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Health and finances are likely the only two topics on most people's minds these days. How can you keep yourself and your loved ones safe and healthy through this pandemic? And what should you do with your investments during this recent market drop? Managing your investments prudently and resisting the urge to sell stocks while the market is down are certainly important financial planning considerations. However, as financial advisors, we wanted to highlight other crucial financial planning areas that often don't get as much attention in the news media.

It's a common misconception to believe that Social Security benefits are tax-free. While that is the case for some people, for many Americans, some or even most of their Social Security income will be taxable. When does Social Security become taxable? Read further to find out.

In today's world, an individual's personal finances are ever changing and throughout each of our lifetimes we will have dozens of financial accounts. Think about how many times you may have changed banks, insurance companies, retirement plans, etc. Sometimes we create new accounts and forget about the old ones. Trying to track down old accounts doesn't have to be a nightmare because the internet makes it easier than ever to try and track down old accounts.

For most people, from the time they begin work they also start paying Social Security taxes. For many, the time to collect comes up faster than they think, and they are forced to answer the question, when do I collect? As financial advisors this is a question we help our clients with on a regular basis. We hope to give you some thoughts on the age-old question, to delay, or not to delay.

The new Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018 adds protections for any elderly, disabled, or minor Social Security recipient where their benefit is paid to someone else representing them.

The government gives you the option of taking a reduced pension early (as early as 62) or an enhanced pension later (as late as age 70) - smaller payments for a longer time or larger payments for a shorter time. On average it works out the same for the government.