Many people want to know how they compare to others financially. Do they have as much saved up as other people their age? Are they ahead or behind everyone else? It is just one of those human traits we have. There is an interesting Web site that provides a comparison to the average net worth…
While most financial experts agree that saving should be a part of every household budget, many Americans admit that they aren’t prepared financially for life’s unexpected challenges and emergencies. If your New Year’s resolution is to become more financially prepared for a “rainy day,” following are five tips to help you save. This is first…
“We’ve been thinking of leaving our financial adviser for a few years. But if we left, we didn’t know what to do with our accounts?” That is a comment I commonly hear from new clients. There is no need to stay with a financial adviser you are not happy with just because you don’t know…
Imagine you are a 27-year-old person not saving for retirement. You have a nice job paying $40,000 per year. The employer 401(k) plan offers a matching contribution of 50 percent up to 6 percent of your salary. Since you’ve never saved before, your portfolio is starting out at $0. How can you possibly retire rich?…
There are some big changes that occur for 50-years-olds. Of course, there is the gray hair (if you have any left) and larger mid-section. But you also have some different rules for saving for retirement. We’ll get to those in a second. First, we need to talk about the big picture. Your 50s is the…
Turning 40 is a big deal. This decade of life is a time when you really start putting it all together. Once you make it into your 40s, you have tried out different occupations and gained tons of work and personal life experiences. Finally things all converge when you figure out who you are, what…
WASHINGTON – The House Energy & Commerce Committee has approved the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act, H.R.698. The bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) would lift a federal ban on the donation of HIV-positive organs to HIV-positive recipients, making it possible for researchers to study the safety of such procedures. The bill…
A few articles ago I started a series called life stage planning. We only got through the 20s before DOMA was repealed and sidetracked us. But now we are back to continue on through our financial lives providing steps everyone should take as they reach different ages. Did your 20s pass you by without saving…
Finances and money obligations change throughout life. A 30-year-old has different goals and money concerns than a 70-year-old. With this in mind, the next several columns of The Money Shot will focus on each decade of life providing finance tips for that phase. This week, we focus on our 20s. What a fun time with…
There are many situations where you need to figure out where to invest your money. Maybe you left a company to take a new job. Or maybe you are retiring. Do you leave your money at the old company? If not, where should it go? Or let’s say you want to fire your current brokerage…
