A recent survey showed more than half of U.S. investors have provided or currently provide financial assistance, personal assistance or both to their adult children or extended family members — and that’s excluding tuition payments. So how does one save for retirement while helping out the family financially? The regional president of Wells Fargo Advisors’ Northern Region Mary Sumners […]
The Great Recession has officially been over for a decade, but for many Americans, there’s still little reason to celebrate. Many people’s finances haven’t recovered from the recession’s blows, according to a survey by personal finance website Bankrate.com. “There are still tens of millions who are struggling to even get back to where they were […]
You probably know that you should be saving for retirement. But when it’s so far away, and you have more immediate concerns to worry about, it’s hard to give up a sizable chunk of your earnings for a benefit you won’t realize for decades. After all, you’ll have plenty of time to save for retirement […]
Parents can be the most important influence on a teen considering college. But how they talk to their children about the all of their choices — Ivy League, state university, community college, trade school, coding boot camp or even no postsecondary education at all (gap year or straight to work) — can determine whether these […]
You might have heard that the age you begin taking Social Security matters. You can start as early as 62, but you must wait until your full retirement age (FRA) — which is 66 or 67 depending on your birth year — to get the full benefit you’re entitled to. Starting early will decrease your […]
It’s official: Your Social Security checks will get a modest increase next year. The Social Security Administration announced Thursday that the cost-of-living adjustment for 2020 will be 1.6%. That number is less than what retirees have received in recent years. In 2019, they got a 2.8% bump, while in 2018 the increase was 2%. Still, […]
We are all Steve Martin. “I love money. I love everything about it,” he once said. “I bought some pretty good stuff. Got me a $300 pair of socks. Got a fur sink. An electric dog polisher. A gas-powered turtleneck sweater. And, of course, I bought some dumb stuff, too.” Yes, like the iconic comedian, […]
We all want to max out our 401(k) contributions — and a select handful of taxpayers are doing just that. Some 4.67 million taxpayers managed to squirrel away the maximum $18,000 in employee contributions to their 401(k) in 2016, according to data from the IRS. Those who were age 50 and over were able to […]
TAX SEASON WILL BE HERE before you know it, and you may be wondering what could happen if you don’t file your 2019 returns by the April 15, 2020 deadline. For many people, filing taxes is a straightforward process. Perhaps, you have tax withheld from your paycheck and you file your taxes on your own. Or maybe you […]
The average worker is deeply behind on saving for retirement, which is more troubling than some people might think. If you’re nearing retirement age and have little to nothing saved, you’re going to be in for a rough retirement. Close to half (45%) of Americans don’t have a penny saved for retirement, according to a […]
An unexpected decline in mortgage interest rates had homeowners calling their lenders last week, looking to save money on their monthly payments. Refinance demand surged, pushing total mortgage application volume up 5.2% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Volume was 69% higher than the same […]
It’s easy to assume that financial choices boil down to one’s preferences. While personal preferences, goals and priorities should drive most financial decisions, they often can convert a good intention into a mistake. Conversely, those mistakes may lead you astray: Setting the wrong goals, adopting the wrong strategies, and utilizing the wrong tactics. When the […]
