Without any outside help you may have a harder time reaching your personal financial goals. Financial advisers tend to get a bad rap, which might explain why 62% of adults don't use a professional for financial planning purposes. But without...
If you’re in your 20's, fresh out of school, and just starting your career, retirement is probably the furthest thing from your mind. That’s understandable. You have at least 40 years until you can actually retire, and that may change...
In his book Being Mortal, surgeon, writer and public health researcher Atul Gawande notes that few people have discussed their end-of-life wishes with family members or other caregivers. The reasons are many, but the consequences are the same: many people...
The nine-year stretch of rising stock prices won’t last forever. So now’s a good time for investors to bear-proof their 401(k)s before the next financial storm. Don't panic. Do this instead. After nine years of an explosive bull market run...
It's a much higher number than the amount of folks who will actually get audited. Filing taxes can be a complicated process, and if there's one way to take your associated stress to the next level, it's to fixate on...
About 80 percent of 401(k) plans offer target date funds. In all, assets in target date mutual funds approached $1.16 trillion as of the end of January. If volatility in your retirement plan investments is giving you motion sickness, then...
Are you taking all the tax breaks you’re entitled to? Experts say you might be able to reduce your tax bill by taking advantage of the many exemptions, deductions, and credits built into the tax code. Tax exemptions, deductions, and...
Record-low inventory is causing home prices to rise across the U.S., so higher salaries are now required to afford monthly housing payments, according to SmartAsset. The financial technology firm crunched the numbers using its mortgage calculator, discovering that the inhabitants...
How do you stack up against the wealthiest Americans? To be a 1 percenter, you need to have an adjusted gross income of at least $480,930, according to the latest data from the IRS, which looked at income statistics for...
Warren Buffett has a message for Main Street investors: Treating the stock market like a casino is a bad bet. The CEO and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway warns that wagering on stocks with borrowed money or loading up on exotic...
Are you dreaming of an early retirement? You're definitely not alone. Who wouldn't want an opportunity to enjoy that flexibility at the earliest possible age? Of course, when we think about early retirement, we tend to picture those folks who...
Yes, the IRS really, really loves you. If you earn $54,000 a year or less, or have disabilities or limited English language skills, you may be eligible for free in-person help to prepare your tax returns. You’re also eligible if...
Free life insurance at work is a sweet deal. The employer pays for the coverage, and all you have to do is sign up during open enrollment for employee benefits. But a pitfall awaits: While accepting the perk is a...
Everyone has their own definition of success, but there is one quantifiable measure that allows us to see how Americans define it: cold, hard cash. Visual Capitalist and Thermosoft analyzed data from 2,000 Americans in order to learn what "making...
The word “probate” may be unfamiliar to you, but it is a very important concept in estate planning. Because almost everyone leaves an estate of some sort when they die, you should understand what probate is and learn to avoid it. Jiyao Xu | Investopedia
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