Many American workers plan to rely on Social Security benefits as a steady source of income in retirement. Yet if you are not on top of things, you are at risk for not using the right claiming strategy. And if that happens, you could leave thousands of dollars on the table over your lifetime. If […]
IGNORANCE ISN’T BLISS when it comes to the U.S. tax code. Failing to fill out your tax return correctly, even if you make an honest mistake, isn’t going to earn you immediate forgiveness from the Internal Revenue Service. “When you sign your tax return, you’re signing it (to say) that everything is accurate and true,” […]
Gone are the days when employees could work for the same company for years on end and have a pension to look forward to in retirement. These days, most major companies don’t offer pensions (last year, only 16% of Fortune 500 companies did), leaving employees with no choice but to turn to other savings options, […]
Giving a gift card is often seen as a cop out — but maybe that’s because so many gift cards go to waste. Gift cards are the second most popular holiday gift, with around 56% of purchasing one this time of year, according to data from the National Retail Federation, a trade organization for retailers. […]
Businesses say risks to their bottom line from climate climate add up to tens of billions of dollars. That may seem like a lot, but their actual risks to business are at least 100 times higher, according to a study just published in Nature Climate Change. Trillions, instead of billions. The mismatch between those numbers […]
Just take the middle-aged couple facing a financial double-whammy, with few dollars saved to put their children through college and little if any money banked for retirement. For financial planners, it is an increasingly common scenario, with college maybe the only thing Americans do as bad a job of saving for as retirement. More than […]
Getting rich starts with paying yourself first, says self-made millionaire and wealth manager David Bach. In short, that means, “when you earn a dollar, the first person you pay is you,” he writes in his bestselling book “The Automatic Millionaire.” More specifically, if you want to retire rich, he says, “save 15 percent to 20 […]
With the end of the year fast approaching, now is a good time to review any last-minute financial planning to-dos. Here are six financial planning moves that, if appropriate for your circumstances, you will need to implement before year-end. 1. Charitable contributions There are many ways to give to charity, with cash being the least […]
Millennials have become the generation that older age groups mock. It’s a generation stereotyped as not being willing to work happy, happy to waste money on avocado toast, and used to getting at least a ribbon — if not a trophy — just for showing up. Those traits generally don’t make people think “fiscal responsibility”, […]
When the replica Howdy Doody puppet was sold each Christmas, the owner of the toy store I ran would always shoot me an “I told you so” look. After it got returned not long after Christmas, I would send the same look back his way. That same Howdy Doody puppet would be purchased each year […]
An estimated 21% of Americans have no retirement savings at all, according to a 2018 study by Northwestern Mutual. But while it’s one thing to be in your 20s, 30s, 40s, or even 50s without savings, it’s another thing to reach your 60s without so much as a dollar in your IRA or 401(k). If […]
Earlier this year, seniors got some good news on the Social Security front: Recipients will be getting a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2019, bringing the average monthly benefit up from $1,422 to $1,461. For anyone living on a fixed income, an additional $39 a month, or $468 a year, is certainly nothing to scoff […]
