Financial Planning Blog

Whether it’s saving for college or planning for retirement, too many people make the mistake of taking an all-or-nothing approach or thinking they’ll just catch up later. The most important step in securing your family’s financial future is to get started today with what you have.

Here are three tips to help you start securing your family’s future:

When it comes to achieving your dream retirement lifestyle, the single most important factor is the age you begin setting aside your retirement savings. The earlier you start saving for retirement, the better. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes for you to achieve your financial goals.

Ideally, you’d begin your retirement savings when you enter the workforce, in your early 20s or even younger. This gives your money over 40 years to accumulate and take advantage of compounding interest. While it’s never too late to start saving for retirement, you may need to be more aggressive and strategic to stay on track.

When thinking about retirement savings, most people’s nightmare scenario is to spend the last years of their lives as a burden to their family. Making smart decisions about retirement income is essential to achieve your retirement lifestyle goals and grow old with the best care and support around you.

You probably know thatestate planning is essential to ensure that your assets are managed prudently during your life and distributed according to your wishes after death.

But you might not realize thatfinancial planningfor your estate is also a smart way to achieve philanthropic goals, such as supporting organizations and foundations that enhance your community.

Bonds are a topic of long-standing fiscal debate for Maine residents.

When people talk about Maine’s economy, they typically cite the preponderance of bond issues we have voted for as evidence that we have a spending problem. In early 2013, all three major credit rating agencies downgraded Maine’s credit rating, which means that Maine may need to offer higher interest rates on future bond issues in order to attract investors.