In retirement, as in every other stage of life, high-income and low-income households tend to lead different existences. Yes, they all spend money on necessities like food, housing, and healthcare, but how much they spend and the proportion of their budgets that these necessities take up vary. This, in turn, affects the quality of one’s […]
Millennials may get flack for being hooked on their smartphones, but this generation may be on to something with respect to retirement planning. There’s a movement gaining momentum among the younger set called FIRE, or financial independence, retire early. FIRE involves saving high percentages of your income today to create a work-free tomorrow. Saving does […]
According to the Social Security Administration, more than three out of every five retired workers rely on their monthly payout to account for at least half of their income. That, arguably, makes deciding when to take benefits the most important decision that seniors will ever make. Unfortunately, deciding when to take your payout isn’t a […]
If you have a credit card from Chase or Citi, you may be able to borrow against the unused portion of your credit line in the form of a loan. Both issuers are touting the loans to select customers as a quick and easy way to get cash — say, for an unexpected expense or […]
It will be a long winter for millions of Americans who won’t be able to head to the ski slopes or sunnier climes for a vacation. Some 33 million Americans, many of them millennials, are financially tapped out and will stay home this winter, according to a new WalletHub survey. “It should be no surprise […]
When Ed Crowley was buying his Kentucky home in 2003, there were plenty of hard-copy documents he had to fill out during the process, culminating in a closing with piles of papers to sign. But when Crowley purchased a new house in 2016, he didn’t touch a single piece of paper until the closing. Until […]
Target-date funds (TDFs) can be fantastic retirement savings tools. Many are well-diversified, cost-effective, and automatically reduce risk for investors as they approach retirement. There’s a problem though. Most hold bonds in their early years when young investors are protected from portfolio balance declines by relatively large contributions to accounts with relatively small balances. They also […]
Over the past year, Apple has faced criticism over its apparent refusal to take a stand against the Bay Area’s crippling housing crisis. But all the while, the iPhone maker held a closely-guarded secret: Behind closed doors, Apple was, in fact, talking about housing — first internally and then with the governor’s office and local […]
It’s not just saving for retirement you need to worry about, but drawing down your money at the right time, too. The IRS requires savers to make withdrawals from their retirement accounts starting at age 70½. “They’ve allowed you to defer taxes, but they need to come collecting at some point,” said Arielle O’Shea, a […]
Get out your pencils and calculators: The IRS has released a breakdown of what’s ahead for the 2020 tax year. Taxpayers who’ve been paying close attention will notice that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act overhauled the tax code. Those sweeping changes include a higher standard deduction — it’s now $12,400 for singles and $24,800 […]
Reserved instances (RIs) have provided a mechanism for companies, which expect to use a certain level of AWS infrastructure resources, to get some cost certainty. But as AWS’ Jeff Barr points out, they are on the complex side. To fix that, the company announced a new method called Savings Plans. “Today we are launching Savings Plans, a […]
If you’ve recently come into some extra money, perhaps from a raise or bonus, you might wonder the best way to maximize your surplus funds. Saving is an obvious choice, especially for those who don’t have a few months’ worth of living expenses stashed away. But you might also consider tackling a big regular expense, […]
