Are 90% of articles written about retirement pessimistic? Sometimes it seems that way. Repeatedly, we are reminded that most baby boomers haven’t saved enough for the future. There’s no denying this, but the media is giving short shrift to other, more positive developments that may be...
A little inflation means a little adjustment. As the Consumer Price Index is up 1.7% over the last 12 months, the federal government is giving Social Security benefits a 1.7% boost for 2015 and lifting annual contribution limits on key pension plans as well.1 401(k), 403(b),...
Americans have a great deal of disposable income relative to many other nations, yet our free spending can take us further and further away from the potential for financial freedom. Some people fall into crippling spending habits and injure their finances as a consequence. Bad habit:...
Examining the potential differences between assumption & reality. Financially, how might retirement differ from your expectations? To some degree, it will. Just as few weather casters can accurately predict a month’s worth of temperatures and storms, few retirees find their financial futures playing out as precisely...
You may be tempted to do it – but do you really want to? While you might be able to borrow from a 401(k), that doesn’t mean you should. Yes, we are in a recession. Yes, times are tough. But borrowing from your 401(k) could prove...
Are they threatening the recovery? Or is their effect overstated? Between early May and mid-July, the average interest rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose about 1%. Rates on 30-year FRMs have basically held steady since hitting a peak of 4.51% in Freddie Mac’s July 11...
2013 isn’t far off, yet both sides of Congress could end up far apart. Recently, you may have heard about the “looming fiscal cliff”, the “coming fiscal cliff” and so forth. What exactly is it? Briefly stated, the “fiscal cliff” is a potential $7 trillion dilemma facing...