The recession has been brutal nationally, driving unemployment to highs not seen for years. It reached a peak of 9.8% of the workforce in November 2010, but has since settled to a still-worrying 9.1%.
That translates to about 13.9 million citizens who are are out of work. Of those, 6.2 million workers are considered long-term unemployed, having [...]
Taxes, fees, and taxes by any other name are on the increase in many states as the states fight their way out of the recession. As unemployment rolls have lengthened and funds from Washington have decreased, states have had little option but to cut services and/or increase taxes.
This article describes those states that impose the [...]
A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) says that financial literacy is the lowest among minorities, the young and women.
Hispanics and African Americans scored the lowest on financial aptitude tests conducted in National Survey of 1,488 American adults.
The survey showed that most Americans did not understand critical financial concepts such as [...]
The U.S economy and stock markets have been through recent challenges, robbing many future retirees of the nest eggs they need to retire comfortably.
As the stock market lost ground, so did the retirement portfolios of millions of workers. In addition, millions were laid off and many of their jobs will never return.
Many Latin American countries [...]
As the U.S. economy continues to fight its way out of the last recession, the total retirement assets held rose to $18.1 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2011.
This up 3% from the end of 2010, according to the Investment Company Institute.
The total is just under the all-time high reached at the [...]
Cashing in a 401K savings plan to pay credit card or other bills is frequently considered by individuals. In most situations, it is not a good idea.
You cannot solve a problem by wiping out your retirement funds to deal with the debt. Don’t do it.
An individual poses the question, “I have a credit card bill [...]
As the US population ages, many seniors are facing more uncertain times and the prospect of their savings running out before they die.
Enter the reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage is a loan offered by banks and mortgage firms exclusively to seniors 62 years old and up who own their own homes. The loan is against [...]
An Investment Retirement Account (IRA) is a major vehicle millions use to save for their retirement. An IRA may consist of a mix of stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Contributions to an IRA are tax-deductible, based on income.
There are 3 kinds of IRAs: Traditional, Roth or SIMPLE IRAs.
Eligibility for Traditional IRAs
There are two eligibility rules [...]
There are some general rules workers should be aware of when operating a 401K/403B plan.
1. Savings Plans have defined limits – this means you cannot save ALL your pay
2. Most plans allow a company match, where the company matches what the employee contributes, to a specific proportion. This can range from 10% to 800%, depending [...]
It is never too early to start saving for retirement. This is because you benefit from‘The Power of Compounding’. It means that a smaller effort to save earlier is more effective than a large effort much later.
For example, take a look at the table below. Given a 6%, tax-deferred savings account, a 25-year old who [...]
Important savings vehicles for retirement include:
• 401k Accounts— these are for individuals working in for-profit organizations.
• 403b Accounts— for workers in schools, universities and other non-profits.
• 457b Accounts— workers in tax-exempt organization, state or local government.
• SBO-401K — a tax-deferred, government-registered retirement savings account.
• Simple IRA — Investment Retirement Account (IRA) for small business employees.
• SEP IRA—IRA for the self-employed.
• Company Pensions—used [...]
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