Griffin Financial Advisors, LLC

In today’s investment environment, an investor can choose from numerous products. Mainly, you are just choosing to invest in stocks, bonds, and cash.  As you begin your investment selection process, you start by filtering through all the investment products available.  Once you do, chances are you will run across what is called a “target date fund”.  Target date funds are most common in 401(k) retirement plans and you probably have them in your company's plan.  So, what exactly is a target date fund and how is it different from other investment products? At its core, a target date fund, is a mutual fund that strives to grow assets over a specific period of time. The goal of a target date fund is very similar to other mutual funds; however, they differ by taking into consideration your desired retirement age.  This is why target date funds have commonly been referred to as “age based” funds.  As an individual gets closer...

An individual who pays into social security for 40 quarters is eligible to receive retirement benefits between the ages of 62 and 70. The big question is when is the right time to start receiving those benefits? That is a difficult question to answer because everybody’s situation is unique. Regardless, we hope to provide you with some beneficial information to help you make an informed decision. To start, an individual must input the year they were born into the retirement age calculator on the  Social Security website . This tool will generate a “full retirement age” for you. Please note, this is an optimal retirement age determined by Social Security and it will likely be different than your age at actual retirement. The full retirement age that is provided to you by Social Security is when you would receive 100% of your retirement benefits. However, an individual can choose to receive their benefits sooner. If they decide to take them sooner, they receive l...