06
2014To Convert or Not to Convert
Should you convert your Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA? Well, I don’t know; the answer will depend on what’s best for your unique situation. Let’s looks at how it works. If you have a Traditional IRA you are allowed to convert the account to a Roth IRA. There are no longer income caps to convert. The value of the account becomes taxable income in...
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24
2014
Start Now! – Financial Education
When it comes to teaching your children about money, the sooner you start the better. I have seen parents let their kids pick a stock or two (just for fun!) of companies that they are familiar with. The obvious ones being Disney or Mattel1. This is where learning about investing can be fun and educational! There are a variety of websites and organizations that are...
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09
2014Is A Plan In Your Future?
According to Allianz Life, at the end of 2013 only 16% of Americans were including Financial Planning in their 2014 New Years Resolutions. Believe it or not, that was less than half who included Financial Planning in their resolutions in 2009. Why? Why is setting up a Financial Plan so difficult or uninteresting to the majority of people? Here are some common answers: – 26%...
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03
2014
Golden Years Losing its Luster?
You and your spouse have weathered a lot; raising children, sickness & health issues, saving for retirement and caring for aging parents. Yet an unfortunate trend seems to be occurring. Fidelity Investments came out with a new study “2013 Couples Retirement Study”. The executive summary has some interesting statistics: – Less than one half (45%) or couples agree that day-to-day financial decisions are made jointly....
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25
2014
The High Cost of College
It’s hard to succeed in today’s world without an education; no one will argue that. However, the cost of college is ever increasing and unfortunately, more students are graduating with a tremendous amount of debt and the inability to pay it off. The statistics don’t lie: – According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in 2012, more than 30% of student loan borrowers...
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15
2014The Market Will Crash!
All right, now I have your attention. You probably assume I mean the stock market, right? Remember what they say about assuming. Well, I have no clue when or if the stock market will crash, but just for fun let’s take a look at some facts. The current Bull market is almost 5.5 years old (the average bull is 4.05 years) and the S&P 500...
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02
2014No Trust in Big Brother – A Lesson in Irony
As I listen to our younger generation, I often wonder how they will do in retirement. The statistics are not good. According to a recent column in the Sunday Review (4/12/12), only 43% of eligible workers under 25 and 62% between 25 and 34 participate in 401k plans. This is low compared to the 70% or more of those over 45. Additionally, those under 25...
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19
2014The Pension Dilemma
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than a third (31%) of employees were offered a traditional pension at work in 2010. Even though that is a very small number, it is very important that you know what you have and how it works. For those of you who have a traditional pension (defined benefit plan) it may be one of the biggest financial...
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25
2014Classic 401k Mistakes
With so many people invested in 401k’s and so many employers dropping their defined benefit plans (pensions) it is no wonder that we get so many 401k questions on our live call in radio show. With this in mind, it’s important that you don’t make any of these classic mistakes. Not contributing up to at least the match. If your pension plan has a match,...
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16
2014Be Careful of Best/Worst Lists
The Concept of Subjectivity Everyone has opinions, and some you like less than others. The reality is, as we go through life we form our own opinions and beliefs based on our own personal experiences, feelings and desires. This is called subjectivity. This is the opposite of objectivity which is a philosophical concept related to reality and truth. For example, I knew a person...
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