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 [...]
Follow these simple personal finance pointers to get your financial life in order. If you are just starting out, the world of personal finance can seem daunting. In particular, saving for a home or planning for retirement may seem like dreams too distant in the future to tackle now. However, there are some [...]
For parents who want to help their children pay off loans, a note of caution A growing number of parents appear to want to help, as young-adult children struggle to pay off debt in an era when wages are not growing and rents are high. But parents need to be careful not to jeopardize [...]
Here are a few tips on how to keep your 401(k) working for you. As more workers plan to continue working later in life, at more organizations, the ability to preserve their nest egg and keep it growing when they leave their current company is more important than ever. Here ís an easy-to-understand guide to [...]
