As we all know employment markets have been tight over the last several years, but Americans have a tendency to find a way. There has been an increase in the number of people who are self-employed, and this can be an option for those who are willing to take matters into their own hands.

Economic Modeling Specialists International has stated that there has been a 14% increase in the number of people who work for themselves for the most part between 2001 and the present time. There are some 10.6 million self-employed people in the United States.

If you are among them you must take personal responsibility for your own financial stability during retirement. Those who work for a company are often offered the opportunity to contribute into a group 401(k) plan. Many employers will actually match contributions made by employees up to a certain percentage.

Of course if you are self-employed the above option is not going to exist for you. However, there are 401(k) plans for self-employed individuals; you just need to take action to create an account, learn the rules, and make contributions into it.

During 2013 the maximum allowable contribution is $17,500. If you are 50 years of age or older you can add an additional “catch-up” contribution, and the maximum amount that you could add was $5500 in 2012.

Self-employment can be rewarding on many different levels, but it is up to you to prepare for your future. To discuss your retirement vision with an expert don’t hesitate to give us a call at 843-577-3700 to set up a free retirement planning consultation.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

We would like to take a look at three of the most commonly asked questions regarding the Social Security program.

How Much Will I Get?

The way to find out this information is to sign up on the Social Security Administration website and view your personal statement so you can gain an understanding of approximately what you can expect to receive when you qualify for benefits. You can then use this projection to help you gauge exactly how much supplementation is going to be necessary.

When Can I Apply?

You can apply four months before you reach the age of eligibility. The earliest you can receive Social Security is at the age of 62, but your benefit would be reduced because of this early application.

You could wait until you reach the age of full eligibility, which is somewhere 66 and 67 (depending on your exact year of birth) if you are not yet receiving your benefit.

The third option would be to accrue delayed retirement credits that will increase your benefit when you do apply by continuing to work beyond your full eligibility age. You can allow these delayed retirement credits to accumulate until you are as old as 70.

How Do I Apply?

You have three different options. The old-school method would be to simply get in the car and go to the brick-and-mortar Social Security office. Alternately you can apply by phone and the phone number is 800-772-1213.

The third option would be to apply online. You can follow this link if you are interested in submitting your application electronically:

Apply Online for Social Security Benefits

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The goal that most people have while they are traversing their career paths is to be able to retire someday and do so in comfort.

When you work to support your family over the decades you invariably have limited spare time. As a result a lot of things that you would like to do probably have gone undone. The objective for many is to be able to have these experiences once they retire.

This is easier said than done. The income that is derived from Social Security is limited, and this alone is not going to be enough to support the lifestyle that most people would like to enjoy.

If you are just going along drifting day-to-day without any type of cogent plan that leads to a comfortable retirement you are taking quite a risk. Recent studies have shown that a very significant percentage of baby boomers will never be able to retire because they simply don’t have enough money to do so.

On the other hand, if you have in fact worked with a good financial planning lawyer to put a cogent long-term plan in place you are not drifting–you are building toward your future.

Even people who are not earning six figures of annual income can be prepared to retire if they work within an intelligently conceived framework over an extended period of time. The key to a secure financial future is to engage professional guidance as you devise a plan and subsequently exercise the financial discipline to make the right decisions on a sustained and consistent basis.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

You must have a thorough understanding of the benefits that are available to you when you are planning for retirement as a military veteran.

Most people are aware of the fact that you are entitled to a retirement pension after 20 years of service. If you do retire after serving 20 years your pension benefit will be based on a percentage of your base pay. The longer you stay in the higher the percentage will be when you do begin to draw your pension benefit.

After 40 years of service you would be eligible to receive your entire base pay as your pension benefit, and if you combine this with your Social Security benefit you would find yourself in a rather comfortable situation during your golden years.

It is important to recognize the fact that your surviving spouse would not continue to receive your pension benefit after you pass away. However, the military gives you the ability to provide ongoing income to your husband or wife through the Survivor Benefit Plan.

Once you retire you must pay premiums monthly to participate in the plan. If you choose the maximum amount of coverage your spouse would receive a benefit equal to 55% of the benefit that you were receiving while you were still alive.

The best way to proceed as a a veteran looking forward toward the future is to sit down and discuss your situation with a licensed and experienced South Carolina financial planning lawyer. Your attorney will answer all of your questions and help you devise a plan that leads to a truly comfortable retirement.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Retirement planning is integral for serious minded individuals who want to be able to enjoy a certain modicum of financial security during their senior years. Putting yourself in a position to be able to pay your way for perhaps a couple of decades or more without working can require some long-term financial discipline as you act within an intelligently conceived framework over an extended period of time.

In order to be able to reach your objectives you must accurately project your future expenses. With this in mind you would do well to be cognizant of your property tax responsibility.

Taxes generally do not remain constant. You may be presented with ever-increasing property tax bills while you are living on a fixed income. When you are making your projections you should keep this in mind because in fact a great many people do indeed fall behind on their property taxes and as a result tax liens are imposed.

According to the National Tax Lien Association between $7 billion and $10 billion in property taxes will go unpaid each year. Investors purchase tax liens from municipalities, and this can be quite lucrative because of the interest that is charged to homeowners trying to catch up on their back taxes.

If you have any concerns at all about being able to keep up with your property taxes you have options. You may not need a home as big and as expensive as the one that you have been residing in once you retire.

Downsizing can have positive financial implications as you reduce your tax responsibility and lower your utility and maintenance costs. In addition, the reduction in square footage can make it easier for you to get around if reduced mobility starts to become a concern as you reach an advanced age.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Getting into business for yourself can be quite rewarding on a number of different levels. Of course it is nice being your own boss, and there may be virtually no limit to what you can achieve as you build the business over the years.

However, you have to ask yourself how you are going to exit the business after you retire or in the event of your death.

This can take some careful planning and it is a good idea to get started early on. If you intend to retire someday you have to devise a plan that leads to the fruition of your retirement goals and stick to it with discipline and diligence.

There are people who will sell the business to finance their retirement years, and there are others who want to maintain ownership of the business throughout their lives, perhaps intending to hand the business off to the next generation.

Regardless of how you would like to proceed there are going to be steps that must be taken along the way. For example, if you do intend to leave the business to a particular heir you are probably going to want to balance inheritances in some way so that the rest of the family is provided for as well.

The best way to develop a cogent long-term framework is to sit down and discuss the details with an experienced professional. Should you be interested in doing just that, right now would be a good time to pick up the phone to arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced South Carolina financial planning attorney.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Taking care of those that you love can involve providing them opportunities to reach their full potential as human beings. With this in mind many people want to provide resources to pay for the college education of a loved one (or multiple family members). One way of doing this is by contributing into a 529 plan.

These plans are offered by the states and in some states you can prepay the tuition of a student who will be entering college in the future. By doing this you are guaranteed the tuition rate that you agree to when you created the account regardless of how expensive tuition is when the student enters college.

The other type of plan that is more widely offered is the savings plan. You simply make contributions into the 529 over a number of years and they are invested in an effort to gain appreciation. This appreciation is not taxable unless you were to dissolve the account and take back ownership of the resources.

Once the student does start to utilize the assets that are in the account to pay for educational expenses these distributions are not considered to be taxable income. Another advantage from a tax perspective is the fact that the resources that you placed into the 529 account are not counted as part of your estate for tax purposes.

To learn more about 529 plans and other ways to put aside money for the education of an heir simply take a moment to arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced South Carolina estate planning lawyer.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

As you start to get serious about looking toward the future it is useful to see a holistic picture. Everything is connected, and the actions that you undertake in the present are going to impact the position that you are in later on.

When it comes to retirement the ideal scenario is to have little to no debt, a solid ongoing income stream and a significant store of financial resources to fall back on. So, as you are planning ahead you would do well to address first things first and do everything possible to reduce or eliminate your debt.

If you are like most people your monthly mortgage payment is your biggest bill, and over the course of the mortgage you pay a great deal of interest. The sooner you get your mortgage paid off the better, and to this end you could add something to every payment on a monthly basis beyond the required payment in an effort to pay down the principal.

Doing this over a sustained period of time can save you a great deal of money that would have otherwise gone to the interest and potentially allow you to enter into retirement owning the home outright.

Debt reduction is something to keep in mind as you are doing what it takes to aim toward a comfortable retirement. To discuss a comprehensive strategy for aging with an expert, simply take a moment to arrange for an informative consultation with a seasoned, savvy South Carolina retirement planning lawyer.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

A lot of people who own farms and ranches work hard to make a good living. However, they may not earn so much as to be considered wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. As a result, their savings may be relatively modest and fall well short of the estate tax exclusion amount.

However, the land upon which they run their businesses may in fact be very valuable and exceed the amount of the estate tax exclusion. For this reason it can be difficult for farmers and ranchers to keep the property in the family unless they are very proactive about planning ahead intelligently.

There are steps that can be taken to position your resources wisely as a farmer or rancher. One thing that is quite commonly done would be to utilize the Special Land Use Valuation Section 2032(a) provision of the IRS code to reduce the taxable value of the land in question.

When you are a farmer or rancher you have a unique set of circumstances that you must deal with when you are making preparations for the future. Everyone should tap into expert advice when they are making estate plans, but it is especially important for people who are “land rich and cash poor” as it were.

If you are a farmer or rancher looking for a way to keep the business in the family, simply take a moment to arrange for an informative consultation with an experienced, savvy South Carolina estate planning lawyer. Your attorney will gain an understanding of your wishes, evaluate your situation, and devise a plan that is tailor-made for you and your family.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

You are probably very good at what you do, but no one is an expert at everything. There is a common archetype out there about how people are sometimes reluctant to ask for directions because they don’t want to admit that they need some help. This is something to avoid, and it is especially important to seek assistance when you have to make important financial decisions.

One way that people can come into a significant amount of money is by receiving an inheritance. There are cases when an individual passes away unexpectedly, perhaps at a relatively young age leaving behind resources for his or her loved ones.

If you were to receive such an inheritance when you were a young adult you would have to make some choices, and you may not consider yourself to be especially financially savvy.

When someone leaves behind an inheritance this individual is trying to provide for loved ones knowing that it will be a final act of giving. Because you will not have this relative to call on for assistance later on, it is important to take the inheritance very seriously and do what it takes to maximize its positive impact on your life for the long-term.

There is no reason to go it alone and take stabs in the dark. If you are in possession of an inheritance it is advisable to remain patient, measured, and pragmatic.

The first step is to sit down and discuss your situation with a licensed and experienced South Carolina financial planning lawyer. He or she will take a close look at your case, become apprised of your objectives, and provide you with expert advice.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.