The 401(k) is the preferred financial vehicle for saving for retirement, and will likely be your largest asset when you do retire. If you're starting a new job, participating in your company's 401(k) plan not only allows you to capture tax advantages, but often includes an employer match of your contributions. As we discussed in #1 of this series, signing up is almost always a great idea. Recently, many companies have added a Roth option to their 401(k) [...]

COSTS MATTER. Whether you’re buying a car or selecting an investment strategy, the costs you expect to pay are likely to be an important factor in making any major financial decision. People rely on a lot of different information about costs to help inform these decisions. When you buy a car, for example, the sticker price tells you approximately how much you can expect to pay for the car itself. But the sticker price is [...]

Funding your future can be extremely daunting and confusing. One of the hardest expenses to plan for in retirement, could also be the largest one. Young or old, it’s crucial to plan for steep medical expenses and avoid the health care sticker shock that awaits. Medication costs continue to rise, and the out-of-pocket costs for other preventative services are astronomical. Over time, health care costs could exceed Social Security payments. And when we really break [...]

This report features world capital market performance and a timeline of events for the past quarter and the past year. It begins with a global overview, then features the returns of stock and bond asset classes in the US and international markets. The report also illustrates the impact of globally diversified portfolios and features a quarterly topic. CLICK BELOW! QUARTERLY MARKET REVIEW

It’s a money question that has no definitive answer: “How much should I save for retirement?” An exact figure is so elusive because everybody’s financial situation is different. In the past, most investors blindly considered 1 million dollars to be the number to target. Unfortunately, $1,000,000 could be considered a starting point for some. It’s not a universal number. But a basic target can be calculated based upon your individual needs. Put more simply…multiply your [...]

Should stock investors worry about changes in interest rates? Research shows that, like stock prices, changes in interest rates and bond prices are largely unpredictable. It follows that an investment strategy based upon attempting to exploit these sorts of changes isn’t likely to be a fruitful endeavor. Despite the unpredictable nature of interest rate changes, investors may still be curious about what might happen to stocks if interest rates go up. Unlike bond prices, which [...]