer a risk one cannot afford to bear. Lo...