Reader Question: I've Lost a Lot of Money in the Market. Should I Get Out?
I receive a number of emails each week from readers and I try to answer all of them the best I can, but occasionally I get questions from multiple people that ask the same thing. In those situations I like to address the question as a post which can hopefully help others who probably have […]
How Much Money Do I Need to Save For Retirement?
Calculating How Much Money You Need for Retirement Every so often I receive questions from readers. I try to answer them all directly, but occasionally a question comes up that is very broad and is one that more people are thinking about but not asking. Everybody wants to know how much they should be saving […]
Reader Question: I Don't Have Much Savings So Can I Use Unused Credit as an Emergency Fund?
I occasionally get questions from readers and try to answer each one to the best of my ability, but there are some questions that get asked more than others. For these types of questions I like to turn it into a post so that it can help even more people. One of the questions I […]
Reader Question: It Feels Like I'm Just Throwing Money Away, So Why Should I Keep Investing?
Occasionally I receive questions from readers who contact me, and I do my best to answer everything that comes my way. One question that has come up more frequently in the past few months has to do with saving for retirement and the major losses we’ve seen in the stock market. One of the main […]
Couple Living in Camper After Foreclosure – Is it the Lender's Fault? You Decide
As I was browsing some of the news on CNN, I came across a video that had the title: Foreclosure Family Camps Out, so I had to see what that was all about. I was curious to see where the blame was going to be placed, and what the details of the story were. We […]
Reader Question: I'm Investing Regularly, but How Do I Know if I'm Doing Well?
This question actually came in just before I wrote about using Morningstar to track your investments against an appropriate benchmark, but it is certainly worth answering for the benefit of others as well. Understanding what you should be comparing your investments to will give you a clear picture of how well you’re doing, and whether […]
Reader Question: I Can't Pay My Bills! What Bills Should I Pay First?
When times are tough and you can’t find the money to pay all of your expenses, where do you turn and how do you decide who gets paid? Of course, in a perfect world we would all have sufficient emergency funds to cover these types of situations, but many people are faced with this question […]
Since Whole Life Insurance Has a Cash Value, Is That Better Than a Term Policy?
Does the Cash Value of Whole Life Make it Better than Term? On the surface, this would make sense. A whole life policy does in fact build up cash value over time, whereas a term policy is “use it or lose it”, meaning if you don’t die before the term is up, you get nothing […]
Reader Question: How Much Do I Need to Have Saved Up When I Retire?
I recently received this question via email and since it is probably the most asked question I receive at work as well I figured it would be a good idea to tackle it here. Everybody wants to know how much they should be saving and how large their account should be once they reach retirement. […]
Questions From Readers: Can I Deduct Brokerage Commissions Paid to Trade Stocks For Tax Purposes?
A reader recently sent an email asking whether or not they can deduct the commissions they paid to trade stocks within their brokerage account. Since this is a great question that may apply to others I figured it would be a good idea to address it on the site. So, can you deduct commissions paid […]
