Like most investors, you may be concerned about outliving your money.. To sustain your savings during retirement, consider strategies that may help address the following four money-diminishing factors: Longer life expectancies In May 2016, scientists attended a Harvard conference to discuss a groundbreaking new idea — fabricating a human genome from scratch. Using a gene-editing [...]
Eighteen years ago, the retirement industry rolled out automatic enrollment to help combat employee inertia, increase participation in workplace retirement plans, and foster higher savings rates. Still, a surprising number of plan sponsors don’t offer it. However, employees say they value defined contribution plans, and they desire automatic enrollment and escalation features. A recent survey [...]
If you’ve read any of the student-debt success stories circulated in the media lately, you might think the only way to pay down your debt is to give up coffee, your social life and your apartment. “It seems like borrowers are told that they have to live on beans in a shantytown and pay off [...]
When you own your own business, you are constantly juggling things, including both your personal and business bills. It can be stressful having to keep track of essentially two separate sets of finances for yourself and your business. Sometimes this juggling act leads to business debt. Other times you may be forced to take on [...]
For those fortunate few individuals whose personal wealth exceeds the current estate-tax exemption threshold -- $5.43 million for 2015 rising to $5.45 million for 2016 -- today's historically low interest rate environment offers potentially powerful wealth transfer opportunities. Recent low rates of interest have affected two important factors used to value wealth transfers involving trusts [...]
There may be a role in your portfolio for managers who use research, analysis and experience in making investment decisions. For many investors, the debate between actively managed mutual funds and passive, or index funds appears to be settled: index investing has largely won, thanks to their lower fees that allow indexers to beat their [...]
Do investors rely on emotion when investing? Many behavioral economists and psychologists believe they do. As much as we recognize the need to save, many small obstacles tend to get in the way. It turns out the decisions we make about financial matters are deeply rooted in emotion. For example, one often cited study shows [...]
What will work and life look like 30 years from now? Thirty years ago, the sci-fi comedy Back to the Future sent its hero, Marty McFly, back in time to 1955 to meet his parents. We won’t spoil the plot, but a good part of the movie’s adventures involve helping Marty and his eccentric friend [...]
Nearly half of Americans are in debt, according to a GOBankingRates.com survey. A separate study found that paying off debt is the biggest source of financial stress in the U.S. Sometimes debt can help you get ahead, such as when you take out a loan to pay for college or start a business. Other times, [...]
Whether you’re making seven figures or just starting out, one thing tends to be universal: how quickly your paycheck disappears. Here are some practical, doable and even fun ways to stretch your next paycheck further. 1. Break Out the Coupons Thanks to sites like Coupon Sherpa, Coupons.com and others, using coupons has never been easier. [...]
