Posts tagged as:

retirement accounts

Defining Emergency

May 18, 2010

A great many of us have difficulty defining what an emergency is. We have some grasp of what the situation is once we are in it, but when it comes to financial emergencies, every bump in the road can seem disastrous. Most emergencies happen rather quickly. The sudden loss of a job qualifies as just [...]

Read the full article →

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 [...]

Read the full article →

The Solo 401(k)

January 27, 2010

On Friday, I will be discussing the solo 401(k) with MomsMakingaMillion hosts Gina and Kat.  Gina has been curious about how someone who has not had access to a 401(k) at their place of employment can invest for retirement.  This is the first of a three part series on the topic. Kat: If the entrepreneurial [...]

Read the full article →

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 [...]

Read the full article →

Mutual Funds and Taxes

November 2, 2009

Most of us who write about retirement planning and investing all focus on getting in as soon as possible and staying invested as long as you can. I lean towards staying in equities as long as possible; while some advocate a gradual shift as you get older to a more conservative investment portfolio in an [...]

Read the full article →

The Retirement Landscape

October 22, 2009

Retirement planning has become a very much a trick or treat landscape to navigate. Numerous products will be found in your 401(k) plans in the near future that might not prove to be the best solution for the investment dilemma your retirement accounts are in. And with Halloween just around the corner, perhaps we should [...]

Read the full article →

Downside Investing

October 15, 2009

Most of us now realize that our mutual fund investments, particularly those in our retirement accounts, can go down, often dramatically. Until recently, we paid little attention to how bad a fund can perform, focusing instead on how well it can do. We make random estimates of how much money will be in the account [...]

Read the full article →

Risk: Investment Science

October 10, 2009

Last week, on the radio show I appear on as a regular guest, I suggested that instead of trying to determine what your risk tolerance was, you should instead think about what makes you anxious. This anxiety tolerance takes a more introspective view of who you are rather than what your investments might be doing. [...]

Read the full article →