July, 2010
Keeping Your Credit Score Healthy
It doesn’t take much these days to damage a credit score. Before the recession, late payments and blasting through credit limits would take its toll. But in the past year, Fair Isaac, the company that developed the algorithm that is the leading determinant of our scores, made an important change in its formula.
July, 2010
A Midyear Financial Checkup Can Make For a Smarter Second Half
This is not the time of year when everyone wants to stay indoors with their finances. But a midyear review of your tax situation, retirement and spending issues can be far more valuable than the rushed attempt most people make at the end of the year -- or when it’s too late at tax time.
July, 2010
Some Annuities Offer a Way to Pay for Long-Term Care
Current estimates from AARP put the annual cost of a private nursing home room at a national average of $78,000. As older Americans are still struggling to reassemble their retirement plans from the worst economic downturn in 70 years, relatively few are considering the potentially most devastating threat to their plans: the spiraling cost of long-term care.
July, 2010
The 4 Percent Rule—What is the Right Amount to Withdraw from Your Retirement fund each year?
With stagnant incomes and roller-coaster investment returns over the past decade, individuals on the brink of retirement might wonder what became of all those “rules of thumb” affecting how they handle their nest egg once they walk away from their jobs.
June, 2010
Planning for a Child’s Private School Education
Sending your child to private school is an expensive proposition. For most people, it’s made a little tougher by the fact that it’s necessary to save for a child’s college education at the same time. Some have the income that makes this easier, but for the rest, it’s necessary to create a pay-as-you-go system that will somehow make it all work.
June, 2010
How Personality Traits Affect Financial Planning
The ancient Greek expression “Know thyself” carries a lot of weight when it comes to investing. Indeed, an investor’s personality can speak volumes to their ability to spot opportunities and avoid risk. If more people truly “knew themselves” when it came to money over the last decade, it’s arguable we would not have seen many of the individual excesses and mistakes that marked the recent economic slowdown.
June, 2010
A Family Mission Statement Can Help Any Family Manage Assets, Philanthropy and Direction
A family doesn’t need a surname like Vanderbilt to benefit from a family mission statement. A mission statement is a collaborative document created by one or more generations of family so standards and goals can be set for the handling of all family assets, including businesses and philanthropy in particular.
June, 2010
Feel Like Un-Retiring? How to Prepare
Last October, the MetLife Mature Market Institute released a study that said the over-55 workforce will account for almost 93 percent of the net increase in the U.S. civilian labor force between 2006 and 2016. At the same time, MetLife reported that many American workers plan to stay on the job “at least” until age 69.
May, 2010
How Much Term Life Insurance Should You Buy?
You may have read that term life insurance rates are at historic lows and that now is the time to buy. It’s worth a quick primer on why life insurance is necessary and who should buy it before getting to specific amounts that individuals should own.
May, 2010
Ways to Analyze Charities and Give Smarter
Despite the recession, Americans haven’t shut down much of their charitable giving. According to the Giving USA Foundation, U.S. charitable giving stood at $307.65 billion in 2008, down only 2 percent from the previous year.
May, 2010
Why 2010 is the Year You Should Pay Closer Attention to Your Estate Plan
Estate planning is an essential part of anyone’s personal finances -- no matter how wealthy you are. But even for those who have been diligent about planning for their spouses and heirs, this is a year when it may make particular sense to re-examine your strategy.
May, 2010
As Annuities Get Attention in Washington, It’s Worth Reviewing the Basics
Recent research from the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) shows that planners are embracing annuity products to help a more conservative generation of clients protect assets and reach their retirement goals. Apparently the White House is getting in on the annuity bandwagon as well.
April, 2010
Adult Children with Nest Eggs Can Create Private Low-Cost Reverse Mortgages for Their Parents
Parents typically don’t like to burden their kids with their financial problems. That hesitancy can sometimes lead seniors to choose financial solutions that charge high fees and often don’t deliver what they promise.
April, 2010
What to Know and Ask About Disability Insurance
The commercial featuring that loud, quacking duck has gone a long way to making people think about individual disability coverage as a way to keep bills paid if the family breadwinner gets sick or injured over an extended period of time.
April, 2010
Does It Make Sense to Get Into The Market for Troubled Homes?
In March, RealtyTrac, a leading online market for foreclosure properties, reported that February 2010 foreclosures were actually down 2 percent from the previous month.
April, 2010
Moving Toward a No-Debt Lifestyle: Steps to Consider
Any financial planning process begins with necessary changes in financial behavior. The degree of change varies based on financial priorities, but in the end, it’s about adopting good habits and abandoning bad ones.
March, 2010
When Doing Your Own Taxes Makes Sense…And When It Doesn’t
Tax deadline is April 15, so if you haven’t begun gathering your annual tax records it’s time to do so. Every year, however, people’s lives change – they buy and sell houses and move, they take new jobs, have kids, buy and sell stock. Those and dozens more reasons might give you cause to hire a tax preparer.
March, 2010
Stepping In Financially For An Older Relative at a Time of Need
No one wants to give up control of their lives. That’s true for someone who’s 20 or 80. But if you sense an older relative is slowing down, or if a serious illness is threatening the finances of any loved one, it’s time to fashion a battle plan.
March, 2010
Ways to Afford Your Retirement Account Catch-Up Contributions
Turning 50 might not be everyone’s idea of excitement, but when it comes to saving for retirement, 50 is when things start getting a lot more interesting.
March, 2010
New Careers After Age 50 – Where The Jobs Are, How to Spruce Up Your Skills and Ready Your Fin
During the recent recession, many have found themselves back in the job market after age 50 due to layoffs or changing demands at their employers. Yet as life expectancies lengthen, a late career change isn’t always a negative. It may be a welcome chance to renew, re-educate and restart a full life.
February, 2010
Helping Older Relatives Articulate Their Long-Term Care Wishes
In the best of all situations, helping an older relative or a parent plan for long-term care and other end-of-life issues happens when they’re healthy and various options can be considered with adequate time to do so. Unfortunately, events can sometimes intervene and make an elder’s need for assistance an emergency.
February, 2010
Downsizing Isn’t All About Stuff: It Can Be a Smart Financial Move, Too
As people move into their 50s and 60s, priorities change. The hours spent on home improvements and the sheer time necessary to maintain a full-sized home seem to be a little more of a burden. As kids move on, there’s all that unneeded space. Men and women tend to turn on the gas in the last 15-20 years of their working lives to make sure their retirement savings will be adequate to their needs. That’s why the idea of downsizing is a good one to start early. It’s also a good time for a financial check-up.
January, 2010
10 Ways to Help Your Kid Build a Lifetime Emergency Fund
One of the most effective financial tools you can give a child is an appreciation for an emergency fund and the advice on how to build it themselves. An emergency fund should contain 3-6 months worth of money to cover living expenses – its main focus should cover all loss of income, not just a car payment or a refrigerator repair. With parents losing jobs and college expenses continuing to grow, the younger you can get a person started, the better.
January, 2010
10 Money Steps to Take When a Family Member is Facing a Serious Health Crisis
A June 2009 article in the American Journal of Medicine reported that medical bills are behind more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, adding that more than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts.
January, 2010
How to Get 2010 Off to a Great Financial Start
Plenty of people make resolutions to lose weight, get a new job or make other things happen in their personal lives, but relatively few make solid resolutions about money. Make 2010 the year you’ll live a better life financially. Here are a few resolutions to think about:
