Blog

Types of Insurance  Property and Casualty InsuranceProvides coverage for reimbursement for losses associated with your home, vehicle, and business. Coverage is often required by law, so most people know about home and vehicle coverage. Every business owner is somewhat familiar regarding business insurance. If they are not, they need to meet with a qualified agent and review their coverage. Perils that are covered by this type of insurance can be fire, theft, damage to property, damage to on

Estate Planning- What the heck is that??? So many possible definitions, confusion, and noise out there from the TV, magazines, talk radio, and neighbors that this subject has become overanalyzed and over-complicated that many people just throw up their hands and give up. Don’t. It's important on many levels, please do not ignore or discount the value of this part of the planning journey. Retaining control of your decisions by designating a person to speak for you provides a great deal

Elder Care Issues LTC:Long-term care refers to the custodial care needed by many individuals who are unable to perform daily activities, including bathing, dressing, toileting, eating, transferring, and continence. The term also refers to custodial care needed by people who experience cognitive impairment like dementia and Alzheimer's. Care can be received at home, assisted living, nursing homes, or memory care facilities. Various services are available depending on the situation. Perso

Congratulations!! You are nearing your 62nd birthday and it’s time to determine how and when to begin your Social Security Benefit. Remember, when you were working Social Security taxes were taken out of each of your paychecks, and now it’s time to get that money back to you. But how? Why? What do you need to do? How does my Social Security Income fit with my overall Retirement income plan? Weyers McKeever Financial Partners can provide information and assistance with this important

Investments and Investing Concepts  Investing is a multifaceted endeavor. On one end of the spectrum, investing can be straightforward and on the opposite end, investing can be rather complicated. For this blog, we will stick with 4 fundamental Concepts. What is the purpose of the money to be invested? This is by far the most important question to ask yourself and to discuss with your Financial Advisor. The answers to this question drive all subsequent discussions. As a Financial Advisor, I

What is long term care and how to plan for itWhy is this an important planning topic?Our population is getting older. Medical science is making a significant impact on life expectancies. The cost of care is increasing faster than the historical annual increase of overall inflation and can be financially devastating (Bolt, 2022). 22% of people have dementia from ages 85 to 89, 33% after age 90 (Kasper, 2022). It is a traumatic experience for family members who do not have the skills or temperamen

What financial risks do I need to transfer or protect myself from?Deeply embedded in our psyche is avoidance of loss. Financial, physical, emotional loss are some examples of loss that most people can relate to. Financial loss is a loss which results in your economic status being reduced. Financial loss is associated with risks or perils that are a part of life. Examples of risk are; Market, Financial, Credit and inflation. They are many others not named. Perils are events, such as fire, flood,

A relatively unknown financial strategy that may be suitable for people with large life insurance need and significant assets that they prefer to keep invested……… The younger a person can incorporate this strategy into their financial plan the higher the potential benefits for them later.KAIZEN - What is it?The Kai-Zen plan uses other people’s money to create leverage. This method allows you to purchase a large life insurance policy and finance some of the premiums, wh

How much do I need for my retirement lifestyle? We get this question a lot. People tend to be confused on how to replace the income they earned while working, with what and how much they will need when they retire....

What should my retirement income be?  We get this question a lot from people who are beginning to think about retirement or what is called the distribution phase of a person’s financial life. So, how does one figure this out? There are four basic steps to this process. Step oneLifestyle calculation The step begins with figuring out what you want your lifestyle to look like. Lifestyle is a function of the relationship between your income minus your expenses, and what risks you want to

Wow! Big market swings and a looming recession. What do I do about it?The questions on everyone’s minds that want to talk to us is what is happening in the market and what should they do about it. Economic cycles and market volatility are normal, recurring events that on average last about 5 1/2 years (Keightley & Weinstock, 2022). A typical economic cycle has these components, expansion, peak, contraction, and trough. Factors such as GDP, interest rates, total employment, consumer spe

PERSPECTIVE- Investing seems easy when markets rally and are generally calm. But markets don’t just move up or in a single direction. Markets adapt, gyrate, and create new cycles with each being slightly different than the one before--

IRMAA - What you need to know... It is important that everyone understands the potential obstacles for a successful retirement. As people transition from the accumulation phase (people at work) to the distribution phase (your money at work), it is critical to understand what health care expenses and taxes will do to your plan.  We wanted to bring to light a very important development in recent years which will impact all retirees. IRMAA – and no, we are NOT talking about your favorite Aun

One of the great qualities of our team is the desire to want to be a part of the community. It’s important to find purpose outside of your career and we are proud to say our team focuses on that. Here are a few highlights on how our team likes to get involved: In Jay Weyers words, “My community involvement began in ministry activities at my church home, Light of Christ Lutheran Church in Algonquin, IL. As part of a team that created a men’s ministry program there, serving

We are currently in a period of a great deal of market volatility. This will continue until the economy enters a contractionary phase which may ultimately result in a recession. A recession will result in a market correction, with the market going downward. It is impossible to predict the depth of the market correction, or the duration.  We also don’t know when that will occur, as there are many factors that contribute to an economic recession. For our clients that we have been meetin

I have had many titles and roles in my adult life and worn a lot of different “hats.”  Working in a business where relationships are key makes sense to me.  Did I ever think that I would be an owner of my own business?  NO!  Did I ever think that I would be working side by side with my husband in this business for over twenty years?  NO!  My journey to this point in my life has been a crooked yet enjoyable path. I grew up in Rochester, MN, home

Growing up in Freeport, IL, a small rural community afforded many things. Namely Quiet days, Star filled Skies at Night, the sound of far-off thunderstorms during the summer, and the need to be outside. All the time. Be home when the porch lights were on was the calling card. That, and over 100 acres to explore, fish and play in.This rural upbringing also led to additional aspects of my life. A sense of community within our neighborhood (2 miles out of the city), Our church and the love of sport

As often happens when making a significant choice in life, I was at a crossroads. The company I was working for in the food brokerage business and the entire industry was going through some cataclysmic changes. The future no longer promised me what I had hoped to happen, and it was clear to me that I needed to be proactive and make a change. So, what is next in my life? I really did not want to work for anyone as an employee and I wanted to get more control of my future; doing what I wanted to d

Is Medicare a big deal to be concerned about? The answer is yes, and if you don’t plan accordingly, what you don’t know will hurt you. If you plan on retiring ever, you need to know about what is happening to Medicare. If you don’t sign up when you are eligible there maybe penalties. The article is not about all those television commercials you have been bombarded with lately. Yea, you know, the various spokes person talking about Medicare Advantage plans vs. traditional M

As people approach retirement, one of the biggest financial decisions that needs to be made is when to claim Social Security retirement benefits. The basic questions are: Should I choose to receive benefits at full retirement age (66 or 67)? Should I choose to receive a smaller monthly benefit before retirement age (as early as age 62)? Should I wait past full retirement age to receive a larger monthly benefit (up to age 70)?   As important as this decision is, there’s no one

If you have bought gas for your car or groceries recently you probably have noticed an uptick in prices. This is an example of inflation that is easily understood by everyone. The harder thing to understand is why it happens.Inflation happens for many reasons. One of those is when too few goods are available to meet consumer demand. An issue contributing to this right now is a supply chain shortage and labor shortages, which are interconnected. Current news coverage says labor issues are causing

This chart shows how the stock market has performed over time. Notice the periods of time where there were zero returns? What does that mean for you?Weyers McKeever Financial Partners can provide guidance and strategies to help minimize these periods of zero return, call today to schedule a phone call with our team.

One of the more interesting developments in the last few years has been the opportunity for more households and business owners to take advantage of a strategy which includes bank financing for funding life insurance premiums. The reason why bank financed life insurance is so attractive is that a policy holder will gain the advantage of using other people’s money (sometimes referred to as OPM or by the term “leverage”) to help them increase their wealth, protection, and tax-fre

Never before in my career have I witnessed the number of planning issues that need to be addressed compared to what is occurring this year.This list includes some of the issues that everyone needs to keep in mind as we move forward in 2021:Stock Market The market is at an all-time high with inflation increases for this last quarter as indicated by Big Charts from Market Watch as of June 2, 2021. What happens next? Is a significant market correction imminent?

Long-Term Care Insurance: What it Is and What it Is Not One of the largest risks to your retirement plan is the need for Long-Term Care. 69% of those turning 65 this year will need some kind of long-term care during their life, according to longtermcare.gov. Long-Term Care creates a cash flow issue. It is not an asset problem. The problem is not only what will it cost for residential care, which could be $60,000 to $100,000

The Value of Roth IRAs“It’s not what we don’t know that hurts. It’s what we know that ain’t so.”, Will RogersUnfortunately, there is a great amount of disinformation distributed by financial journalism that is not in the public’s best interest. I asked a mentor of mine why that is, and he replied that the media (magazines, financial TV shows, newspaper articles) are not knowledgeable enough to know the truth, and that they are happy to accept the sponsor

Wow! Chaos! Divisiveness! Nasty name calling! Conspiracy theories! Who needs to watch action movies when this stuff is going on?In our client meetings this past month, many concerns have been voiced by our clients about the impact on the future of the economy from the change in the Presidential Administration, the political environment (polarized parties, presidential impeachment, lawmakers under attack, etc.), and the pandemic.Interestingly, during all this pandemonium the stock market has been