Tips on amassing more money to direct toward your goals. Saving for the future can be painless. You know the basics: start small, start early. Beyond that advice, what else can you do? Think about these ideas. Find an extra $50 a month. Young people are pretty frugal compared to older generations: as CNBC [...]
Is your portfolio age-appropriate? Part art, part science, asset allocation is the mix of a portfolio's stocks, bonds and other investments that can help it meet a particular goal. In an oft-cited study, Brinson, Hood and Beebower noted that asset allocation—not investment acumen or market timing—accounts for more than 90 percent of an [...]
Over the past 8 years, extraordinarily accommodative monetary policy has served as the primary catalyst for spurring continued economic growth in the U.S. and around the globe. Although the economic expansion has delivered steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth, consistent returns for the broad stock market, and an improving job market, the expansion itself has been lackluster. While we’re still set in [...]
After more than a year of political posturing and investor anticipation, Congress finally approved a $1.5 trillion tax cut, the most sweeping U.S. fiscal overhaul since 1986. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law by President Trump last Friday, December 22, meeting his pledge to deliver tax reform [...]
During this holiday season, avoid a credit card crunch and the dangerous pitfall of spending money earmarked for other goals, such as retirement. As the traditional giving season approaches, there is one important item to add to your to do list: Create a holiday budget. Before the gift shopping and wrapping begins, take [...]
Smart investors understand all types of risk -- and use that knowledge to their advantage. When it comes to investing, many people associate risk with losing money. But investing entails different types of risk. Understanding each type -- and the potential return associated with your retirement portfolio -- can help you determine whether your investments [...]
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. [...]
Travel Insurance is offered by many providers and readily available but do you need it? Whether you need travel insurance is likely to depend on your level of coverage from existing homeowner's, medical, automobile, and life insurance policies. In many instances, travel insurance may duplicate coverage that you already have. Travel insurance is likely to include [...]
When investing, don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Use diversification to manage risk and potentially enhance performance. In today's market environment, diversification is more important than ever.(1) But what is the thinking behind this big word? The process of diversifying -- or dividing your money among different types of investments -- is [...]
