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How Much Should I Contribute to My 401(k)?
Tweet Share on Facebook February 28, 2013 CommentIn a recent Facebook thread among a group of fellow financial bloggers, one young lady recently asked, “What's a good starting percentage for my first 401(k)? Three percent? Five percent? More?” She is 22. Kudos to her for asking such a great question; this is not the thought process of all 22-year-olds, something I could relate to as the father of a financially savvy 24-year-old daughter who is more than two years out of college.
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Understanding Your Retirement Fees
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2013 CommentInvesting fees have been in the news during the past few years as various regulatory agencies update rules related to expenses and fee disclosure.
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Have to Admit It's Getting Better (Really!)
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2013 CommentThere’s a problem with good news: it tends to be boring. No wonder the evening news features images of houses burning down; watching houses being built is only slightly more exciting than watching grass grow. A major principle of behavioral finance reinforces that bias. According to “prospect theory,” and confirmed in numerous experiments and real-life investing mistakes, we feel the pain of loss more intently than we feel the pleasure of an equivalent gain.
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Muni Bonds: The Most Dangerous Bonds to Own
Tweet Share on Facebook February 22, 2013 CommentIf an investment product promised safety, potential appreciation, and tax-free income would you bite? Many high-income earners, affluent savers, and, to a lesser degree, mutual fund investors have taken the plunge and turned over almost $4 trillion to state and local municipalities that promise this utopic mix of protection, growth, and tax efficiency. With tax rates rising, who can blame them for buying municipal bonds? So, is this smart investing or is there a hidden danger?
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Stock Picking: 7 Things You Must Know About a Company
Tweet Share on Facebook February 22, 2013 CommentWhile I’m not a huge fan of stock picking, I have made a few rather modest investments in individual companies. It’s not something I do a lot of, but it is something I dabble in on occasion.
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Financial Services Ads: Look Beyond the Hype
Tweet Share on Facebook February 20, 2013 CommentLike many of you I love the E-Trade Baby portrayed in many of the firm’s television commercials. He cracks me up, though I must admit my wife only finds him mildly humorous. She claims that I am more into “guy humor.” Guilty as charged.
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Quality of Life Matters in Retirement Saving
Tweet Share on Facebook February 19, 2013 CommentIf you had $500,000, would you feel rich? What about $1 million? $3 million? $10 million? It turns out everyone has a different threshold for feeling wealthy, and wealth is far more complicated than your annual income or your current net worth. It’s less about the balance in your accounts and more about your ability to reach your goals.
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Your 401(k): Good or Lousy?
Tweet Share on Facebook February 14, 2013 CommentThough it gets a lot of bad press, the 401(k) plan can be an outstanding vehicle to accumulate a retirement nest egg. Studies have shown that the single biggest factor in retirement savings success is the amount of salary that savers defer. However it is also important that companies provide a good plan as a retirement accumulation vehicle for their employees. How can plan participants tell if their organization’s plan is a quality one? Here are some characteristics of both good and lousy plans.
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Are You Holding the Right Kind of Gold?
Tweet Share on Facebook February 14, 2013 CommentAfter reading my article title you may be thinking, “Here is another wealth adviser downplaying the long-term gold bull market.” Quite the contrary: For years I've been a big fan of having an allocation to gold and, to a lesser degree, silver, and it’s easy to conclude that the long-term trend in gold and silver is still intact. More importantly, I fully understand all the reasons why smart investors own gold, but what I've recently discovered is they may be holding the wrong kinds of gold.
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Understand Your Rollover Options
Tweet Share on Facebook February 12, 2013 CommentHave you heard someone talk about “rolling your money” and wondered what the heck that means? This is a financial industry term, and you’re not crazy if you don’t know.
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Emerging Markets to Consider in 2013
The Philippines, China and other key emerging markets for this year.
Why Dow 14,000 Is a Tough Milestone
History shows this mark to be one of the most difficult for the market.
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