The “experts” make it sound so easy. Save X dollars every day starting now and you’ll be a millionaire by Y! You’ll need X times your income by the age of Y to be on track for a stress-free retirement. Follow these three simple steps and, voila, you can quit your job! You’ve read it. […]
As consumers, we’re often unaware of how much our spending decisions are influenced by cognitive bias, according to personal finance author Emily Guy Birken. “The first time we hear a price for something, that becomes our anchor point for what is an appropriate amount of money we spend on something,” Guy Birken tells NBC News […]
By the time you’re in your 40s, you’re entering your peak earning years and could be more than halfway to retirement. How prepared are Gen Xers for their golden years? CNBC Make It turned to Fidelity, the nation’s largest retirement-plan provider, for the numbers. As of the first quarter of 2019, Americans between 40 and […]
The Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday to keep interest rates steady came as a relief to many. And rightfully so. After raising the federal funds rate nine times in three years, with the last move coming in December as financial markets were melting down, concerns about a slowing economy and a looming U.S.-China trade war has […]
POLITICIANS AND advocates have been rallying to get the federal minimum wage – currently $7.25 an hour – raised, and for a good reason. Though the minimum wage is higher in some states and cities, if you’re making the lowest legal wage and you don’t have monetary support from parents, a spouse or a partner, affording […]
Discover DFS, +1.22% is eliminating fees for its deposit accounts — including checking, savings, money market or certificate of deposit accounts. But consumers looking to avoid fees should think twice before signing up, experts say. Consumers with a Discover Bank account will no longer be charged the myriad fees that can come with a bank account including […]
Remember the good old days, when workers retired with a gold watch and a pension? They’re long gone, of course. Only 15% of private sector workers now participate in a traditional defined-benefit pension plan (three out of every four government workers do), according to the Pension Rights Center. And yet nearly two out of every […]
Americans are having trouble saving for retirement and many may end up relying solely on Social Security benefits. Though it’s not ideal, on average, about half of Americans are on track to experience a potential shortfall covering essential expenses in retirement, according to Fidelity Investments. Meanwhile, the U.S. Government Accountability Office recently released a survey […]
High-quality stocks can help you maximize the value of your individual retirement account. That’s because strong, cash-producing businesses with solid growth prospects can help you build vast wealth by the time you retire. In this regard, one stock looks particularly compelling for IRA investors today. Read on to learn more about it. Disney (NYSE:DIS) has built an […]
What would you be willing to do if you never had to manage your personal finances again? A new survey from Merrill Edge posed that question to 1,000 investors with up to $250,000 in investible assets. And some of the answers are surprising. Topping that list was giving up all social media platforms for good, […]
Discover is doing away with fees of any kind on its checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts. The move would be a first for a large bank and comes as smaller online fintechs offer no-fee options and high-yield savings to woo younger and more price-conscious Americans. Going forward, Discover won’t charge fees […]
When it comes to saving for retirement, everyone’s situation is different. While one person may be able to survive on a couple of hundred thousand dollars over several decades, another person may need well over a million dollars just to make ends meet throughout retirement. For that reason, comparing your 401(k) balance to someone else’s […]
