It’s annual enrollment time! And here’s a modest proposal regarding the subject: It is fairly routine, when one spouse has no or poor healthcare coverage with their employer, or is not employed at all, for the other spouse to include her (or him) in his (or her) healthcare plan. Employers sometimes try to limit this […]
If you think having retirement savings equivalent to twice your salary by the time you’re 35 is a tough pill to swallow, be glad you don’t live in Hong Kong. Or Germany. Fidelity Investments — whose retirement benchmark advice for U.S. workers went viral earlier this year — has taken its act global. The brokerage […]
If there were a single savings target that guaranteed financial security later in life, socking away money for retirement would be much easier. Unfortunately, no such magic number exists. Instead, it’s on us as individuals to do our best to estimate our future expenses and save for them appropriately. That said, the average person will […]
Each stage of life comes with new responsibilities and excitement, and retirement is no different. Almost everyone has thought about what they look forward to most in retirement. For some, it is the ability to travel the world and start knocking off all those long-awaited bucket list items. For others, it’s just being able to […]
The particulars of the American Dream may have evolved a bit over time — fewer millennials are aiming to own the proverbial home with the white picket fence, for example — but in the broad strokes, it has been fairly consistent. It boils down to the opportunity to work hard, earn a respectable living, and […]
Divorce will change your life in profound ways. One of the possible changes that comes from a marriage ending: a reduction in retirement security. That’s right, ending your marriage could mean you have a harder time during your senior years. That’s according to the Center for Retirement Research, which conducted a comprehensive analysis of how […]
Many people strive to climb the ladder at their respective companies and eventually get promoted to management positions. But while you might think that’s what you want for your career, the reality is that you may be better off steering clear of a management role. Here are a few reasons why. 1. You don’t like […]
You may have heard it: YOLO. It’s an abbreviation used by the youth, code for “you only live once.” It makes you wonder if older Romans once rolled their eyes as the kids yelled, “Carpe diem!” Yet, in America, thanks to numerous advancements in medicine, public health and safety infrastructure, the cries of “life is […]
Retirement can mean uncertainty if you haven’t taken steps to plan for it appropriately. In a June 2018 Bankrate survey, 61% of Americans admitted that they still don’t know how much they’ll need to save to retire. Getting your target savings number right is an important part of the retirement planning process, but it’s just […]
You could save money by eating only cat food or performing your own dental surgery, but you probably should not try either of those. It’s also possible to save money by giving up things you love, and, generally, that’s not a best practice either. Instead, saving money involves making sensible cuts, understanding your spending, and […]
For better or worse, Social Security is a program that our nation’s senior citizens can’t live without. As of September, 43.4 million retired workers were receiving a monthly benefit and, according to data from the Social Security Administration (SSA), more than 3 out of 5 were leaning on this payout to account for at least […]
Running out of money in retirement is a major concern, so much so that 60% of older Americans are more worried about spending down their nest eggs than about actually dying. If you’re nervous about having enough money in retirement, rather than stress about it, take steps to increase your income while you still can. […]
