When you are married you most likely talked about social security and death benefits. When you have a spouse pass away, you have the opportunity, depending on how long you have been married, to take their benefits until your retirement age. Let’s look at some points to consider before you make the decision to take […]
Short Term Investing
If you have read through my posts the last several months, you know I have been looking at the stock market recently. If you have missed those posts, check them out here and here. I have been thinking about how to invest short term rather than just for retirement. Here is what I have learned […]
Investing, Who Do You Hire?
After making a contribution to a self-directed IRA I considered opening an investment account for pre-retirement investing. Opening an account is the easy part. Who will be the person I hire to make the investing decisions? Will I hire myself in a self-directed account, or will hire a financial advisor to make the investing choices? […]
Should You Delay Retirement Until Forced?
Retirement is a subject not everyone likes to talk about. After all, who wants to admit they are getting older? Thinking about it can cause feelings of depression, fear, and anxiety. For instance, some people have concerns that they will be lonely or bored without having a job to go to every day. They may […]
3 Affordable Places to Retire Abroad
While some of us reading Your Personal Finance Pro may be years away from retirement, it’s never too early to begin planning for the future. Whether you continue working full time, part time, or not at all, have you thought about where you’ll be enjoying your retirement years? You may assume you’ll stay where you […]
Prioritizing Debt vs. Retirement
For those of us in our twenties and thirties, retirement seems fairly far off and remote. After all, when you’re planning school, buying your first home, or traveling the world, let’s face it: thinking about your “golden years” is pretty far down on your list. However, as the news media likes to remind us, all […]
Money Goals to Set for 2015
I’m big on setting goals that are achievable. I don’t try to tackle too much and sometimes it’s as simple as just doing 1 thing better over the next year. Today, PF Pro contributor, Kali Hawlk takes a look at some money goals that you can set for 2015. This is also Kali’s last post […]
Are You Saving Too Much for Retirement?
Over the weekend, I skimmed past a headline that read: You Might Be Saving Too Much for Retirement. Cue screeching tires coming to a halt. Scratching of abruptly stopped records. I did a digital double-take and quickly scrolled back up on the Twitter feed I was reading on my phone. What kind of nonsense is […]
Do You REALLY Know How Much You Need for Retirement?
Do you know how much you really need for retirement? Is it 8 times your ending salary? Is it 25 times your annual expenses at the age you’re leaving work for good? Or is it simply whatever saving 10% of your income for 40 years happens to be? Determining a specific number for retirement is tricky. […]
Diversify Everything
Whenever I hear someone get really excited about their latest investment, I tend to think the worst. It’s not that I don’t want that person to succeed but I usually worry they’re making a big mistake. Any time I see a friend buy a house, I wonder if they spent more than they can afford. […]
No 401(k) Available at Work. What To Do?
I received an interesting question the other day about a topic I hadn’t given much thought to before. A reader e-mailed me asking what they should do if their work didn’t offer a 401(k) plan. I talk a lot about asset allocation, investing strategies and making contributions to your retirement accounts but it’s a lot […]
Everyone’s a Great Investor During a Bull Market
We all know the market has been on a tear the past couple years. The S&P 500 is at an all-time high and I know my 401(k), along with others’, has performed tremendously well. But my awesome returns aren’t due to the fact that I’m an investing genius, all I’ve done is maintain my portfolio […]
3 Expenses That Will Go Up As You Get Older
This is a guest post by Chris at StumbleForward. Head over to his blog and check out his other articles after you’re done with this one! We all understand that the cost of living is going up on an annual basis. But as we get older, there are going to be some huge cost increases […]
How Much Should I Contribute to My 401(k)?
Four years ago, I knew very little about saving for retirement. But I didn’t need to know anything yet, since I had just graduated and I was more worried about getting a job than saving for retirement. Once I landed that great-paying job though and got my first paycheck, I had to decide how much […]
What Should I Do With My Bond Funds?
Bonds are an essential part of any diversified portfolio. Although we generally don’t expect the same high returns with bonds as we do with stocks, there is much less risk. Bond funds can be a great diversification tool since they have low correlation with stock funds. Essentially, that means that the health of the stock […]
An Argument for the Social Security Program to Continue
There are very few programs in the US which are understood less than the Social Security program. You’ll hear a lot of mis-information about Social Security. “You’ll never get what you put into it!” “I’ll be lucky to get anything.” So on and so forth. The mis-information you hear contributes to giving the Social Security […]
Reader Question on Investing for Beginners: Betterment.com Review
Today, we have a reader question about the site Betterment.com. If you have a question for me, feel free to send me an e-mail. Reader TA writes in: I’m wondering if you’ve heard anything about the Betterment.com site? I’m interested in learning/starting how to invest, and this site looks like a good place to start […]
My New HSA Strategy – Rollovers and Trustee Transfers
Since my company was acquired by an even larger one last year, 2013 will be our first full year under the new administration. That means a whole lot of changes to our benefits and one of those will be to our HSA provider. Although the HDHP insurance portion will still be served by Aetna, our […]
Be Wary of Frontloading Your 401(k) Contribution and Losing Company Match
January is a great time to re-assess your retirement accounts. It’s important to review your 401k contribution and at least consider re-balancing your accounts at the beginning of every year. You’ve probably made a couple New Year’s resolutions so why not add this one to your list? 2013 will be the first official year I’m able […]
Why The Average Investor Should Choose Index Funds Over Picking Individual Stocks
When it comes to picking stocks for a portfolio, the average investor is at a big disadvantage. Now I’m not talking about investing in mutual funds, which can have big ol’ expense ratios baked into them. I’m talking about good ‘old fashioned stock picking’, where you research companies, pick out which ones you like and […]