The Estate and Retirement Planning Center
est. 2003
The Estate and Retirement Planning Center has been working with friends and neighbors throughout the greater Greensburg, Pennsylvania, area to help them achieve their current and future financial and estate distribution goals through the use of insurance, investment and legal tools.
Financial Services
Our primary goal is keeping our clients’ money safe from volatile and risky investments.
Learn MoreInsurance Services
Developing the right portfolio of insurance products is an essential step toward a comprehensive financial program or estate planning.
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Check our very informative educational video page. Here you can watch and learn some valuable information about financial and insurance services
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IRA Blog
Market Review and Outlook
Is retirement good for health or bad for it?
For many people, retirement is a key reward for decades of daily work—a time to relax, explore, and have fun unburdened by the daily grind. For others, though, retirement is a frustrating period marked by declining health and increasing limitations. For years,...
Fixed vs. Fixed Indexed Annuities: What’s the Difference?
Among the various kinds of annuities, which are contracts you sign with an insurance company to pay a premium for guaranteed income later, two of the most common are fixed and fixed indexed annuities. The former offers a fixed rate of return; the latter ties your rate...
Numbers that older workers and retirees need to know in 2020
From retirement plans to health care, things are changing A new year and a new decade begin next week. Whether you’re retired or still working, many changes are coming that could affect you—for better and/or worse. Here’s our breakdown of what you need to know in...
INDIANA JONES AND THE 72(T) IDOL
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Do you want to access your IRA funds penalty-free, even though you are under age 59 ½ and no exception fits your situation? It can be done. Starting a new business and need capital from your IRA, but don’t want to pay the 10% early...
SPOUSAL PROTECTION IN COMPANY RETIREMENT PLANS
Ian Berger IRA Analyst One important difference between IRAs and company retirement plans is spousal protection. Except for community property states, spouses of IRA owners do not have any rights to the account. By contrast, many workplace plans must provide spouses...
ROTH CONVERSIONS AND QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTIONS: TODAY’S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: An initial ROTH conversion was completed in 2018 for tax year 2018. A second conversion was completed in 2019 for tax year 2019. There was no ROTH IRA account prior to 2018 and the account owner is over 59 ½. The 5-year...
December 2019 Market Review
December 2019 Market Review -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets continued their ascent in December in what was an impressive showing for the markets in 2019. Trade policy negotiation between the US and China continued throughout the month with an initial agreement...
November 2019 Market Review
November 2019 Market Review -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets crushed it in November with substantial gains across all the major indices. Record highs were inked for the S&P 500, up 3.4%, the Dow, up 3.72%, and for the NASDAQ, which gained 4.5% over the...
October 2019 Market Review and Outlook
October 2019 Market Review -Darren Leavitt, CFA Global risk assets were in favor during the month of October. In October, investors continued to be hopeful that a trade deal between the US and China could be forged and also optimistic that a no-deal Brexit could be...
