| Subject | Date Asked |
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| Early Retirement | 11/6/2009 |
Q: My sister is 63 and looking ahead to plan for an early retirement. She is not sure who to talk to ...
A: If she is a do-it-yourselfer, she can read lots of books that discuss retirement income planning. Or ...
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| Retirement - Lump Sum | 9/30/2009 |
Q: I was permanently laid off in February of this year. I will be 50 in November. I was offered a ...
A: Tina, If you take your retirement in a lump sum, it will all be taxable income, and will likely ...
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| rollovers | 9/25/2009 |
Q: I have a series of questions; I would be grateful if you could help. Here is our background. My ...
A: Helen: 1. Yes, and you will pay ordinary income taxes on the money being rolled over, which only ...
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| IBonds | 9/15/2009 |
Q: Are IBonds a good investment and if not what other bonds are better? Also, where can one buy them? ...
A: RL, I-Bonds add inflation protection to an all-bond portfolio. At this point in time, I would ...
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| Social Security | 9/2/2009 |
Q: I am 73 years old and my husband and I are separated. If my husband dies and he received his social ...
A: Melanie, The spousal benefit is up to one half of the other's benefit (primary insurance amount). ...
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| IRA Accounts | 8/27/2009 |
Q: I know someone who inherit IRA monies because of the death of a love one. She is over 60, She can ...
A: Sallie, I assume it was not her spouse she inherited the money from, because if it is, she can roll ...
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| Retirement | 8/25/2009 |
Q: I am a 48 year old single teacher who is looking to plan for retirement. Currently I have about ...
A: Zoe, The advice you are reading is directed to people who are only able to save up to the maximum ...
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| Roth IRA contributions | 8/20/2009 |
Q: I have a Roth IRA account which I opened years ago but have not contributed to it in recent years. ...
A: Maggie, According to IRS publication 590, you cannot contribute to your Roth if your modified ...
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| 401K Plans | 8/1/2009 |
Q: I am 24 and just started my 401k plan at work. I started out with 6% of my pay ($49,000.00) for now ...
A: Joe, If you selected these options before the downturn in the market, you performed better than ...
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| ROTH IRA | 7/31/2009 |
Q: I have a roth IRA account for 5 years and used to make my contribution around the April 15th of ...
A: My advice: Sometimes the IRS will be forgiving of mishaps like this. You should contact the IRS, and ...
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| Can I close my 403b? Anything I'm missing beyond the 10% and tax? | 7/7/2009 |
Q: I have a 3 partCan I close a 403b (our advisor whom I do not trust anymore says no) What are the ...
A: Tim, Let me preface my remarks by saying that I don't know much about your personal situation, so ...
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| Access to very old IRA contribution amount | 6/26/2009 |
Q: Without getting into too many details, I have an urgent legal need to find the exact amount of a ...
A: Lynne, I would suggest that you ask the IRS for their records from those years. If they will not ...
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| IRA early withdrawal | 6/24/2009 |
Q: I am unemployed and would like to take 20k out of my IRA. I understand there is a 10% early ...
A: Adam, Your 20k will be taxed at normal income rates, plus the 10%. If your financial situation ...
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| Retirement Planning | 6/1/2009 |
Q: I want to open a Roth IRA to save for retirement. I want to know: 1) Where should I open the Roth ...
A: Nikki, You can open a Roth at Scottrade with no account fees if you will accept electronic ...
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| Traditional IRA Disbursement question | 5/23/2009 |
Q: I will be 59 1/2 on July 15th of this year. I would like to have the interest from my IRA accts (not ...
A: Mr. Gary, It matters not to the IRS when your money earned you interest, all that matters is when ...
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| should we buy or keep renting? | 5/8/2009 |
Q: We are 52. His taxable income is $30,000 (line 43?). We save about $800/month. We have 50K in a flex ...
A: Martha, You are incredibly UNLIKELY to be upside on a mortgage ten years from now, and the market ...
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| should we buy or keep renting? | 5/7/2009 |
Q: We are 52. His taxable income is $30,000 (line 43?). We save about $800/month. We have 50K in a flex ...
A: Martha, You have two questions here: What do you do with your old house, and what do you do with ...
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| cd | 5/2/2009 |
Q: I am 60 yrs old with about 2 or 3 yrs to retirement. I have a cd for roughly 90k coming due soon. I ...
A: Earl, in order to minimize your risk across a spectrum of risks, which include interest rate risk ...
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| Real Estate Investment | 4/22/2009 |
Q: Well, a lot of good things are happening all at once. I will be sixty-five on May 22nd. My bride ...
A: Greetings Rob, I'm going to make an assumption: that there is some degree of supply of people in ...
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| MORTGAGE | 3/30/2009 |
Q: I sold some real estate a few years ago and I hold the mortgage for 25 years. Can I put this in my ...
A: Bill, There are no extra tax implications that I am aware of, just the normal ones. Your heirs ...
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| Money Purchase Plan | 3/16/2009 |
Q: I have a Keough account that later was changed to a money purchase account at a ...
A: Jennings, I would not recommend moving your money anywhere else (unless you move it to a discount ...
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| SEP IRA ACCOUNT | 3/13/2009 |
Q: My employer set up a SEP account for our office approximately four years ago. I have lost ...
A: Smith, I've very sorry that you have seen your investments decline in price. You must make your ...
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| ETF | 3/2/2009 |
Q: Are ETF's "tax efficient?" If so, why? My husband and I are 37 and 38. We had about 500K in our ...
A: ETF's are considered tax efficient because of the way units are created and redeemed (which is more ...
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| IRA Issues / Planning | 2/23/2009 |
Q: Hall I had opened up a retirement 2040 fund with T.Rowe Price last year for $4K and it seems that ...
A: Sanjesh, I'm sorry your first experience with investing is this year. What you will see if you ...
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| finding my dads assets | 2/15/2009 |
Q: My dad passed away recently and he had no will. I just applied to be administrator.How can i find ...
A: Joseph, I am very sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, ensuring you have found all of your father's ...
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| 403K | 2/10/2009 |
Q: I need to close my 403K to get cash. How much will I loose in fees and taxes doing this.
A: Elke, I highly recommend you don't access that money until you need it in retirement. If you do ...
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| IRA | 2/5/2009 |
Q: Just over a year ago, I opened an IRA with an aggressive risk tolerance and a “sales load of 5.49%.” ...
A: Chris, The sales charge (load) is how your Financial Advisor is compensated for working with you. ...
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| failed Roth, now what? | 2/5/2009 |
Q: I'm heartbroken to see that I've lost 40% of my Roth investment. I'm now thinking of taking it out ...
A: Maria, I'm so sorry to see you have only experienced the downside of being invested in the stock ...
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| lost investments | 1/28/2009 |
Q: Over the past 30 years I have put a portion of my income aside in IRA's for retirement. During this ...
A: Dennis, I understand how you're feeling. There's some despair when you see your investment account ...
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| Gold and Silver coins | 1/20/2009 |
Q: Is it a good idea to invest in Gold and Silver coins? I mean the actual physical coins.... And when ...
A: Ray, this is a difficult question to answer. Here's the eclectic answer viewed in the context of ...
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| 403B and Lay off | 12/23/2008 |
Q: I am 61, single and just got laid off, my 403B has to be dealt with now, what is the best way to go ...
A: Kerry, Do not take money out of the 403b. Roll it into an IRA, and continue deferring taxes as ...
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| 19 yrs old want to plan for future | 12/21/2008 |
Q: I would like to become next richest person and i belive in my self that i can do that. can you ...
A: MK, I congratulate you for your ambitions to attain wealth. I'm going to give you the best advice ...
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| IRAs | 12/16/2008 |
Q: What is the minimum mandatory withdraw amount for traditional IRA accounts when the required age is ...
A: Kenneth, The required minimum distribution (RMD) is determined by filling out an IRS worksheet. ...
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| IRA Allocation | 12/10/2008 |
Q: I'm 31 years old and have had an IRA for 5 years. My question is how should my IRA be allocated for ...
A: Chad, Thanks for asking, if you have enough money to diversify with transaction costs being lower ...
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| How do I convert a Traditional IRA funded with after dollars to a Roth IRA? | 12/2/2008 |
Q: How do I convert a Traditional IRA funded with after dollars to a Roth IRA? Thank you
A: TW, you take your non-taxable basis tax-free, and you pay regular income tax on the rest, upon ...
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| Self-directed IRA Purchase Mortgage | 11/18/2008 |
Q: Facts: I have a second mortgage on my house of $30,000 @ 11%. I have a self-directed mortgage of ...
A: This is an idea that congress has already anticipated and prohibited for IRAs. While self-dealing ...
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| SIPC | 10/7/2008 |
Q: Securities Inv.Protection Corp. In what way do they protect mutual funds? I assume not cash mgmt ...
A: Bill, conventional wisdom is that money you need short term should be in bonds or cash. However, I ...
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| SIPC | 10/6/2008 |
Q: Securities Inv.Protection Corp. In what way do they protect mutual funds? I assume not cash mgmt ...
A: I used to work for Ameriprise, and their funds have a reputation for underperformance, ...
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| SIPC | 10/6/2008 |
Q: Securities Inv.Protection Corp. In what way do they protect mutual funds? I assume not cash mgmt ...
A: SIPC protects you from theft or misplacement of your securities at your custodian. The custodian ...
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| converting to a roth | 10/2/2008 |
Q: I am 69 my wife is 67 our income is 50k. I want to convert a trad. ira to a roth. We do not need the ...
A: Don, Let me preface my advice by saying: please consult with your tax accountant on this issue to ...
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| Managing IRAs on our own | 9/23/2008 |
Q: Aaron, First, here is the info you requested: Brian, 42 (self-employed) Wife, 42 3 kids, 7,5,and 2 ...
A: Brian, I understand your frustration. If you have the time and temperament to understand ...
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| cash mgt acct | 9/17/2008 |
Q: Should these funds be moved to FDIC insured bank savings considering the current uncertainty ...
A: If you need FDIC to sleep at night, then move it to an FDIC insured option. I'm sure your advisor ...
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| cash mgt acct | 9/16/2008 |
Q: Should these funds be moved to FDIC insured bank savings considering the current uncertainty ...
A: Bill, Recall the old adage that to make money in the markets, you need to buy low and sell high. ...
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| independent broker (lincoln financial securities)or discount broker( fidelity) | 8/11/2008 |
Q: I have a traditional IRA with a independent broker but would like to transfer it to Fidelity. I am ...
A: Rose, This question isn't easy to answer. Statistically, we know that lower fees will give you ...
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| where to put my money? | 7/25/2008 |
Q: I put my money in the first two banks, which is very dangerous, ...
A: SC, Without knowing what your goals for your money are, it's hard to make a specific ...
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| Follow Up Self-Directed IRA Question | 6/28/2008 |
Q: In a recent answer against self-directed IRA's, you said "You and your family can't work on the real ...
A: John, I'm not an expert on this area, largely because I never recommend these types of transactions ...
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| SEP account from brokerage to hedge fund | 6/27/2008 |
Q: I have a SEP account and would like to move it to a hedge fund. Are there any fees or penalties for ...
A: Jason, It depends on the investment you have inside the SEP IRA account. If it's an annuity or ...
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| 2 401(k)'s? | 4/18/2008 |
Q: I got laid off from my job last month but was fortunate to find a new better paying position fairly ...
A: Clueless, It's tough to say what I'd do if I were you. Based on what you've told me, however, I'd ...
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| Allocation of funds | 4/1/2008 |
Q: I am a US citizen currently living in Canada. I pay both US and Canadian taxes. I am a recent ...
A: Linda, Based on everything you told me, I think you should plow that 70,000 from your sale back ...
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| EARLY WITHDRAWL 401K | 3/17/2008 |
Q: I AM GOING THROUGH A DIVORCE. I WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH OF A PENALTY I WILL FACE IF I CLOSE OUT MY ...
A: George, Assuming you're in a 25% tax bracket (or that you'd pay 25% on average of the income ...
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| quick question | 2/18/2008 |
Q: We are in the process of filing out a "Power of Attorney" and it states the following. be it known ...
A: I would imagine it's referring to an address of record for the subject. My only point of reference ...
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| poor retirement managers | 2/4/2008 |
Q: My wife and I are in our mid 40s. Over the last 12 yrs we have had our $250,000 retirement money ...
A: I would venture to guess that you've probably underperformed the market, and it's probably due to a ...
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| poor retirement managers | 2/4/2008 |
Q: My wife and I are in our mid 40s. Over the last 12 yrs we have had our $250,000 retirement money ...
A: Without knowing the details, I can't say what's at fault for the problems in your past performance. ...
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| IRA.. | 1/29/2008 |
Q: Riversource Growth A Mutuals & large cap has done poorly in recent years when overall mkt has gone ...
A: Bill, If you mean you have another 60k in cash or money market funds, I wouldn't worry. Money ...
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| IRA.. | 1/29/2008 |
Q: Riversource Growth A Mutuals & large cap has done poorly in recent years when overall mkt has gone ...
A: Bill, If you're going to be drawing down 4% or less, I'm comfortable maintaining your equity ...
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| Funds | 1/21/2008 |
Q: Aaron, My pension fund is with 'Integra' in Canada.Since money is borderless I hope this wont be a ...
A: Barry, Congratulations on revisiting your portfolio allocations. Good for you for avoiding bonds. ...
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| retiring in FL or AL | 1/15/2008 |
Q: Aaron, I am 45 and I am planning on retiring at 55. We are considering buying a ...
A: Ken, It's hard to say which would be better. I understand that property taxes are lower in Alabama ...
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| Retirement Account Mix | 1/14/2008 |
Q: I currently have around 800K in retirement funds in three places. One is Fidelity and I intend to ...
A: It sounds like you're about to take your 401k to Fidelity so you have more control. I applaud you ...
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| insurance on mutual fund ira's | 1/5/2008 |
Q: I am holding 600,000 in my Fidelity IRA///In case of default by Fidelity, who will insure my account ...
A: Elaine, You have absolutely nothing to worry about. If Fidelity goes bankrupt (virtually ...
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| mutual funds | 12/31/2007 |
Q: I have a question about mutual funds. I saw a segment a few years ago on television with financial ...
A: Danielle, Yes it's possible you could have 1,000,000 by age 60. However, you can't guarantee that. ...
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| Pension Plans | 12/31/2007 |
Q: My son (age 30) recently considered joining a pension plan run by a well-known British insurance ...
A: Michael, The payments in the US that agents recieve on selling pensions (we call them annuities) ...
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| Distributions from IRA Rollover | 12/30/2007 |
Q: I'm thinking of rolling over my 401k balance into a Rollover IRA. I'm 66; retired at 65; left my ...
A: Alida, At your age, for all practical purposes, withdrawal regulations for IRAs are no different ...
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| Distributions from IRA Rollover | 12/30/2007 |
Q: I'm thinking of rolling over my 401k balance into a Rollover IRA. I'm 66; retired at 65; left my ...
A: Alida, You're mainly concerned about ease of dealing with your retirement account. Considering ...
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| IRA Rollover | 12/29/2007 |
Q: I am 47-years-old. I retired from a municipality 3 1/2 years ago that offered only a defined ...
A: Dennis, If your new employer will allow you to roll some of your IRA into a pension plan, there ...
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| 403b | 12/3/2007 |
Q: Ok, I have never seen this question asked and have been unable to find an answer. In order to access ...
A: Yes, you can do what you ask, but will you have penalties for resigning and reapplying? Are you ...
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| Bad 401k Managers | 12/1/2007 |
Q: I have a 401(k) from my job, but the company the 401(k) offers limited options for investment, and ...
A: Very few 401k plans allow "in service distributions," that is, allowing rollovers to IRA's while ...
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| IRA Premature Distributions | 11/27/2007 |
Q: Age 44. I have a 401K plan at my current employer. I need to access some of the funds. I realize ...
A: Debbie, Yes, you can withdraw any money that is fully vested (you might not be allowed to withdraw ...
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| Equity Index Annuities | 10/29/2007 |
Q: From what I understand, and EIA (Equity Index Annuity) is an annuity that credits interest based ...
A: Here's how the EIA works. The insurance company buys (for example) zero coupon bonds with say 95% ...
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| 401K | 10/28/2007 |
Q: I know you need to diversify your 401K. Is it OK to put all your funds into a fund that diversifies ...
A: Sharon, Diversification is good, and a fund that helps you do that is a good thing. You asked ...
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| real estate IRA | 10/28/2007 |
Q: Lots of home out there for sale right now. I understand that I can transfer my Roth IRA and my IRA ...
A: Bill, This is a question I've addressed previously. I hope it's as helpful to you as to Larry. ...
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| My retirement account | 10/5/2007 |
Q: Aaron, Thank you in advance for your advice. Financial stuff is way out of my expertise... I have ...
A: Christina, The only way (I can think of) to do what you want to do is to get some tax software like ...
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| 401k | 10/5/2007 |
Q: I recently bought a new car not knowing that 2 weeks later we would put money down on a new home. ...
A: In a nutshell, you're going to lose tax deferred growth in your 401k to reduce tax savings from ...
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| IRA | 9/29/2007 |
Q: I have a question about retirement accounts. I am 32. Two years ago (at age 30) I started a ...
A: Asad, Basically you are moving from getting professional advice to making the initiative to do it ...
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| IRA | 9/28/2007 |
Q: I have a question about retirement accounts. I am 32. Two years ago (at age 30) I started a ...
A: Asad, The reason multiple types of retirement accounts exist is because Congress in it's divided ...
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| Self-Directed IRA | 9/21/2007 |
Q: Greetings: I might want to set up a self-directed IRA (to purchase real estate). Can I do this ...
A: Larry, I understand why the idea of buying real estate in your IRA is attractive to you. However, ...
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| Annuities | 8/30/2007 |
Q: Michael--We are 58 and looking into retirement planning (Pennsylvania). Our broker has suggested we ...
A: Steve and Karen, I am familiar with the benefits of Lincoln and John Hancock annuities. They offer ...
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