Jay Abolofia, PhD, CFP® is a fee-only, fiduciary & independent financial planner in Waltham, MA serving clients in Greater Boston, New England & throughout the country. Lyon Financial Planning provides advice-only comprehensive financial planning for a flat fee to help clients in all financial situations.
Filter by category: Children, Economics, Employee Benefits, Estate, Fees, Housing, Human Capital, Incapacity, Insurance, Investments, Real Estate, Risk, Saving, Spending, Taxes
How to Build a TIPS ladder
Buying individual Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) can help you secure a stream of inflation-adjusted income in retirement. With real interest rates higher than they’ve been in years, now is a relatively good time to build your TIPS ladder.
What is a Safe Withdrawal Rate for Retirement?
Although fixed withdrawal strategies like the 4 percent rule are attractive in their simplicity, they fail nearly every financial criterion imaginable. A more practical approach is to adopt a straightforward dynamic withdrawal strategy that depends on your current age, health and level of savings.
How Social Security Works and What to Know About Its Future
Without reform, Social Security will soon be unable to fully meet its obligations to beneficiaries. Given the financial standing of the program, here is what you can expect in the future.
Should You Contribute to Traditional Or Roth Accounts?
The decision to contribute to Traditional or Roth accounts depends on comparing your current vs post-retirement income tax rates. In some cases this may be straightforward. In others, not so much.
How to Protect Your Plan From Inflation
Rising prices can rapidly erode the purchasing power of your money. Consider these strategies to protect your plan from the risks of high sustained inflation.
The Cost of Children
Having a better understanding of how dependents impact your financial plan, including how much you can afford to spend and need to save, can give you a leg up when it comes to managing your finances.
Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage?
Prepaying your mortgage is like buying a risk-free bond with a guaranteed rate of return. Understanding how your mortgage works can help you make an informed decision about how best to pay it off.
How to Invest in Your 401k
Managing your retirement savings plan is a critical task for securing your financial future. Using these straightforward criteria for selecting among investment options in your plan, you’ll be able to construct a sophisticated, yet simple and inexpensive, portfolio you’ll be happy with for years.
Can You Afford to Maintain Your Living Standard?
Economics-based planning relies on facts and common sense to solve for how much spending is affordable. This approach allows you to answer what may be the most important question in your financial life - can you afford to maintain your living standard throughout retirement?
How to Enhance Your Finances During a Pandemic
The impacts of COVID-19 extend well beyond your finances. That said, there are a variety of things you can do now to improve your current and future financial situation. Here is a list of ideas to consider, along with relevant resources.
How Conventional Planning Fails to Provide Sound Financial Advice
In financial planning, sometimes getting it right is more about not getting it wrong. This makes rules of thumb dangerous to your financial well-being. Nonetheless, that is exactly what conventional planning uses to generate its recommendations. Fortunately, economics-based planning offers a sound alternative.