On December 23rd, I passed the third and final exam for a one-year long course to earn the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) designation. At about $2,000 (for the 3-course advanced curriculum), plus over two hundred hours of coursework/studying plus passing 3 two-hour exams, I have now earned the RICP® designation. Of course, I’ll have additional continuing education (CE) requirements for the rest of my career too in addition to my CFP® and insurance license CE requirements too. It is … Continue reading

Generally there are two systems of property in the US. Most states use the common law system, but about 30% of Americans live in states that operate under Community property laws. .Specific laws vary among the nine “Community Property” states. However, the basic concept of those laws is that a husband and wife each own a 50% interest in what is labeled community property. One determining factor in the classification of a particular asset as community property is the time … Continue reading

As Thanksgiving of 2016 approaches, I encourage everyone to try and be more thankful throughout the year. Let’s try to be more grateful every day — even for the little things. I hope you enjoy my video! From my family to yours… Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! all the best… Mark

Last week I spent 2 days in Chicago both interviewing potential Federal benefit consultant firms and getting in-depth training about Federal Employee retirement benefits. Federal employees include all agencies and departments (CDC, DOD, ATF, FBI, CIA, IRS, SSA, DHS, the Military, Postal Service and so on).  Federal employee’s pension, retirement and health benefits can be very complicated based on whether they are considered military, CSRS (hired before 1984), FERS employees (or any combination) or have special programs like the postal service, air traffic controllers, federal law enforcement and firefighters). This is especially so … Continue reading

Are you currently enrolled in Medicare? People age 65 or over qualify for Medicare – whether or not they have filed for Social Security benefits. Every year Medicare has an open enrollment period for those already enrolled in Medicare. For 2016 it is October 15 – December 7. So what is the Medicare Open Enrollment Period and why should you care? Every year Medicare health and drug insurance plans can make changes. Things like premiums, medical and drug coverage, and … Continue reading