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If you have a few 401(k)s from old jobs lying around, should you be consolidating them into your current 401(k) plan? There are definitely advantages to combining these accounts, but you’ll want to make sure you’re merging into a good plan by avoiding excessive fees and limited investment options.Read more...

A pandemic without a vaccine, a prolonged economic slump and now a large number of mail-in ballots threaten to turn election day into election month. What is an individual investor to do with their portfolio amongst all this chaos: adjust their US stock allocation or stay the course?Read more...

The purpose of an investment policy statement is to turn your investing strategy into a measurable plan. It may protect you from emotional decisions sparked by fear and anxiety, and can serve as your roadmap for future choices for what to do with your money, regardless of what’s happening in the stock market. Here’s…Read more...

As the fall approaches, it’s time to start thinking about Medicare open enrollment, which is officially six weeks away. Seniors have the opportunity to pick a new Medicare and Part D prescription plan from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. You may also switch from a Medicare plan (Part A and Part B) to a private plan with Medicare…Read more...

Caregiving is a burden under normal circumstances—and for many families, the pandemic has only made things more difficult. A recent AARP study found that almost one in five Americans provide unpaid care for another adult. The same percentage reported high levels of financial strain from caregiving, and it’s easy to…Read more...

There isn’t much to like about high-deductible health insurance plans. If you have one, you may already be spending thousands of dollars out-of-pocket on healthcare each year. Before meeting the deductible, it can be tough to afford the basics. Unfortunately, these plans have become the go-to choice for many larger…Read more...

While downturns in the stock market often get the most attention from those worried about their retirement funds, something else may also be doing damage to your savings: 401(k) fees. Although retirement plans must be transparent about the fees they charge by law, most who contribute to them through their employers…Read more...

Changing jobs often involves a list of steps to ease the transition. One step, which often gets overlooked, is moving the money from your old company’s 401(k). As you prepare for your new gig, you may push the task to the back burner—and forget about it until years later. Or worse, you may choose to cash out your…Read more...

If you have a health insurance plan that comes with a health savings account (HSA) or if you’re planning to sign up for a HSA plan during the next round of Open Enrollment, here’s some good news: The IRS just announced it will increase the amount of money that you can contribute to your HSA in 2021.Read more...

Let’s say you’ve started your first job. Or, maybe, you’ve simply started to think about saving for retirement. Your employer offers a 401(k), but you don’t know where to get started (or even what that is).Read more...

When you first start saving for retirement, you might think you’ll never get to the point where you can “max out” your annual contribution. But perhaps your income has leveled up significantly since then, or you’ve prioritized saving for retirement. You might see yourself approaching that annual $19,500 limit for your…Read more...

Here’s one more tricky topic to navigate with your family this holiday season: gold and silver retirement scams. An investigation by Quartz detailed these scams, which con seniors into moving their retirement funds to volatile precious metals investments. Gold and silver investment scams aren’t new, but they’ve been…Read more...

Do you remember that time Suze Orman said we should take all the money we’re “peeing down the drain” on coffee and invest it instead? You could take the $100 a month you spend on coffee, she said (yelled? I think she yelled) and end up with a million dollars for your retirement. Read more...

When you opened up your 401(k), you were probably presented with a few default options. Maybe your workplace automatically put 3% of your paycheck towards 401(k) contributions, for example. Maybe you were told that the company would match your contributions up to 5%, so you elected to contribute 5% to get that company…Read more...

Your career is probably going to peak 10-20 years before you retire. After that, you’re likely to reach the unhappiest point in your adult life. If you’re not ready for it, the late-career decline can unsettle you and make it much harder to transition into retirement, or even retire at the age you planned to. To deal…Read more...