Inflation hit a 40-year high of 8.5% in March. Some people don’t factor in inflation when doing their retirement planning, but the significant spike in prices recently should be a trigger for all of us to look at inflation with more scrutiny. Because the cost of everything is going up, that may mean that you […]
Q. I’ve never invested on my own. As part of my divorce, I get half my husband’s 401(k). But how do I know what it should be invested in? This is my only retirement money and I don’t want to mess it up. — Newbie A. We’re glad you’re asking and taking this seriously. How […]
These will cover all your bases. Saving and investing for retirement doesn’t have to be complicated. With just a few index funds, investors can have a well-rounded, diversified portfolio poised to put them in a good position to be financially comfortable by retirement. Here are four exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that can carry you to retirement. […]
No one likes planning for the worst-case scenario. However, if you ever find yourself in a bad situation, having some money saved can do wonders for your financial situation. Not to mention help out your peace of mind, as well. One of those potential emergencies can be a financial downturn, which can hit particularly hard […]
Introduced in 1978 by the passage of the Revenue Act by Congress, the 401(k) is now more than 40 years old, and the first people who have saved via a 401(k) for their entire career are hitting retirement. This dynamic shines a light on a significant gap in the American retirement savings ecosystem, namely that […]
If you’ve recently job hopped and secured a higher salary — or you just haven’t updated your income information with your card issuer recently — there’s a very simple step you can take to help raise your credit card’s credit limit. By securing a higher credit limit, you’ll be giving yourself more spending power and […]
If you have a 401(k) account, you’re already taking a very important step when it comes to saving for retirement. This type of account is provided through your employer and uses pre-tax money to help you save up for those years when you won’t be working. Most employees are automatically enrolled in an account by their employer […]
On Wednesday, May 4, 2022, the Federal Reserve announced an interest rate increase of a half percentage point. This is the largest rate increase since 2000, and is the second increase since 2018 with the first occurring in mid-March of this year. This interest rate increase brings the federal funds rate to between 0.75% and 1.00%, up […]
When Lizzy and Paul Bernthal’s daughter Rodena was just two months old, the couple appeared in a Money Mail feature about saving for your children’s future. They told this newspaper they planned to squirrel away their child benefit payments into a pension for Rodena’s retirement. Two decades on, they are reaping the rewards as they […]
Need extra cash in retirement? Here are five surprising places you might just find it. Even when you retire from the workforce for good, those bills keep rolling in. Most people will receive a Social Security benefit, but for the average worker, Social Security checks will only replace about 40% of income. Yet the rule […]
Catch-up contributions for retirement savers could get more generous for certain savers, if legislation proposed in Congress becomes law. But the benefits of the increased limits will likely be concentrated among higher-income plan participants. Today, preretirees ages 50 and up can put away an extra $6,500 toward retirement through 401(k), 403(b) and similar plans. That’s […]
Four simple steps can make you a millionaire retiree. Becoming a millionaire may seem like a fantasy when you’re working hard to cover the bills. But the good news is you don’t need a huge paycheck or a winning lottery ticket to amass a seven-figure nest egg by the time you reach retirement age. In […]
