The uncertainty inherent in retirement planning is understandably worrisome for a lot of people. There are so many ways it could all go wrong — you might live longer than you anticipated, you could develop serious health problems, or your savings might not grow as quickly as you’d thought if the markets take a turn […]
A personal-finance trend called F.I.R.E. is gaining ground amongst millennials. F.I.R.E. stands for “Financial Independence Retire Early.” Some millennials reportedly use it as a tool to help them retire as early as 30. F.I.R.E. followers try to invest as much as 75 percent of their annual income while cutting down on day-to-day expenses. But is […]
Financial advisers have long recommended that people keep up to six months’ worth of emergency savings in case of an unexpected medical bill or job loss. They crunched the numbers on more than 70,000 lower-income households, and they’ve come up with what may be the magic number for emergency savings accounts: $2,467. New research by […]
Perhaps one of the more unexpected trends of late is the move to retire on a cruise ship. One woman came forth about turning her love for cruises into a lifestyle after her kids moved out and her husband died, and suddenly cruise ship retirement became a contender for retiring folks everywhere. The motivating factors […]
In case you didn’t see the news, those on Social Security won’t be getting a very generous raise this coming year. The annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2020 is a mere 1.6%, which is only slightly more than half of the 2.8% COLA seniors saw going into 2019. For the average beneficiary, that translates […]
As you near retirement, you might look back and think that saving for this next stage of life was the easy part. During your working years, the big decisions were how much to save and where to invest. But now it’s time to switch gears. Instead of accumulating assets, you must figure out how to […]
It’s a common misconception that you need to have a lot of money to start saving for retirement. In fact, among workers who have no retirement savings, the primary reason they aren’t saving is they don’t think they’re earning enough money to do so, a survey from GOBankingRates found. That’s an understandable sentiment, considering retirement […]
An estimated 44.5 million retired workers receive monthly income in the form of Social Security benefits. If you work and pay Social Security taxes, then chances are, those benefits will be an important source of income for you once your career comes to an end. But if you rely on those benefits too heavily and […]
These days, a growing number of Americans are extending their careers and retiring during their 70s, or even beyond. And there are plenty of good reasons to work longer, like boosting your savings, maintaining a social life, and, in some cases, staying in better physical shape. Of course, many people don’t want to wait that […]
“What goes up must come down” isn’t just how gravity works—unfortunately, it also applies to the United States economy. It can’t be bull markets and rainbows all the time, sadly. If you’re someone who got excited about high yield savings account interest rates that were inching above the 2% mark until just a few months […]
Social Security is funded by payroll taxes, and all workers are subject to them up to a certain limit. That limit can change from year to year to reflect overall wage growth, and in 2020, higher earners can expect to have more Social Security taxes taken from their paychecks. How Social Security taxes work The […]
The financially organized person has many hallmarks, including holding little to no debt (or at least a sound strategy to pay down any debt), having a monthly budget, and working actively toward clear financial goals. One of the signs of the truly elite financial managers among us is consistently maxing out one’s retirement accounts every […]
