Barney Financial Services

Helping You Today By Planning Your Tomorrow®

Ron Eckloff, CFP®

Welcome to our website, where you'll find a wealth of information in the form of newsletter articles, calculators, and research reports.



We hope your visit will help you understand the opportunities and potential rewards that are available when you take a proactive approach to your personal financial situation. We created this website to help you gain a better understanding of the financial concepts behind insurance, investing, retirement, estate planning, and wealth preservation. Most importantly, we hope you see the value of working with skilled professionals to pursue your financial goals. We're here to help educate you about the basic concepts of financial planning, to help you learn more about who we are, and to give you fast, easy access to market performance and data.

We hope you take advantage of this resource and visit us often. Be sure to add our site to your list of "favorites" in your Internet browser. We frequently update our information, and we wouldn't want you to miss any developments in the area of personal finance.

Federal Income Tax

This calculator can help you estimate your annual federal income tax liability.

Life Expectancy

Knowing your likely life expectancy is an important factor in making long-term financial plans.

Risk Tolerance

This calculator is designed to help you clarify your comfort level with investment risk.

Tax-Deferred Savings

Compare the potential future value of tax-deferred investments to that of taxable investments.

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Using Living Benefits for Retirement Income

Many Americans are finding it difficult to predict how much they can save by retirement. Because traditional pensions are available to just one out of three workers today, a potential way of creating a guaranteed income stream in retirement is to purchase the guaranteed living benefits that are available with some variable annuities.

HOT TOPIC: European News Causes Market Mood Swings

In recent weeks, the yields on Italian bonds spiked to more than 7%, suggesting the sovereign debt crisis was spreading to a much larger economy and eluding the European Union’s efforts to contain it. The U.S. stock and bond markets have responded to the headlines coming out of Europe. This article explores the role of political risk in U.S. financial market volatility.

The Dynamics That Can Drive Inflation

High unemployment and slow wage growth seem to have kept consumer spending and core inflation from growing very rapidly in the first half of 2011. This article reminds investors to keep the potential risk of inflation in mind, because even modest price increases compounded over time can erode the purchasing power of the assets in their portfolios.

Tips for Surviving the Estate Tax

The federal estate tax was reinstated retroactively to January 1, 2010, by the 2010 Tax Relief Act. However, the favorable provisions are scheduled to expire at the end of 2012, when estates exceeding $1 million could be subject to the federal levy.

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