From the monthly archives:

November 2009

Peeking Inside Your 401k

November 23, 2009

A short while back, I wrote about a company that uses a series of benchmarks and mathematical equations to determine whether your 401(k) plan is doing what it should. Brightscope’s product was designed to help plan sponsors find the problems in their plans and make an effort to correct them. As noble as that effort [...]

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Vacations and Retirement Planning

November 18, 2009

We have found that 2009 was not so kind to those investing in their 401(k). Employers have reduced or eliminated their matching contribution and many recent surveys have suggested that this will be slow to return. What was once considered the competitive lure for many employees has no simply become a sidebar in the search [...]

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Dividends Can Make a Difference

November 16, 2009

This week on MomsMakingaMillion Talk Radio we are discussing the art of dividend investing. So what are dividends? When a company makes a profit there are basically three things that can be done. Some reinvest it, which is what newer companies or growth companies do. They take those profits and channel them back into the [...]

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When Your Employer Stops Matching 401ks

November 10, 2009

For many us, the employer match to our 401(k) plans has gone, or in some cases reduced to a mere shadow of its former generosity. They are expected to return but it will take years before they return to their former levels – if they ever do. This presents the person planning for retirement (perhaps [...]

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The Mean Reversion Problem for Investors

November 10, 2009

I’ll admit as should everyone who writes about investing, there is no silver bullet, no perfect scenario, no predictable table you can follow when it comes to investing. Some suggest that the only way to come close to a comfortable retirement is to invest in stocks. But they have a limited historic return, somewhere in [...]

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Roth Investing

November 8, 2009

Where to put your retirement money is always a problem. There is allocation, diversification and risk to consider. Expenses and fees, performance and tenure also come into play. If that is the case, is investing with a Roth IRA that much different than with a Traditional IRA? Yes and No. In a traditional IRA, the [...]

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Considering Your 401k

November 6, 2009

While the 401(k) plan you have access to at your place of employment is a a “better-than-nothing” retirement plan doesn’t mean that you should ignore the benefits of investing for your future. There are three basic problems with the retirement plan (and how you use it) known as the 401(k). First, for many of us, [...]

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Five 401k Questions

November 4, 2009

Five Questions for the Finance Guy As heard on MomsMakingaMillion radio with Gina Robison-Billups and Kathleen Bellucci “So you’re looking at your 401(k) and suppose its just average. Not too large and not too small. Can you pick too many funds?” Five would be about the optimum number to own. Because you have to begin [...]

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