Find out what you need to know about 2021 income taxes, including information about the Child Tax Credit, allowable deduction amounts, how retirement plans may be affected by tax changes and more.
Despite its importance, financial literacy is not commonly taught as part of our national school curriculum.
Everyone needs to consider their retirement strategy. A great place to start is enrolling in your employer-sponsored retirement plan.
As America’s economy reopens, we’re seeing higher inflation rates, and this unwelcome surge should prompt retirees to consider the threat it could pose to their financial security.
It’s a given that Americans will spend outside of their typical budget during the holiday season.
You’ve probably heard of the terms “asset allocation” and “diversification.” They sound complicated, but really, the concepts are quite simple.
During an economic crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, many people had to put their retirement plans on hold, or even borrow from retirement accounts, in order to afford household bills.
One of the financial consequences of COVID-19 was that people’s retirement plans were interrupted in various ways.
More than one income stream can help safeguard your well-thought-out early retirement strategy.
Part three in our how-to-retire-early series will focus on additional retirement income strategies that can help you turbocharge your way to early retirement.
Whether your idea of golden years perfection is training for an Ironman, launching a business, watching a ball game in every U.S. state, or simply spending more time with family and friends, retirement offers a unique opportunity to replace the nine-to-five with something vivifying, meaningful, and new.
What’s the value of 1? If you guessed $1 million then it’s likely you’re in on a little-known secret that helps the most savvy of savers effectively prepare for their golden years.
When planning for your financial future, it's crucial to account for those little expenses that sometimes blindside you - like medical expenses or car repairs. Sometimes those little expenses turn into big expenses and you need a little more to cover the cost.
Managing your nest egg isn’t one distinctive event – it’s an ongoing process that needs to reflect life’s changes throughout retirement.
Multitasking is bad for productivity: If you’re in a meeting trying to send out emails while listening to the speaker, chances are one of those tasks is going to suffer. You need to give one task your full attention. But when it comes to your money, multitasking is a necessity.
Two questions I hear a lot from people who aren’t retired are: “When can I retire?” and “How much money do I need to retire?” They’re really variations of the same question. It’s the wrong question to ask, because most people approach the retirement-date question from the wrong direction.
If you’re a Gen Xer, you’ve likely been facing some major financial demands over the last few years: caring for children and aging parents, dealing with a recession that lasted through some of your highest-earning working years and managing major debt.
Historically markets rise, fall a bit, then rise again. That volatility may be difficult to stomach, particularly for the risk averse, but it’s also what creates buying and selling opportunities (another axiom: buy low, sell high!) for savvy portfolio managers.
When Americans think about growing older, many of them feel worried, according to AIG research. They worry about their health, being a burden to their families, and not having a purpose.
Regardless of your current income, your 20s and 30s is the best time to start building for your future. But investing for a retirement that's 40 years away - all while trying to pay down student debt, save for a home, pay for a wedding or meet other important expenses - can feel overwhelming.
Although it’s true there’s really no bad time to start investing, it can be tricky to figure out how to siphon off funds from other areas of your budget and redirect them to your future needs.
If you follow the news at all, you probably know that saving for retirement is something of a crisis for a significant portion of our country's population. So how much do you need to save?
Women are the lifestyle leaders inventing the future of retirement. For a variety of reasons, women are generally better at aging than men. They are more dynamic, take on more roles and duties, and are more clear-sighted in regard to the new frontier of longevity—and they also live longer.
Many Americans do not have an accurate understanding of their finances. For example, research from Mint shows that three out of five Americans didn’t know the amount of money they spent the previous month.
What goes up must also come down. That’s true of Newton’s apples, your favorite wooden roller coaster, and — inevitably — the stock market.
Of course, different investors handle market ups and downs differently. Some are up for riding the drops like a coaster aficionado while others cling to the handlebars, wishing for a smoother ride.
Your 40s may not seem like the time to buckle down and get serious about retirement. But if your savings are nonexistent, it means you have plenty of work to do.
You probably heard about Michael Rotondo, the 30-year-old New Yorker recently ordered by a judge to vacate his parents’ home. The story made national news — and for good reason. The notion of a young person “failing to launch” is every parent’s nightmare.
Besides the obvious benefits of being in a loving relationship, being part of a couple means you have double the power to accomplish those less-than-ideal tasks in life. Everything from doing chores to planning a social calendar can now become a team effort.
The decade before you retire is often crunch time for many would-be golden agers. It’s often a last- chance opportunity to fine-tune a plan that can set a successful retirement in motion.
The more you understand about money, the better equipped you are to prepare for retirement. That’s the conclusion from a number of studies that have been conducted to explore the link between financial literacy and retirement preparedness over the past decade, by academics and financial experts.
It’s never too soon to start saving for retirement but if you want to retire early, you’ll likely have to do some extra planning.
With today's economic uncertainty and market volatility, it's important to understand the emotions that drive your investing decisions. Whether it's greed, fear, optimism or something else, knowing what motivates you can help you avoid making mistakes.
Though many of us will face a significant unexpected expense at some point during our lives, more than half of Americans don’t have the cash or savings on hand* to cover a financial emergency requiring $1,000 or more to resolve.
For many of us, setting aside the recommended six months’ worth of expenses in an emergency savings account to protect ourselves and our loved ones can feel daunting.
The prospect of growing your family may fill your heart with butterflies, excitement, nervousness—or, most likely, all of the above.
When it comes to amazing credit card perks, many of us often feel as if we’re on the outside looking in — but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Have you ever wondered how, exactly, that forward-thinking friend manages to book free trips to exotic destinations using credit card rewards?
If you're like most Americans, taxes take a pretty big bite out of your take-home pay. And for many, the costs keep rising on multiple fronts:
Nobody likes paying taxes, and you should never pay any more in taxes than you truly owe. Yet millions of taxpayers routinely do things that lead to higher tax bills than are necessary. The sad thing is that many of these mistakes are completely avoidable with only a minimum of effort.
It's easy to look at a tax refund and see anything from a new smartphone to a big screen TV. But wait! Why not use that "extra money" that Uncle Sam has been saving for you to reduce next year's income taxes, or shrink your debt?
Many people are surprised to learn that they can end up having to pay federal income tax on their Social Security benefits. To add insult to injury, some states also require residents above a certain income threshold to pay state income tax on what they receive from Social Security.
A good vacation is about so much more than taking a break from work. Travel can help us learn about new cultures, see new things and broaden our horizons. People with wanderlust know that when the urge to travel hits, it can be hard to ignore.
If you’re one of the millions of hardworking employees at a nonprofit, religious group, school district, or governmental organization, the 403(b) is likely your primary retirement vehicle.
A large influx of funds—an annual bonus, inheritance or capital gains from a property sale—can move the early retirement savings needle, but it’s everyday savings habits that can have the biggest impact.
Those saving and planning for retirement face a lot of important questions. How much will it cost to live comfortably in retirement? How much money is needed in order to pursue travel and other hobbies we enjoy? Importantly, how much is healthcare in retirement?
Our interactive tools can assist you in your unique financial planning needs. Interactive calculators are made available as self-help tools for independent use and are not intended to provide investment or tax advice, either expressed or implied.
Our interactive tools can assist you in your unique financial planning needs. Interactive calculators are made available as self-help tools for independent use and are not intended to provide investment or tax advice, either expressed or implied.
Many experts believe that long-term investment success is more a function of how assets are allocated among asset classes rather than the individual securities in which they are invested.
Saving for your children's education requires a long-term plan. And, like saving for retirement, the earlier you start your plan the better. Use this calculator to help develop or fine-tune your education savings plan. Click the "View Report" button for a detailed look at the results.
What will it take to help reach your savings goals? This financial calculator helps you find out. Enter in your savings plan and view graphically your financial results. Click the report button to get more information about your plan, and what you can do to make sure that it is on track.
Consistent investments over a number of years can be an effective strategy to accumulate wealth. Even small additions to your savings add up over time. This calculator demonstrates how to put this savings strategy to work for you.
Your net worth is the value of all of your assets, minus the total of all of your liabilities. Put another way, it is what you own minus what you owe. If you owe more than you own, you have a negative net worth.