Nathan Sumner CFP, President at SUM Financial Services Group

10/26/2026

If you have a traditional IRA or participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan such as a 401(k) plan, you are generally required to complete a beneficiary designation form with the IRA custodian or plan administrator. As you may know, the beneficiary or beneficiaries you name (you can general...

10/26/2026

How many years before you are ready to be “retired”?

It’s one of the most important numbers yet.

TIAA's 2026 longevity literacy research found that workers who expect a shorter retirement save less consistently than those who expect a longer one.

That makes sense, but it also means the people who assume their retirement will be short are the same ones who may be building portfolios with shorter time horizons.

Once someone has already reached 65, the numbers shift.

According to Social Security Administration data:

📌 A 65-year-old man has roughly a 24 percent chance of living past 90

📌 A 65-year-old woman's chances are higher, closer to 35 percent

📌 For a 65-year-old married couple, there is about a 50 percent chance that at least one spouse lives past 90

The practical implication is not "assume you will live to 100."

It’s that a retirement income strategy built around the “average lifespan” often assumes a person will die on schedule. Most people do not.

If retirement is on your horizon, the question to ask is, "What happens to my income strategy if I live to 95?"

10/25/2026

When the account owner of a traditional individual retirement account (IRA) or employer-sponsored retirement plan dies, theremaining funds in the account pass to the named beneficiary (or beneficiaries). Unlike many other inherited assets, these IRA orplan funds typically pass directly to the benefi...

10/24/2026

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10/23/2026

A 403(b) plan is a popular type of retirement plan offered by public schools and tax-exempt employers.

10/22/2026

The life expectancy method is a method of taking distributions from an inherited IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan account. As the name suggests, it allows you to take post-death distributions based on your life expectancy. Under this method, you must receive a certain minimum amount each ye...

10/22/2026

🦖 A dinosaur hiding in plain sight for nearly 100 years? Apparently, that's possible!

Researchers have identified a new species from a fossil that had been sitting in London's Natural History Museum since 1924.

Meet Invictibellatrix amberina, a distant relative of T. rex that lived about 120 million years ago.

This feathered predator measured roughly 10 to 13 feet long and used its enormous curved claws to hunt prey. Scientists identified it after examining the fossil with CT scans and 3D modeling.

And here's the wild part: The lead researcher says that if humans had existed alongside this dinosaur, we might have been its ideal prey. A T. rex, by comparison, probably wouldn't have bothered with us! 😳

Not bad for a fossil that spent a century in a drawer.

A fossil discovered 100 years ago in the U.K. has been identified as a previously unknown cousin of the T. rex, and it "definitely would have chased us."

10/22/2026

Trust & Will's 2026 Estate Planning Report found that 56 percent of adults don't have core documents in place, including:

📝 A will: who gets what, and who is in charge of making it happen

🏥 A healthcare directive (or living will): what you want if you cannot speak for yourself

✍️ Two powers of attorney, one for medical decisions and one for financial decisions, each naming a specific person

📄 A letter of instruction: the practical map to where accounts live, who your professionals are, and what your kids or pets need

The friction is that estate work forces a family to sit with mortality, name specific people for specific roles, and make decisions that feel too permanent to rush.

Without something in writing, though, families are left improvising during one of the most difficult moments of their lives.

Most say they fully intend to get to it, but too many put it off until it's too late.

Don't put it off. Talk to a financial professional who can help.

10/21/2026

❄️ Heating oil prices are climbing, and some households are facing difficult decisions as winter approaches.

In Maine, the average price reached $5.97 per gallon in early October. One homeowner estimates her family could spend nearly $5,000 heating their home this winter.

Nationwide, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects households that rely on heating oil to spend 21% more than last winter.

Some fuel suppliers say customers are ordering smaller deliveries because filling an entire tank has become too expensive.

For families already managing rising everyday expenses, keeping the house warm may take an even larger share of their household budgets this winter.

Amid surging inflation and a rise in fuel prices, Americans who rely on heating oil to warm up their homes this winter are bracing for increased financial strains.

10/21/2026

If you haven't given your retirement plan a look within the last 12 months, now may be a good time to do so.