Blog

5 Tips for Reviewing an Early Retirement Offer: You've spent years planning and saving for your retirement. And then, out of the blue, your employer hands you an early retirement offer that could change everything. An early retirement, or involuntary severance offer is a financial incentive to resign that an employer may offer to senior employees when they need to reduce payroll costs. This voluntary package could be a boon, giving you the freedom to pursue other activities, or...

4 Risks That Can Impact Your Retirement: Even with careful planning and diligent saving, some parts of retirement planning are out of your control. Factors like longevity, rising medical costs and the ups and downs of the market can have an impact on your savings. But while you can't plan for the unexpected per se, there are ways you can manage these risks and protect your retirement income. Here's a look at four common retirement risks and how to address them.1. Longer life expectancy...

Automated Investing vs. Human Guidance: When you're looking for help managing your investment portfolio, you have a decision to make: Should you work with a financial advisor or a robo-advisor? A financial advisor is a professional specializing in financial planning, wealth management and other personal finance services. On the other hand, a robo-advisor is a digital platform that uses algorithms to invest with very little human supervision.Since the launch of the first robo-advisors during...

Breaking Down IRAs: Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are a type of tax-advantaged account that can help you boost your retirement savings. The most common IRAs you choose from are traditional and Roth IRAs. Both are designed for long-term growth, but there are some key differences, including how your contributions are taxed and when you can withdraw funds. Here is a breakdown of the two accounts and a look at how to choose the one that right for you.

Choosing the Right Life Insurance Policy How to compare plans based on your specific needs. The basic premise behind life insurance is simple: You pay premiums to an insurance company, which then pays your beneficiaries a certain amount after you die. But not all life insurance policies are alike. In fact, the right policy for one person may be precisely the wrong choice for someone else. Understanding the basics of life insurance and what to look for in a policy can help you find cover

Women and Wealth: Taking Charge of Your Finances. When it comes to financial planning, women are likely to face different challenges than men. For one, they earn less than men on average, and they’re more likely to work part-time jobs or take time away from their careers to raise children and care for family. Time off and lower lifetime income means women face unique financial planning challenges. Here’s a look at some common financial issues women face and strategies to address them.

How Does Dollar-Cost Averaging Work? When you are in a traffic jam on the highway, you may find yourself trying to merge into whichever lane is moving fastest at the moment, only to find yourself falling behind drivers that stayed in one lane the whole time. In the same way, you may feel the urge to time the stock market, attempting to put your money in and take it out at just the right moment; a behavior that can work against you. The market fluctuates, sometimes unpredictably, and

Preparing Teens for Financial Adulthood Learning how to properly manage money is a crucial life skill that can take years to develop. For teens who may be earning an income for the first time, there can be a steep learning curve when it comes to financial literacy, but laying the foundation for this education early can help establish healthy financial habits that carry into adulthood. You can guide your teen by teaching them the basics of money management at home to help them build a strong

Understanding Your Retirement Income Plan: When you retire, you get to bid farewell to the working world. That’s the good news. The bad news? You’ll no longer have a paycheck coming in from your employer. To address that, you’ll need to piece together a steady stream of income from different retirement sources, such as Social Security, retirement accounts, and annuities. Each of these sources of income has its own benefits and tax treatments. Here’s what you need to know about how they might...

6 Steps to Protecting Your Wealth During Divorce: A divorce is one of the most difficult transitions you can go through. When you add uncertainty about money, that transition can get even more stressful. Here are six steps to help keep your finances intact during and after a divorce:Step 1. Assess your finances and make a budget. As divorce proceedings get underway, take stock of your finances. Start by reviewing your income, retirement accounts, investment portfolio, and insurance...

How to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft: Online banking and electronic payment options offer consumers unprecedented access to their financial accounts. Yet, this convenience comes at a price - greater risk of identity theft. Identity thieves can use your personal information to open fraudulent accounts and steal your money through unauthorized purchases and withdrawals. Luckily there are steps you can take to protect against identity theft and reduce the damage when it happens.

Five Rules of Long-Term Investing: These best practices can help you stay invested during the market ups and down. The COVID-19 pandemic helped put an end to the longest bull market in history. The stock market plunged, and many investors were tempted to pull their money out of the market to avoid additional losses. But periods of uncertainty offer a good reminder to investors that investing is a long-term proposition. Your ability to stay calm and stick with your plan...

How to bring your portfolio back in line with your goals. Your investment portfolio is more than the sum of your account balances. It represents your pathway toward important financial goals, whether a comfortable retirement or a college education for your kids. But over time, the inevitable ups and downs of the financial markets can change the profile of your investment plan, leaving you with more risk than you'd like or less growth potential than you need. Fortunately, a...

A disaster plan can help your business survive a worst-case scenario.What would happen to your business after a fire, a massive data breach or the sudden loss of a key employee? Would it recover? How long would it take? If you've never really thought about the answers to these questions, it's time to make a disaster plan. Operating your business without a disaster plan is like driving without insurance: It leaves you vulnerable to forces outside of your control. Here are some steps...

Individual retirement accounts (IRA) are a cornerstone of many people retirement savings strategy, and for good reason: The ability to contribute pre-tax income and to defer taxes until you start making withdrawals means your savings can potentially grow more quickly than they could in a taxable account.But there's more to IRAs than tax advantages for retirement savings. In fact, IRAs can play a valuable role in estate planning, offering powerful tax benefits...

Are you a better-than-average driver? Chances are, you answered yes. That's because nearly three-quarters of people think they are better-than-average drivers.[1] Besides being mathematically impossible, this statistic is an example of overconfidence and is just one illustration of how certain biases can influence our thought patterns.These behavioral biases sometimes help us make smart decisions. But they also can cloud our judgment and lead us to make irrational decisions.