Author's articles
Hot New Product: Long Term Care Annuities
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 16 years ago
In the next few minutes you will learn about a new insurance industry product that provides long term care insurance coverage if you ever need it, but requires no policy, premiums or health qualifications.
Why ...
Ten Things the Average Person Does Not Know About Annuities
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 16 years ago
Deferred annuities possess characteristics found nowhere else. They play an important part in seniors' portfolios.
Seniors hold billions of dollars in deferred annuities. However, my experience is that the average person knows little about the ...
When Not to Name Your Spouse the Beneficiary of Your IRA
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 16 years ago
In most cases, naming your spouse as the beneficiary of your IRA makes the most sense. However, depending on your wishes, other beneficiary arrangements may do a better job of accomplishing your goals.
First, let's ...
ILIT - The Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) are planning tools used to keep life insurance proceeds outside of the taxable estate.
For example, if a married couple has an estate of 6 million, they can pass 4 ...
SEP IRAs: A Path to More Retirement Income?
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
A SEP IRA is a plan that may allow you to put away more tax deductible dollars for retirement. For employers, SEPs are a simple way to establish a retirement plan for employees without many ...
Opportunity Cost and Your Long Term Care Decision
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
If you are out shopping for long term care (commonly abbreviated as LTCI or LTC), I'm going to encourage you to take a look at a way of providing long term care benefits that is ...
Home Sales: Do You Really Know the Tax Exclusion Rules?
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
A single person can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from the sale of their home and a married couple up to $500,000. However, there are qualifications, rules, exceptions to the rules and special ...
Simplifying a Difficult Senior Planning Decision: The Family Home
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
As Father Time marches on, the question of what to do with the home becomes a greater concern. In some cases, ruminating on the alternatives can dominate one's thinking. If a person is aware of ...
Who Should Be the Beneficiary of Your IRA?
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
You have a number of choices when it comes to selecting a beneficiary (or beneficiaries) for your IRA. Some are appropriate. Some are mistakes and can lead to delays and expenses in getting the funds ...
IRA Distribution Rules at Death: Critical Knowledge for Good Decisions
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
The distribution rules required at the death of an IRA owner depend on several things:
1. Did the IRA owner die before or after the “required beginning date”?
2. Who is the beneficiary?
In order ...
Roth IRAs: Test Your Knowledge
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
How well do you know Roth IRAs? Here are five tough questions. Let's see how you do…
1. I am 72 years young and still working. Can I set up a Roth IRA?
Yes. Unlike ...
Five Excuses People Use For Not Buying Long Term Care and Why None of Them Hold Water
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
From my experience in working with seniors, here are the five most offered reasons why people have not purchased long term care. In most cases, the reasons are not valid. It’s not that they don’t ...
How to Increase Your Spendable Income if You Own a CD
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
There are several ways to squeeze more income out of a given amount of capital invested in a CD. Let me share with you the split annuity concept.
Here is an example typical of many ...
Three Ways to Buy Long Term Care Without Paying Premiums Out of Your Pocket
By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu · 17 years ago
Stop 100 people over 65 on the street and ask them if they will ever need to go to a nursing home and 99 will say, “No!” Folks tend to equate long term care insurance ...