All Entries Tagged With: "Retirement"
The Roth IRA: What You Should Know
Tweet You know that putting savings towards your future retirement is important, but deciding where to build your nest egg can be a bit daunting. Â But the Roth IRA has too many tax benefits to ignore. Confusing lingo and acronyms make it hard to choose an appropriate investing method, and trying to wade through the [...]
Are 401k Plans Too Risky For Retirement?
Tweet The 401k gets a bad reputation, especially when the markets and economy are on the rocks. We read countless stories about 60-somethings on the cusp of retirement who lost half their nest egg and need to continue working, and we hear about how people aren’t putting enough money into the plans to be able to afford [...]
The 2 Most Important Things to Look at On Your Investment Statement
Tweet How many times have you received your quarterly 401k or IRA statement in the mail or via email and simply trashed it? How often do you open it up and glance over it only to see a bunch of numbers, but have no idea what to make of it other than finding out if [...]
My Employer Stopped Matching My 401k – Should I Still Contribute?
Tweet This is one of the most frequently asked questions I’ve been receiving lately both at work and via email. Companies across the country are trying to find ways to cut costs during this recession and a prime target is the matching program on a 401(k) or 403(b). This is bad news for employees, but [...]
20 Books That Will Change Your Life and How You Think About Retirement
Tweet If you are a part of what is considered Generation X, you know that you probably have anywhere from 25-35 years until retirement — or at least that’s what the government and most pension plans suggest as a retirement age. Since we’re currently focused on other aspects of our lives such as building careers, [...]
Considerations Before Doing a Roth IRA Conversion if You Are Using Account Assets to Pay the Taxes
Tweet Everyone loves the Roth IRA. If you read any personal finance blog, website, or listen to any financial guru they will rave about how the Roth IRA is the best thing since sliced bread. What makes this investment vehicle even better is that back in 2010 anyone could convert their Traditional IRA (therefore pre-taxed) [...]
Build an Emergency Fund, Pay Off Debt, or Save for Retirement? Three Competing Goals That All Need Your Attention Today
Tweet Should You Save for Retirement or Build Up Savings? And What About Debt? What does building up an emergency fund, paying off debt, and saving for retirement all have in common? They all need to be done, and sooner rather than later. The problem is that for many people, all three of these issues [...]
It’s Not Too Late to Max Out Your 2011 IRA Contribution in 2012
Tweet Max Out Your 2011 IRA in 2012 The calendar may have flipped to the new year, which means most tax tricks, tips, and deductions have closed the book on last year’s taxes, but that isn’t the case for your IRAs. Individual Retirement Accounts are unique in that they give you up until when you [...]
Should You Invest in the Stock Market or Hold Cash?
Tweet Let me paint a picture for you really quick. Â A man is sitting at his desk looking at his Scottrade account. Â He’s been noticing the volatile market swings and doesn’t know what to do with his money. Â He start sweating. Â He starts to wonder if he should place his money under his mattress instead. [...]
Why You Should be Paying Attention to Medigap Plans
Tweet By the time those currently in their 40s retire and begin to qualify for Medicare, the government-run insurance program is going to be over 6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. That means for every dollar the United States economy earns, a little more than six cents goes toward Medicare. Social Security looks to [...]
5 Reasons to Not Borrow From 401k
Tweet You won’t believe what I’ve been hearing at work lately. Â Fellow employees are taking out loans against their 401k accounts and borrowing money! Â I don’t know if there are people out there giving advice to do this, but it’s probably one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard of. Â In fact, I would peg [...]
Eliminate Taxes With a Roth IRA
Tweet Rocketing national debt, unstable economy, high unemployment, and high inflation. Â These are all factors that have Americans on edge right now. Â What has the American public even more scared is the fact that the federal government has started to tap into public pension funds to pay for bankrupt social programs such as Social Security [...]
Getting The Most From Your Retirement
Tweet Retiring is a fact of life and once you hit that point, which we all do, the idea is to enjoy your time. Ideally you have adequate resources and savings that will allow you the leisure that comes when you retire but it’s not always the case. It’s important to enjoy your time but [...]
Planning for Your Financial Future in Retirement
Tweet When it comes to planning for the future, most people think of retirement. Retirement planning is important because it allows you to do the things that you were unable to do while working‒travel, start a business, go back to school, be closer to family, or simply relax. Because retirement is such an important phase [...]
Don’t Treat Your 401(k) Like a Savings Account
Tweet As a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor and someone who deals specifically with retirement issues I spend a lot of time helping participants with their retirement plans. One of the most common reasons participants would meet with me is because they say need money and they are looking to take it out of their retirement [...]
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