Resolutions are supposed to be your intention for the new year, not a to-do list for the first week of January that is never fully completed. I have yet to see someone accomplish a resolution within a week. We usually get “busy” and stop caring about what we set out to accomplish within the first couple [...]
We live in a world with thousands of good causes to support every day. Whether it be a local charity, a friend down on their luck, or that adorable puppy that can’t find a home, there always has been and always will be a need for support. Thankfully many of us are more than happy to [...]
reposted from: US News & World Report by: Geoff Williams | Contributor June 28, 2016 You've seen the numbers. They aren't pretty. A recent Bankrate.com survey of 1,000 adults suggests that 66 million American adults have zero dollars saved for an emergency. That dovetails nicely with a report that came out earlier this year from the [...]
So instead of wasting your time trying to convince you how great they are, I would rather discuss the mechanics of how you take advantage of them. Devise a savings strategy and start the automatic saving. IRAs come in two flavors: Traditional and Roth. Traditional IRAs are tax-deferred, i.e., money grows year-after-year without Uncle Sam collecting [...]
When is the best time to plant a tree? Twenty years ago. When is the next best time? Today. The same thinking applies to getting financial help. When is the best time to get financial advice? Twenty years ago. When is the next best time? Today. Seriously, the answer is always earlier is better. The Boomer [...]
One of the most financially savvy gifts a parent or guardian can give their child is to send them to college. Even with student debt, the difference in a college graduate’s lifetime earnings vs that of someone with only a high school diploma is substantial. This wage difference spread over 40+ years in the work force [...]
Way back in February 2014, I penned a blog about a new option for workers whose employers did not have a workplace savings plan. It was dubbed the myRA and was designed as a starter savings account. President Obama discussed the new savings option in his State of the Union Address last year and the U.S. Treasury [...]
Background The Internal Revenue Code says that if you receive a distribution from an IRA, you can't make a tax-free (60-day) rollover into another IRA if you've already completed a tax-free rollover within the previous one-year (12-month) period. The long-standing position of the IRS was that this rule applied separately to each IRA someone owns. Earlier [...]
As mentioned in part I: Sustainable Withdrawal Rates, estimating the correct amount to withdraw from your retirement savings is critical in ensuring you make your investments last for your entire life as well as your spouses. Part II focuses on the various techniques that can be employed to minimize the risk associated with outliving your retirement [...]
If fear of the market keeps you up at night, one of the best and most effective ways to take advantage of any market event, good or bad, is to consider using an investment strategy called dollar cost averaging. You can automate this method to force you to invest on a regular basis regardless of market [...]