About a third of Americans over 40 aren’t saving for retirement, and the vast majority — about 75 percent — aren’t saving as much as they should be. Social security alone will frequently be insufficient to keep up with rapidly increasing costs of living. You need to know and focus on your “retirement number,” which is … [Read more...]

Boomerang kids — adult children who move back home due to financial or career delays or setbacks — can inflict significant damage on your finances, and especially your retirement savings. About half of American adults have sacrificed some of their retirement savings to help their grown children. You should make sure … [Read more...]

Health Savings Accounts (HSA) are frequently misunderstood by both financial advisors and the general public, which results in people using their HSAs as just simple short term cash accounts. While it’s true that even this way of using HSAs can provide a substantial tax deduction, there are additional benefits to … [Read more...]

Saving for the future is a worry that plagues most working individuals, but there may be some less traditional and more secretive options available to those who know how to research. In hew new blog post, Mary Kane explains what a health savings account is, how tax factors into the account, and what type of … [Read more...]

For Americans who still have a good 30 years left in the workforce, the anxiety surrounding the collapse of the social security fund is far too real. In her new blog post, Lorie Konish outlines the current statistics on the reserve funds, theorizes on the future of the program, summarizes the benefits you are currently … [Read more...]

How well your retirement life goes might is heavily affected by your 401k plan. The obvious decision to extract as much money from your pay check into your 401k is also the most effective way. How you choose to invest money is also an important step to consider. Increase your returns by creating a portfolio. Consider … [Read more...]

One of the most important decisions you will make in your entire life is when to claim social security benefits. Claiming them before your full retirement age — 66 years and 6 months for most older Boomers — can mean giving up a lot of money. Currently, seniors are leaving a lot of money o. The table by claiming their … [Read more...]

When financial planner Erin Wood first meets a new client, she lays out a set of postcards with various images on them, and tells the client to pick five that represent what they want out of their lives. Common goals include paying for a younger relative’s education, traveling the world, and giving to charity. These … [Read more...]

The big advantage of contributing to a Roth IRA is that the earnings are tax free. There are a few requirements, but when money is withdrawn from a Roth account, no taxes need to be paid (taxes were paid on the income before it was invested in the Roth, however). This benefits older workers, who can essentially … [Read more...]

A 2017 study of almost 300 retirement strategies by the Stanford Center on Longevity determines that the optimal strategy for most people is called the “Spend Safely in Retirement Strategy” (SSiRS). SSiRS revolves around guaranteeing yourself a paycheck after you retire while collecting social security later. SSiRS is … [Read more...]