There’s no universal numerical answer to the question, “How much does it cost to have a baby?” But it goes without saying that “a lot” covers the situation fairly well. Entirely ignoring the bills you’ll face related to giving birth, as The Motley Fool’s Christy Bieber noted in a recent article, “the U.S. Department of […]
Retirement has finally arrived. You’re ready to start drawing on your retirement income sources. Enjoy this new phase of your life. Unfortunately, you haven’t been able to retire from taxes – and your taxes will enter a new phase as well. You don’t have an employer to hold out taxes on your salary anymore. You’re […]
Millennials and Generation Xers will face major decisions in the coming decade on how to handle any inheritance from parents, grandparents and other relatives. An estimated $30 trillion in assets is expected to pass from baby Boomers in North America to their heirs over the next 30-40 years, according to a 2015 study by Accenture. […]
Retirement is not always permanent. Lack of enough money is one reason retirees go back to work. But other people struggle to find fulfillment in retirement and choose to take on a new job. More than half of retirees age 50 and older say they would return to the workforce for a compelling opportunity, according […]
If you want to cultivate healthy financial habits this year – and stash away some money for your emergency fund, your retirement, your kid’s college education and that elusive worldwide vacation – now is the time to develop smart saving practices. But if you’re going to become an extreme saver, you need to act fast […]
Most people think they’re above average in intelligence, relationship status and professional achievement. Social scientists call this “illusory superiority.” My business partner Scott Puritz, has found the one area where even above-average people, objectively smart, rich, successful professionals, seem to wave the white flag and admit to not understanding — money and investing. “One of […]
A robo advisor is a digital platform-based financial advisor who uses data algorithms to come up with an automated financial plan for investors with little or no human interaction. A robo advisor will provide a list of basic finance and investment questions, based on your age and current assets, accumulated debt, investment-risk tolerance and long-term […]
It can feel daunting to start from zero when you’re a newbie saver or investor. You have financial professionals advising you to put away 20 percent of your income and save double your salary by the time you’re 35, while you’re struggling to pay rent and make your student loan payments on time. Saving anything […]
For most families, a home mortgage represents both their largest single expenditure and their biggest monthly obligation. According to credit bureau Experian, the national average mortgage loan balance in 2017 was $201,000. Tennesseans carried an average of $150,000, while in Georgia the mean loan balance was $170,000. Obligations of this magnitude carried into retirement are […]
If you want a credit card that rewards travel and offers cash back at a good rate, we’ve got you covered. In a recent analysis of the best travel credit cards, CNBC Make It reviewed 35 of the most popular travel cards in the U.S. Using a sample budget based on data from the Bureau […]
Financial literacy is a skill that’s often honed and improved with time, not something that necessarily comes naturally to those just embarking on their careers. In fact, research from the National Endowment for Financial Education and George Washington University found that only 24% of 23 to 35-year-olds showed basic financial literacy and a mere 8% […]
Watch Out for Fees and Penalties This is a common enough personal finance question, Jack, and as with everything, it’s really dependent on your personal situation. As a rule, though, raiding your retirement accounts should be your absolute last resort. The key distinction that needs to be made regarding your question is whether you mean […]
