College Funding Options You can plan to meet the costs through a variety of methods. How can you cover your child’s future college costs? Saving early (and often) may be the key for most families. Here are some college savings vehicles to consider. 529 plans. Offered by states and some educational institutions, these plans let you save up to $14,000 per year for your child’s college costs without having to file an IRS gift tax return. A married couple can [...]
Reducing the Risk of Outliving Your Money What steps might help you sustain and grow your retirement savings? “What is your greatest retirement fear?” If you ask retirees that question, “outliving my money” may likely be one of the top answers. Retirees and pre-retirees alike share this anxiety. In a 2014 Wells Fargo/Gallup survey of more than 1,000 investors, 46% of respondents cited that very fear; 42% of the respondents to that poll were making $90,000 a year or more.1 [...]
Dollar Cost Averaging in a Down Market This investment technique may help you take advantage of the downturn. Buying low and selling high is the oldest stock market adage. How does one put it into practice? Dollar cost averaging may give you a method to capture lower prices today and come out ahead tomorrow. How it works. Dollar cost averaging is a long-term investment strategy. It means investing in small increments. Through scheduled investments of as little as $50 or [...]
Making and Keeping Financial Resolutions What you might do (or do differently) in the months ahead? How will your money habits change in 2016? What decisions or behaviors might help your personal finances, your retirement prospects, or your net worth? Each year presents a “clean slate,” so as one year ebbs into another, it is natural to think about what you might do (or do differently) in the 12 months ahead. Financially speaking, what New Year’s resolutions might you want to [...]
National Save for Retirement Week Are you on target to reach your retirement goals? October 18-24 is National Save for Retirement Week – a reminder of the importance of saving and investing with the goal of a comfortable future. Are Americans saving enough for tomorrow? All kinds of articles will tell you that Americans are not. Those articles may not be telling the entire story, however. Undeniably, the average IRA balance in this country is smaller than it should be. [...]