What if there was an easy way to implement a whole new approach to retirement funding, pension planning, and Social Security? Would the politicians be interested? Let’s find out.

What if the new plan actually reduced payroll taxes, cut prices, created jobs, increased salaries, raised shareholder dividends, partially funded decreased healthcare costs, and was available to everyone?

Sound too good to be true, but it’s actually doable. The reasons for the present system’s failure are mostly political; the solutions are clear, practical, and non-partisan. What we want is a less expensive system for assuring that everyone is able to retire with an adequate income, higher than that provided now by Social Security.

What we need is a simple program, part mandatory and part voluntary, using experienced trustees who operate within the strictures of the prudent-man rule— a risk-minimizing legal doctrine that …

One-third of U.S. adults have no life insurance, according to recent research. That may not actually be such a big deal. Not everyone needs life insurance.

What’s truly alarming is a finding that most people who already have life insurance may not have enough coverage to help prevent the financial hardships that many families face when a major breadwinner dies unexpectedly.

The uninsured families are probably aware that they lack coverage. It’s the underinsured families who run the risk of finding out too late that they didn’t have enough insurance.

Most adults only have group coverage through an employer. Although life insurance is a valuable employee benefit, the risk here is that you could be lulled into believing that having some life insurance is the same as having the appropriate life insurance coverage for your situation.

This life insurance primer may help you understand why and how to obtain life insurance coverage that suits

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Common wisdom holds that term life insurance is generally less expensive than whole-life (permanent) insurance. For those who are relatively young and in good health, this is probably true. However, as people grow older, term policies can become exponentially more expensive.

If you think you will need life insurance protection for the rest of your life, and your group or term policy is about to expire – or you want to purchase more life insurance to cover current obligations, pay off debts, or provide a tax advantage for your heirs – now may be a good time to explore whole-life insurance. If so, you’ll be in good company. Whole-life insurance policies accounted for almost 60% of all individual life insurance policies purchased in 2006.

Whole-life insurance traditionally remains in force for the life of the insured, and the policy premiums usually remain constant. In the early years, the premiums are typically higher

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