If you want to manage your financial accounts without a full-featured and expensive program like Quicken, Microsoft has a solution called Money in Excel. This new option helps you integrate your bank accounts and other financial data so you can track your expenses, spending habits, investments, and more. Access to your financial accounts is performed […]
Banking on Social Security to keep you afloat in retirement? You’ll have to rethink that plan. While Social Security normally replaces about 40% of your working income — which often isn’t enough for many to survive comfortably — there’s a good chance you’ll get even less. Here are three factors that could degrade your Social […]
How much do you need to retire? And, equally important, how do you reach that goal? These questions baffle many American savers, and it’s no wonder. Financial experts throw out retirement savings numbers ranging from $1 million to $5 million, along with confusing rules about how much you should save, what your retirement living expenses […]
Early-retirement packages will be all the rage in the coming months, and each one has the ability to convince a person, otherwise unprepared for retirement, that they should retire. Fortunately, Elizabeth, this is not the case with you. Between your husband’s income, Social Security, and the income you can safely and repeatedly generate from your […]
Resist the urge to shove your completed 2019 tax return into a drawer. It could help you save money next spring. Taxpayers and tax professionals were focused on the sprint to July 15 – the new deadline for 2019 federal income tax returns and payments. Indeed, the IRS received 147.1 million individual income tax returns […]
We know that the Senate will be “looking at another direct payment” when the new session starts on Monday, that much is clear. Among other things, the debate will center on how big a second stimulus check could be and who will (or won’t) qualify to get it. Even if you received the first stimulus […]
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s new plan to leverage a portion of its assets to invest in private equity and debt has its critics waving red flags. Reeling from the COVID-19-related economic slowdown, CalPERS needs to boost its slumping earnings. Its latest strategy, however, is so risky that some analysts hear echoes from the […]
If you have one available to you, your 401(k) can easily become the cornerstone of your retirement plan. People under 50 can generally contribute up to $19,500 per year to their plan, while those 50 or up can sock away as much as $26,000. When the maximum allowed employer contributions are included in the mix, […]
Social Security might feel like it’s beyond your control, but your decisions play a big role in how much you get from the program. The age you start benefits, in particular, has a significant effect on how much money you receive per month and over your lifetime. The chart below illustrates that effect by showing […]
Most entrepreneurs probably know a little something about money. But there’s a difference between managing business finances and managing personal finances. It’s a good idea to be well-versed in personal finance to ensure you can save for those vacations, big life milestones, and long-term goals. To get started, check out The Complete Personal Finance Master […]
Your credit card issuer can lower your credit limit at any time, regardless of how well you manage your account. Issuers might cut credit limits to minimize risk in an uncertain economy, as many cardholders have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Or they may do it when cardholders regularly use what the issuers see […]
The death of those extra $600 weekly unemployment payments now seems imminent. Republicans are intent on ending the enhancement to jobless benefits, created by the CARES Act in late March to prop up household income for the millions who’ve lost their jobs to the coronavirus pandemic. The subsidy, which comes on top of typical state […]
