“There will never be a better time than now,” declares one tax attorney cited in today’s article in regards to converting your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. And many financial planners are expressing the same sentiment. Why? The GOP tax bill reduced most rates, and converting now allows individuals to pay taxes on retirement savings at a lower rate…
In today’s article the author reveals his best dividend stock picks for retirement income this year. The theme of this year’s picks is “Opposites Attract”, which he notes “implies that this collection of stocks might not have a lot in common with each other, but are in a good position to attract both growth and income for your retirement portfolio.”…
The importance of diversification in financial planning is constantly emphasized – and generally accepted. However, the author of today’s article notes that “when you look at those who achieve the greatest wealth or have the greatest impact, virtually none of them ever diversify…or at least, not throughout most of their years.” He proceeds to examine how different diversification strategies –…
Monthly dividend payers can be especially beneficial for retirees to help cover their monthly bills – and the author of today’s article notes two additional – and perhaps overlooked – benefits of these stocks: monthly dividends are a sign of dividend safety and they allow dividend cash to be put to work faster. He proceeds to highlight three top monthly…
The author of today’s article calls it “one of the more underutilized strategies for taxable investment accounts”. That strategy? Tax-loss harvesting, whereby poor performers are sold at a loss in order to offset that year’s capital gains – and lessen one’s tax burden. The author proceeds to identify areas that may offer the best opportunities to exploit the tax-loss harvesting…
A real estate investment trust that is required to pay out the bulk of its profits as dividends (and whose management anticipates 4% annual dividend growth over the next 3 years), a well-run Canadian pipeline giant that is likely to increase its payout significantly in the coming quarters, and a renewable energy focused yieldco whose management expects 12% to 15%…
How do you compare to the average American when it comes to your household income (and household debt), charitable giving, 401(k) balance, personal savings rate, and other key financial metrics? Today’s article outlines “10 Financial Statistics of the Average American” – including the aforementioned five – so that you can find out. To see where you are financially average, above…
When it comes to retirement planning for a single person (as opposed to retirement planning for a couple), the author of today’s article notes that, while the basic principles are the same for both situations, there are two critical differences when it comes to the implementation of those principles. What are these two critical differences – and what are their…
The accumulation stage of retirement planning (during one’s working years) can certainly be stressful enough in and of itself, but the decumulation stage (once in retirement) may be even more so. Get it wrong and you may run out of money before you run out of life (which happens to be a major fear of nearly two-thirds of Americans!). As…
Budgeting may be the cornerstone of financial success but two-thirds of Americans don’t have a budget (and the one-third that do undoubtedly don’t enjoy managing it). Given this, the author of today’s article outlines an alternative to monthly budget tracking: the First Step Cash Management System, “a cash flow system [that] almost runs itself.” For how this bucket-based system works,…