You know saving money for retirement is crucial. You know your quality of life during retirement will depend on your retirement savings. But do you know which retirement account will best suit your needs? Should you pick a 401(k) or an IRA (aka individual retirement account)? There is no right or wrong answer. Truth is,
Financial Planning
You’d have to be living under a rock not to notice cryptocurrency’s recent rise in popularity. Many curious and aspiring entrepreneurs have made fortunes in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other forms of digital currency – and many others have followed them, hoping to turn a quick profit. In turn, fraudsters have swooped in to take advantage
Stocks, or equities, are shares of ownership in a company. Investing in the stock market by purchasing these shares can be a great way to grow your money for the future. But how much money you make – or lose – largely depends on the stocks you pick. So how do you know which stocks
When the prices of goods and services go up, it can be hard to know where to invest your money. Even the interest rates on high-yield savings accounts don’t usually keep pace with inflation. Stocks and other investments can offer greater returns – but they are riskier. If you’re looking for a place to invest
When it comes to investing, there are many different options to pursue, from stocks and bonds to commodities and mutual funds to real estate investment trusts and more. The options are endless – and often confusing. But any investment professional worth their fees will let you know the importance of diversifying your portfolio with a
There are always different levels of risk in life. It’s all about how much you’re willing to take and whether the rewards outweigh the risks. When it comes to investing, you may be faced with a similar question: What’s your comfort level when it comes to the possibility of losing money? This is referred to
There are many numbers involved when it comes to loan terms and savings accounts, like interest rate, annual percentage rate and annual percentage yield. But interest is more than just a number. Knowing if it’s simple interest or compound interest can help you make better financial decisions – whether you’re saving, investing or borrowing. Compound
Life is full of surprises. Sometimes we get lucky and hit the lottery. Other times we have bad luck: we lose our job, we get into an accident or our home is damaged. When bad luck happens, it often gets expensive quickly. That’s why it’s a good idea to have an emergency fund. If you
Ever wonder where your money is going? A monthly budget might provide an answer. A budget is a blueprint of your income and expenses. It can help you to reach your financial goals and take control of your finances by tracking how you spend – and save. You don’t have to be a finance whiz
Does visualizing success help you achieve success? It certainly does in some cases. Successful athletes such as Tiger Woods and Muhammad Ali are known to have visualized their successes years in advance.
People in other fields have also used visualization as an important part of the path to their success, from cartoonist Scott Adams to
Graduation for the Class of 2019 is here. Some college graduates have studied physics and will pursue rocket science as a career. Others plan to become doctors, memorizing every bone in the body, while a few are walking encyclopedias when it comes to history. But how many of them can – and do – balance
You don’t want your boss to fire you, but being FIRE is good… when FIRE is the acronym for “financially independent, retire early”.
A FIRE retirement requires careful planning. You’re going to need more money than most to sustain your early retirement plans – perhaps covering up to forty years of retirement. Where can you
You’ve set up a spending plan – but your plan didn’t consider the fun events that you see on your social media feeds. You can’t afford to go to all of them, yet you can’t afford not to thanks to the fear of missing out (FOMO). What do you do?
According to Charles Schwab’s 2019
A good 401(k) plan can be an attractive selling point for businesses looking to hire the best and brightest. However, smaller businesses may have a hard time establishing a 401(k) plan capable of competing for the attention of potential employees.
Few small businesses have the resources to carry out 401(k) administrative tasks, and the smaller
The ability to save money is one of the many skills one must learn in order to become financially successful, and one of the most difficult. Moody’s Analytics analyzed different demographics and determined that savings rates increase as we age.
Sadly, according to their data, only one age group saves between ten and fifteen percent
There’s a lot of financial advice out there, from the Wall Street Journal to podcasts to your brother-in-law’s stock tips to “A penny saved is a penny earned.” The infographic above, developed in collaboration with the Common Cents Lab at Duke University, shows six simple steps to get your finances on sound footing.
How would you like to retire early? Millennials certainly like the idea, according to a recent survey from Bankrate.com. Millennials identified the perfect retirement age as 61 – a full six years before their full retirement age (FRA) as defined by Social Security and one year before they can even claim reduced Social Security
Did you realize that not all financial advisors are obligated to act in your best interest? Financial professionals are obligated to offer products and advice that are suitable for your needs, but not all of them are obligated to offer the best advice possible.
Two standards govern financial advisors – the fiduciary standard and the
How much longer would you have to work beyond your full retirement age to equal an additional 1% retirement savings over the thirty years prior to your retirement? You might expect to work an extra year or two – but according to a recent study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), you
Do you have enough cash to handle an unexpected emergency expense? According to a new survey from Bankrate.com, a significant number of Americans don’t have an emergency savings fund – and don’t see the lack of one as a problem.
Bankrate found that almost one in four respondents has no emergency fund at all, and
Do you plan to relocate when you retire? If so, where would you like to go?
It’s easy to rattle off a favorite vacation destination as your preferred retirement location, but it’s far different when you are visiting a location instead of living there. Try keeping an open mind and evaluating multiple retirement locations and
Your kids are growing up fast. Soon, it will be time to have … the talk.
No, not that one. We’re referring to the talk about responsible use of credit. If you don’t drive home the importance of good credit practices while your children are young, they’re more likely to learn about credit the hard
Do you have a financial plan? A real, written plan with goals, targets, and timelines, not just “I plan to stay out of debt this year”? If you have no such plan, you have plenty of company.
According to Charles Schwab, only 25% of Americans have a written financial plan. The good news: Schwab’s 2018
You’ve made some life decisions that you’ve regretted, and some of those decisions surely involve money. What sort of money mistakes have you made?
Don’t be shy about admitting your financial mistakes. According to the latest version of Finder.com’s annual America’s Biggest Money Mistakes survey, you have 192 million fellow Americans to keep you company.
We know the stereotype of the unmotivated millennial, living at home with their parents without any long-term plan or concern about their situation. Is that a fair representation? Do millennials disproportionately live with their parents? If so, is this from necessity, lack of motivation, or part of a grander strategy?
It’s logical that younger generations
Women often face greater financial challenges than men in retirement. Lower average salaries and fewer working years make it difficult for women to achieve suitable nest eggs. Results from the recent Transamerica Retirement Survey of American Workers highlight the anxieties that women face.
Sadly, only 12% of women are “very confident” in expecting a comfortable
Have we bridged the gender gap when it comes to household roles, domestic duties, and career choices? Not entirely – but a new survey suggests that women are leading the way in closing the gap and preparing the next generation of men and women to continue the fight.
According to the YouGov survey Women’s Voices:
Are you financially literate? How about your kids? MoneyTips can help, but there may be something special soon going on in your neighborhood to help you learn more about personal finance.
Money Smart Week®, a public awareness campaign designed to help consumers better manage their personal finances, will take place April 21-28, 2018. The effort,
What’s in your savings account? If you’re a millennial, there’s a decent chance that there’s nothing in your account but IOUs and promises.
A 2017 survey by GoBankingRates found that 46% of millennials aged 18-24 have $0 in their savings account – a sharp increase over the 2016 survey where 31% of millennials reported empty
1. Lead by example – Great leaders operate with humility and a “Do as I do” rather than a “Do as I say” mentality. They never ask anyone to do anything they are not willing to do themselves.
2. Use the 7 P’s – In the military, I learned that
Proper
Prior
Planning
Prevents
Pitifully