Someone with a morbid sense of humor coined the phrase “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” While the adage may or may not be true in the literal sense — I have no experience in cat-skinning — the underlying message definitely applies to retirement savings. You may have heard 1,000 times that […]
Social Security does a good job of helping millions of seniors stay afloat financially. But let’s be clear: You can’t live on those benefits alone. These days, the typical senior on Social Security receives just over $18,000 in annual income. That may be enough to provide for a nice lifestyle when there’s other money on […]
The 2020 presidential campaign is now in full stride, as early primary and caucus results have already started to thin the field. Yet in many ways, former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg is just getting started with his campaign, having joined the race relatively late. For tens of millions of older Americans, no issue […]
If you’re like many Americans, you’re carrying a balance on your credit cards. And the candidate you choose in November for president could have an effect on how well you grapple with those debts. The latest numbers from the Federal Reserve show that credit card balances climbed to $930 billion in the fourth quarter of […]
Fair Isaac, FICO, +1.41% the giant credit score company, recently announced the biggest change since 2014 in how it determines its FICO credit scores. This new FICO 10 system — expected to go into effect by year’s end — could affect your retirement in big ways, possibly for the worse and possibly for the better. […]
U.S. household wealth compared with income is near a record high. Unemployment is near a record low. So why is the personal savings rate so high? In the fourth quarter, savings as a percent of disposable income was 7.7%, more or less the post-crisis average. That’s a puzzle that the Goldman Sachs economics team led […]
Overspending is a common problem for seniors. In fact, a recent study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that while average spending among single retired individuals was $5,000 below household income, median spending exceeded median income by $3,000. Unfortunately, seniors generally aren’t overspending on extravagant trips or spoiling grandkids. Instead, when they spend more than their […]
While most Americans have a credit score that is generally considered “good,” it may be helpful for those looking to raise their rating to know exactly which factors agencies use to calculate it. According to Experian, the average FICO score in the second quarter of 2019 was 703, though scores tended to vary by age. […]
Wall Street loves to overcomplicate the process of investing. Throw enough arcane financial terms at a soon-to-be-retiree, ask them to choose between “variable annuities” and “covered call options,” or artificially segment their investing strategies into growth, value, and income holdings and chances are you will confuse your client so thoroughly that they will happily hand […]
In today’s era of Venmo and Zelle, where you can transfer money to your friends with the press of a few buttons, personal checks can feel very antiquated. And they are! But some people, and companies, still require you to write them a check. Just the other day, we had to write a check to […]
Most of us would probably like to be saving more money, as most people have not saved very much for retirement. About half of people aged 35 to 44 have less than $25,000 saved for retirement, per the 2019 Retirement Confidence Survey — and 23% of those aged 55 and older have saved less than […]
The simplest of dance moves is the head nod — it’ll get you through any wedding without embarrassment. And the simplest of tax moves? Reviewing your W-4 annually to get through any tax year without penalties for underpayment. A 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office estimated that 30 million U.S. taxpayers would owe taxes […]
