The rapid increase of student loan debt has slowed over the past few years, but individual borrower balances aren’t going down mostly because hardly anybody is paying down their loans. Total indebtedness over the past year or so has stopped its meteoric rise, according to a study that Moody’s Investors Service released Thursday. Nevertheless, the […]
Social Security benefits are supposed to replace around 40% of the income you earned while you were working. This means they aren’t meant to be your sole source of support in retirement, with most financial experts recommending you’ll need to replace 70% to 80% of what you made while you worked. And many seniors end […]
When you consider the risks you face in retirement, most of them probably center around finances. Some people may be worried about not saving enough, while others are concerned about the rising costs of healthcare and long-term care. Others may worry that they’ll never be able to afford to retire. However, there’s one risk that […]
We all have financial regrets. Things we bought, bills we paid late, decisions we didn’t research. Turns out, according to personal finance site MagnifyMoney, investing brings a host of bad feelings. The top one is not investing at all, according to research conducted in September and December. MagnifyMoney surveyed 836 people with investment accounts and […]
Today’s workers have a challenging task ahead of them in saving for retirement. It’s a rare employer that still offers a pension, and Social Security benefits are only designed to replace around 40% of your pre-retirement income. That means the majority of your income in retirement will need to come from your savings. Retirement isn’t […]
Want to improve your investment results? The deadly sins below are not only among the most serious financial transgressions, but also they’re among the most common. I firmly believe that, if you eradicate these 12 sins from your financial life, you’ll have a better-performing portfolio. 1. Pride: Thinking you can beat the market by picking individual stocks, selecting […]
As banks make it more difficult for hackers to get into their systems, criminals are now trying to get into retirement accounts. There are a couple of reasons why hackers would target a 401(k) and other types of retirement accounts. First, there are usually significant amounts of money in these accounts. Second, there are usually […]
Congress has squashed a strategy that allows wealthy people to pass large retirement accounts to heirs. Accountants and lawyers are already coming up with workarounds. The Secure Act became law at the end of 2019, and took effect on Jan. 1, 2020, overhauling the way many people save for retirement. The new legislation contains a […]
In an ideal world, you wouldn’t be counting on Social Security for the bulk of your retirement income. Most seniors need 70% to 80% of their former paychecks to live comfortably once they stop working, and Social Security will replace about 40% of that sum among average wage earners. But still, that 40% is a […]
The 401(k) system has reached its limit. There has been significant progress. Automatic-enrollment programs, default investments, and auto-escalation features have improved the early versions of plans. The current arrangement succeeds at moving employees at midsize to large companies into acceptably funded retirement plans. However, small businesses often do not offer 401(k) plans, and companies of […]
Most people kick off the new year with a resolution to spend less and save more. Easier said than done. Despite steady income growth over the last decade, household spending has risen more, recent research shows. A CNBC survey found 21% of Americans say they’d increased their spending in the last year. The majority gave no reason […]
In Business Insider’s Real Retirement series, retirees share their best advice on retirement, what worked for them, and sometimes, what didn’t work for them. From keeping their portfolios invested too heavily in the stock market, to simply starting too late, these three retirees share the mistakes they’ve made and seen that could have affected their […]
