He became determined at an early age to achieve financial independence by age 37 – and now, at age 26 and with a net worth of approximately $150,000, he is on track to do just that. In today’s article, the so-called Money Wizard shares his savings strategy that he expects will result in $750,000 by the time he is 37,…
It’s a nice problem to have, but a problem nonetheless: What do you do with your windfall if you have received – or are expecting to receive – a large inheritance? Today’s article tackles the complexities of this issue, noting that “even if you have a lot of investing experience, there are plenty of tax and legal pitfalls that can…
As Republican lawmakers haggle over the details of their Obamacare replacement plan, one thing that is certain is that, whatever the final product ends up being, health savings accounts (HSAs) will be a major component. And with them offering a “tax trifecta” of pre-tax contributions, tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals (for qualified medical expenses), the use of HSAs has already…
Today’s article is all about emergency funds – including what the purposes of an emergency fund are (aside from the obvious), what does (and does not) constitute a good emergency fund, how to invest an emergency fund, whether a health savings account should be considered part of an emergency fund, the inherent problem with emergency funds – and whether emergency…
Your tax-advantaged retirement accounts are funds for retirement, so you should tap those funds once in retirement…right? The authors of today’s article argue that those accounts shouldn’t be relied on to fund the early part of retirement, but instead advocate a “two-phase retirement” where the first phase is funded by taxable funds and the second phase is funded by 401(k)/tax-advantaged…
“There is no arguing that sitting in cash is a lousy investment,” asserts the author of today’s article, noting that cash earns next to nothing in the average checking account and does not even keep pace with inflation. But research shows that there is an emotional upside to having more cash on hand than is generally recommended: it makes us…
The FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement is growing as more and more workers seek to save enough so that they can leave full-time work in their 30s, 40s or 50s – and those that have achieved early retirement have developed some tools to help those who aspire to do so. Are you on track to retire early based on…
One of the macro-level changes in the investment landscape has been the large-scale shift by investors into indexes and ETFs (and away from stocks and mutual funds) – a shift that the author of today’s article sees as being based on misplaced beliefs, and one that he warns will cost those investors – especially younger investors – in the long…
Of all the stocks currently listed on the U.S. market, is a simple basket of just five of them all that is needed for a lucrative retirement? Yes… or at least that is the case the author of today’s article makes. But doesn’t holding just five stocks mean that a portfolio would not be sufficiently diversified? To the contrary, the…
High fees are eroding Americans’ retirement savings to such an extent that one study found that, for some, the deleterious effects of fees actually outweigh the benefits of using a retirement account in the first place. And, to make matters worse, half of Americans don’t even know how much they are paying in fees! Today’s article depicts how even the…