Nearly 170,000 participants contributed $50 or less in 2016. Data show that these participants are less engaged than their peers. How do we gain their attention and get them to act? The 170k—By the Numbers Out of the more than 1.4 million participants who were eligible to defer retirement plans at T. [...]
The Social Security Administration has stopped mailing out most yearly statements, but you can estimate your retirement benefit online. With growing uncertainty about the future of Social Security funding, the Social Security Administration (SSA) suspended most mailings of its annual statements. Previously, the SSA had sent all working Americans an annual statement about three months before [...]
One of the oldest market sayings is: “markets climb a wall of worry”—needless to say, it is sometimes good to be cautious. We listed some of our worries recently in What Might Scare Markets, but the action in the S&P 500 Index over the past year—and so far in November—has that list growing. [...]
Sticking to a sensible strategy potentially beats market timing. When the markets drop, sometimes investors panic, selling at or near a market bottom. Then they wait too long to get back in once the market recovers. More often than not, these investors make “market timing” decisions based more on emotion than logic. Much [...]
Having a personal plan is the critical first step to organizing your finances and financial planning. Financial planning may seem daunting, if all you've ever done is pay bills and manage a checkbook. But personal planning is really, the first step to organizing your financial affairs and depends more on common sense than [...]
Choosing between these values is all about your perspective. Some people view having $1 million in the bank as more valuable than having an income of $5,000 per month. However, both values are roughly equivalent. This example illustrates what behavioral researchers call the illusion of wealth and the illusion of poverty.1 It [...]
Avoid these financial traps and save yourself money and stress in the long term. Americans are living longer, healthier lives, and this trend is affecting how they think about and plan for retirement. For instance, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, the age at which workers expect to retire has been rising slowly over [...]
Still have money in a 401(k) at an old job? If you are preparing to change jobs, do you know what your choices are for managing the money in your current employer's 401(k) or retirement plan? Although many people choose to take a cash distribution, there are other options that may benefit you more. [...]
Will you regret not fully understanding the value of time? When recent retirees are asked whether they would have done anything differently about their retirement planning process, many say they wish they’d started sooner. The mistake that people at all income levels make with retirement accounts is not starting at a younger age. [...]
Feeling overwhelmed thinking about your retirement savings? Babies crawl before they can walk. Their first step is the most important -- it is the beginning of a lifetime journey. If you know you should begin saving and investing for retirement, don't worry about making a giant leap forward. Taking one small step toward [...]
