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Retirement can sneak up on you.

Saving enough for retirement while carrying and paying off debts can be an uphill battle. For some pre-retirees, debt repayment is the primary focus over savings, leading them to delay or reduce their retirement lifestyle. But if you’ve been struggling to save, It’s never too late (or early) to take steps to encourage you to get back on track.

You may have heard investors say that a clear investment philosophy is essential to pursuing long-term financial success. And while investment strategy is important, it’s nothing more than a manifestation of an investment philosophy. Strategies can evolve as life changes, but philosophies are the core beliefs, principles, and practices that guide your decision-making.

While following a solid tax planning strategy throughout the year is integral to your overall financial plan, some special considerations may maximize your refund or reduce overall tax liability.

Let’s look at some of the tax-saving strategies you could be taking advantage of.

In our client meetings, the term “wealth” is often tossed around somewhat loosely. We talk about building wealth, managing wealth, enhancing wealth, and preserving wealth as if the concepts are universally understood. But what exactly is wealth? It’s such a vague term that every person has a slightly different meaning.

Remember way back to your first paycheck. The moment you open the envelope anticipating the windfall when all your hard work pays off. Then, like a swift kick to your gut, realty hits. Your takeaway earnings are almost always way lower than what you expected.

With the proliferation of investment and personal finance websites, investors have access to a boundless number resources and tools once only available to financial professionals.

Most people would argue that living in a digital world, with instant access to an endless stream of information has made us smarter and more self-empowered than past generations. Investors believe that it has “leveled the playing field”, enabling them to make investment decisions based on the same information once only available to the investment pros.

Chances are good that if you turn on the prime time news on any given day or pull up your favorite newspaper on your iPad one of the top stories will relate to emerging risks around the world.

A recent survey indicates that an increasing number of high net worth investors are willing to pay for solid, unbiased, fee-only investment advice, which is not surprising considering the challenges of today’s markets.