From the monthly archives:

February 2010

Protecting Against Inflation: The Common TIPS Mistake

February 26, 2010

Treasury Inflation Protected Securities are not the same as an investment that protects you from rising interest rates. While it is easy to see how investors can be confused by this, it will be a very costly mistake if you made it. In a follow-up to our warning about the potential, even probable bubble in [...]

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Forever Young: Making Up for a Missed 401(K) Opportunity

February 23, 2010

Sara Teasdale once said: “When I can look life in the eyes, grown calm and very coldly wise, life will have given me the truth, and taken in exchange – my youth.” And the exchange can often be uneven and unwanted. If you have heard this one before: start putting money in your 401(k) plan [...]

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Rising Rates Make Bond Fund Managers Worry

February 21, 2010

Once again, the investor is at risk. Only now, the risk is coming from the very advice, whether implied or simply offered that conservative investments are the best way to prevent catastrophic losses in your retirement accounts. Its no secret that many folks, reeling from the recent dip in their 401(k) plan balances shifted any [...]

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Does Auto-Enrollment in 401(k) Plans Work?

February 19, 2010

Auto-enrollment in 401(k) retirement plans was mandated in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The PPA saw the idea as a way to help ensure that employees at least had a jump start at retirement. By enrolling new employees automatically, the theory of getting more workers involved in the plan sooner would them an opportunity [...]

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Mutual Funds on MomsMakingaMillion

February 18, 2010

This is a transcript of the conversation I had on MomsMakingaMillion radio.  Each week we discuss a topic about investing.  This time we turn our attention to the mainstay of our retirement plans, the mutual fund and what few of us consider: taxes. Kat: We have been talking about 401(k)s for a couple of months [...]

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Taxes: Which Fund is Tax Friendly?

February 17, 2010

I just recently finished my portion of the household tax return for 2009. I was not that unpleasant a task as I broke even for the year. Some stocks made money while others lost enough to offset those gains. In other words, the best possible tax scenario took place: no gains, no tax consequence. But [...]

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Can You Do Mutual Fund Math?

February 12, 2010

Can you do the mathematical calculations required to find out how much your mutual fund is going to cost you? Chances are you might say yes, if you consider yourself a very savvy investor, able to filter all of the costs in the prospectus into a final number, understand the tax implications known and as [...]

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Perhaps Something SIMPLE: Small Business Retirement Plans

February 11, 2010

This week on MomsMakingaMillion radio, we discuss more on retirement planning for the small business owner. Perhaps Something SIMPLE Kat: Today we discuss the SIMPLE IRA for small business in the last of our three part series with Paul.  Tell us just what simple is. Paul: The SIMPLE IRA, named because those letter stand for [...]

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The 401(k) Match: Getting Optimistic

February 10, 2010

At this point in time, any news seems to be good news. And when it comes to the return of the matching contribution on the 401(k), the news is greeted with a kind of relief. Finally, we are getting back to business, some have suggested. CNN even went so far as to suggest that this [...]

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The Power of Sale

February 8, 2010

Last Friday, on MomsMakingaMillion radio with Gina and Kat, the topic of deficiency judgments was discussed in the MoneyTips section of the show.  I know something about foreclosures and wondered if what was being discussed could be prevented and how. In a previous article here, we looked at the possibility of walking away from your [...]

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