It’s been said that the only constant in life is change. Some changes are fixed, like the change of seasons, while other changes are evolutionary and progressive, tossing new circumstances our way as time goes on. It was ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus observed that the natural world was in a constant state of movement. People age, develop habits and move environments. 

Folks, one of the most common excuses I hear younger people make to justify not saving for retirement is that they are still young. Anyone who is nearing retirement will tell you that the years suddenly go by and building a retirement nest egg is much harder the longer you delay saving.

The federal funds rate has a number of possible implications on the markets, and how or if they will affect you personally will depend on your unique financial circumstances. And if you’re like many retirees, there could be both positive and negative effects on your finances. 

Unlike a traditional IRA or regular 401(k) plan, you pay the taxes up front when you put money in a Roth account. If you follow the rules of the plan, all the interest you subsequently earn on the investment is tax-free in retirement. By design, the Roth works best for those who contribute early and withdraw late.

For many folks saving for retirement these days, they have a dizzying array of choices to fund their plan. Heck, just Google “retirement planning” and you’ll get over 4 million hits alone on the subject. You can choose from investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, bank CDs and money market funds, insurance products, and the list goes on. You also need to consider the account type that will house your investments, from a tax perspective. For example, funds can be invested in a taxable account – think of a brokerage account or other account in which you pay taxes on your gains each year.

Ah, graduation season is upon us! College grads from all over the country are seeing their hard work rewarded with the coveted degree. Whether is an associate, bachelor’s or an advanced degree, all signal a significant accomplishment. But as soon as the celebration wears off, and perhaps they’ve taken some time off to decompress over the summer, these graduates will be getting their first taste of the professional job market. For most, they will be faced with a new level of financial independence and responsibility to adjust to.

The survey also found that 65% of respondents said that high prices have made their financial situations worse, while just 34% said their family’s monthly income has risen in the past year. Rental costs in particular are proving to be particularly challenging for households, with almost one in five saying that they fell behind on rent at some point in 2023 – up from 17% the previous year.

So, just when will this period of high inflation end, we all want to know? Well, this week let’s dig into what’s going on with inflation and when we might expect some relief.

Planning for retirement is often considered a marathon, not a sprint. It starts when we’re young and get our first “real” job and we’re encouraged to start contributing to the company’s 401k plan. Over the years, we may seek retirement planning advice from friends or family, but we still have years before we retire so we don’t usually have a real plan at this point. We have a smattering of various financial products that were purchased for specific, isolated needs.

But as we approach our 40’s and 50’s, we start to realize that it’s time to get serious about it.

Saving for retirement in your 20’s, or even your 30’s can be relatively painless as opposed to starting in your 40’s or later. While retirement may seem a long way off, putting a plan in place now is a smart move.

While it may not seem like an important task to do now, I told her that saving for retirement is probably the biggest financial goal of her life and starting earlier gives her a number of significant advantages. 

The decision to continue working in retirement is both personal and multifaceted. Various studies highlight the range of reasons behind such choices. Get this, a 2023 survey from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies₁ found that 55% of people said they plan to continue working after retiring, citing both financial reasons and a desire for healthy aging, including staying active.

With major economic indicators such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite indices jumping all over the place in recent years, many investors are still on edge and anxiously hoping that a recession is not lurking just around the corner. I am regularly asked if I believe we are in for a recession in 2024, so I want to take our time this week to look at some of the factors that often predate a recession and what tomorrow may hold for the markets.

If you’re like most retirement savers, you regularly hear a lot of industry acronyms and jargon thrown around by the media, by friends and family, by your employer, and perhaps your financial professional too. Things like the 401k, the 403b, the IRA, The SEP-IRA, the Roth IRA, the Roth 401k . . . I know it’s a lot.

Have you ever wish you could go back in time for do-over? If you were suddenly twenty or thirty years younger, what would you do? What would you change?

Are you one of those folks who always works hard and saves regularly, yet still feel like you can’t get ahead? Maybe you have a decent salary and good benefits, and you try and stick to your budget as much as you can - but you feel like the prospect of retirement is worlds away?

This week, I’d like to offer four strategies that can help you limit your RMDs if you find you don’t need - or want – the additional income. One straightforward answer is to simply keep working.

ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance and refers to the three key factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a business or company.

A growing number of individual investors are also starting to evaluate companies using ESG criteria to screen their own investments as a way to support their personal social agenda.

It’s 2024 – yes, already – which means it’s “that” time of year again. And by “that”, I mean the time when millions of Americans perform the sometimes anticipated, sometimes dreaded task of setting New Year’s resolutions in an effort to better ourselves in the coming year.

For a variety of reasons, many women already feel they are behind when it comes to being financially prepared for retirement. There are many ways their financial lives can be thrown off-track during their working years that can affect their retirement security.

Given the significant wealth transfer expected to pass between generations in the coming decade, (Boomers are estimated to have a whopping $30 trillion in wealth coming to their loved ones!), these conversations are coming at a crucial time.