Reserves
What Happens to Your Pension If Your Former Employer Goes Under?
Pensions, along with Social Security, are the core of most people’s reliable income in retirement – they’re what many people plan to live off of. They’ve contributed to their pension fund for years, often decades, and they’ve built up a sizable chunk of change – with a little help from their employer – to draw…
Read MoreHow to Use Life Insurance
Life insurance can be confusing. Especially since so many people want it to be. But it doesn’t need to be. Life insurance is one of the simplest financial tools out there – as long as you use it correctly. There are two basic components to your wealth: Your Financial Capital – All the stuff you…
Read MoreA Simple Way To Keep Your Portfolio In Line
Investing isn’t simply picking the best funds or building your perfect portfolio. Keeping your portfolio in line over the long term is just as important (if not more so).
Read MoreAre Structured CDs Too Good To Be True?
Most people know what Certificates of Deposit (CDs) are. You buy one for a number of years, then at the end, the bank gives you your money back plus a little interest. They’re not huge moneymakers, but they’re about as reliable as can be, which makes them great tools for offsetting risk. Of course, Wall…
Read MoreCan You Rely On Dividends For Income?
There’s real value in knowing where your money will come from. Hence the appeal of income investing – building a portfolio focused on creating a long-term steady stream of income…But income investing presents a few problems.
Read MoreHow Long Can Retirees Expect To Live Once They Hit 65?
Life expectancy is tricky. Average life expectancy at birth is 71 years, but it’s constantly changing depending on your age and myriad other factors.
Read MoreBusiness Owners: Did You Know You Are a Fiduciary?
Employer-sponsored retirement plans — such as 401(k)s or 403(b)s — are one of the primary sources of retirement savings for Americans. If you are an employer who has set up such a plan, you might not be aware of the responsibilities that come with your role as a plan sponsor.
Read MoreUnderstanding How Financial Advisors Are Compensated
With the value provided by good financial decision making and the impediments people face to achieve good financial outcomes for themselves, it is worthwhile discussing more about the advisory profession and understanding how advisors are paid, if for no other reason than in the interest of increased transparency.
Read MoreDoes Your Retirement Plan Account For Your Own Cognitive Decline?
When it comes to financial planning, Vanguard’s “Alpha” and Morningstar’s “Gamma” are really just the tip of the iceberg.
Read MoreThe Value of Sound Financial Decisions: From Alpha to Gamma
David Blanchett and Paul Kaplan at Morningstar created a similar study about the value of good decision making. Their results and approach are different from those of Vanguard, but the goal is the same: to quantify the costs of poor and good decision making. Naturally, many assumptions must be made regarding good financial decisions and the impact of poor financial decisions.
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