If my spouse and I have no will, what would happen to our assets at his death?

In the State of Illinois, when you die without a will it is called dying intestate. If there is a surviving spouse but no other descendants (children or grandchildren of the deceased), the entire estate will pass to the spouse. If there is a surviving spouse and a descendant: _ of the entire estate goes to the surviving spouse and _ to the decedent’s descendants per stirpes. (i.e. If the decedent’s child is deceased but there are living grandchildren it will pass to them) This can pose a serious problem in a second marriage when both spouses have children from prior marriages.

I own a small company with only 3 employees, what retirement plan options do I have?

You may want to consider a Simplified Employee Plan (SEP) or a Simple IRA. Both these plans have low administration costs. Each plan has different contribution limits, which need to be considered. View Limits

How much life insurance do I need?

The amount of insurance you need is dependent upon what your family would need to continue their current lifestyle. A rule of thumb is to replace 10 to 12 times your annual salary. If you work with an insurance advisor you can do a more exact analysis that includes current debt and monthly expenses and future expenditures for college, wedding etc. You want to have enough assets to meet these needs so you do not have to use your retirement savings before the age of 59 1/2, which will cause 10% penalty.

How can I know if I am saving enough for my retirement?

A financial advisor can help you project what your expenses will be at retirement and compare those to your projected income from retirement plans, social security and current assets. When making the projections it is important to take into consideration inflation and it’s impact on the dollar. If a shortfall is projected you will need to adjust your savings plan.