If you’re saving for retirement, chances are that you are putting money away into an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan. According to a recent study by the Investment Company Institute, Americans put away over $5.8 trillion in assets in 2019. By comparison, that number was only $3.1 trillion in 2010. 

While 401(k) and 403b accounts are by far the most widely utilized saving plans, you may not be aware of the various costs and fees that come with them. In fact, if you’re like 37% of savers, you may not realize that you pay anything at all.

Every working adult will eventually want to retire, but not everyone does the proper amount of planning for that event to actually happen. Without savings and a plan in place, this happy time might actually be more stressful than necessary. If you are a few years from retirement now, it’s time to really consider what the shift into this stage of life will mean for you. 

It is completely normal to feel concerned or scared. After all, this is uncharted territory, and the unknowns are many. How will your finances change? What will the social, mental and physical differences be in your life from this point onward? 

Planning for retirement can be both exhilarating and scary at the same time. Living a worry-free retirement requires a combination of a robust investment portfolio, liquid assets, potential annuities and social security income. 

At the beginning of 2020, no one could have imagined the sudden economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Market volatility has naturally made many people consider postponing retirement plans because of sudden drops in the stock market that have increased investment uncertainty in retirement accounts. 

No matter who you are, retirement planning is a must. Whether you’re just around the corner from retirement or you have a few more decades, it is never too soon to start preparing for your golden years. 

However, while most individuals focus on the financial side of things, what will you actually do in retirement? How will you spend your days? What kinds of hobbies or interests will you pursue? If you’re like most pre-retirees, you might have some thoughts on the topic, but nothing set in stone. 

Let’s get right to it and answer the question before getting into the details. A power of attorney is a legal action that offers someone else of your choosing to make decisions on your behalf if you’re unfit or under contract. 

Its most common use is for people to have a go-to friend or family member to act on their behalf if they become sick or injured and can’t make decisions themselves. Power of attorney agreements are an essential part of the estate planning process and are usually connected to a will or trust fund. 

Typically, if you want to become an investor, you need sufficient capital to make any headway. These days, however, it’s never been easier to make your money work for you, thanks to various investing apps and opportunities. 

If you’re short on funds, you might think that investing is out of reach. You’d be wrong. Thanks to the growing trend of micro-investing, anyone with a bank account can get started. 

When it comes to estate planning, it’s crucial to have all of your assets and beneficiaries listed and up to date. However, because this planning can be relatively messy at times, what you want may not always come to pass. For example, what happens if your beneficiaries predecease you? 

Although this situation can be rare, there’s already a process for what happens to your assets. It’s called per stirpes, and it can ensure that your money or property will pass down to living heirs should your beneficiaries die before you do. 

President Trump signed into law the ‘Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement’ Act (SECURE Act) on December 20, 2019. It became effective on January 1, 2020. The SECURE Act is considered a part of the government’s spending bill and will affect retirement savers inevitably. 

The legislation puts into place several provisions that are designed to strengthen retirement security across the country. It also includes several common-sense reforms that are considered long overdue. These reforms are designed to make retirement more accessible and easier for many Americans.

This post was last updated on July 30, 2022, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

If you’re trying to save for retirement, it helps to have an employer-sponsored plan so that you’ll have access to funds once you stop working. Although 401(k) plans are the most common option today, some companies still offer pensions. Now you're probably wondering what the outcome of a pension vs. 401(k) is, don't worry; we cover this a bit later on.

When discussing retirement planning, it’s crucial to prepare for the most significant expenses you’ll be facing. While you can control some of these, one cost that will only get higher is healthcare. Unfortunately, as you get older, your body will require more maintenance and upkeep, which can lead to more hospital visits, medications, and other treatments.  

To ensure that you’re ready for rising healthcare costs, we want to outline the best way to plan for them during retirement. Whether you’re going to retire in a few years or a few decades, it’s never too soon (or too late) to prepare. Here’s what you need to know. 

This post was last updated on January 15, 2021, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

No matter how old you are right now, you should already be saving for retirement. Whether you're contributing to a 401(k), IRA, or other long-term investment (or all three), you have to make sure that you'll have enough money to last the rest of your life.

When it comes to retirement, one of the most valuable questions you can ask yourself is, “how much is enough?” Unfortunately, it can be challenging to determine the right amount because there are many variables to consider. 

In this article, we’re going to discuss the finer points of saving for retirement so that when it arrives, you can feel secure in the size of your nest egg. Ideally, you shouldn’t have to limit your lifestyle or cut down on expenses during your golden years. So, the more planning and preparation you can do now, the better off you’ll be later on. 

Budgeting software has totally changed the way that we think about our money. They give us the ability to customize our budget which can help us: 

• Get out of debt.
• Save more money. 
• Cut expenses. 
• And make our hard-earned dollars go further. 

With budgeting software applications on our mobile devices, we can take them with us everywhere to inform our spending and saving decisions. They have given us intuitive and easy-to-use tools that make budgeting easier. With so many budgeting software and applications on the market though, how can you be sure which one is going to be the best for you? 

The average person needs between 70 and 80 percent of their income each year when they retire. If you have that already saved, you're probably in good shape. 

However, there's always more you can do to help you stretch your retirement funds without sacrificing your quality of life. It just takes planning and know-how.

Since the novel coronavirus began spreading across the globe, it has impacted everything about our daily lives. However, while some of the effects were immediate, such as quarantines and lockdowns, one of the less obvious was how it would impact retirement planning. 

In this article, we want to look at the various ways that COVID-19 has disrupted retirement plans. To help understand these effects better, we’re going to look at the three stages of planning - early, pre-retirement, and retirement. We’ll also pay attention to the various legal changes that were inside the relief bill passed in March. 

As a financial advisor, I meet with individuals and couples who hope to retire early all the time - I mean, who doesn’t. Once I sit down with them for some basic number-crunching, we work together to create a long-term financial plan that will guide many of their decisions. 

This can include how much to invest, when and where to invest, and ways to increase cash flow and returns while keeping long-term costs and taxes to a minimum. 

No matter how old you are, it’s never too early to start planning for retirement. While you should start saving as soon as possible, one of the best ways to build a substantial nest egg is to work somewhere that offers employer contributions, like a 401(k). However, for those working in nonprofit organizations, a 401(k) plan is not usually an option. 

Fortunately, many of these entities may offer what’s called a 403(b) retirement account. In this article, we’ll discuss the finer points of a 403(b), as well as compare it to an alternative, the individual retirement account (IRA). Here are the details you need to know. 

For many individuals, the primary concern is to save as much money as they can before retirement. After all, the bigger your nest egg, the less likely you’ll run out. 

However, even if your retirement accounts are bursting at the seams, budgeting is still a necessity. In many cases, without a budget, you could wind up having to dust off the old resume because your funds are starting to run low. 

When talking about retirement planning, most of the focus is on how and where you’ll be saving money. While that should be your primary concern, you also need to figure out what comes after - withdrawing money to fund your retirement. 

In this article, we’ll talk about the different rules regarding traditional and Roth IRA withdrawals. Depending on your situation and your needs in retirement, you can maximize your earnings while minimizing your tax burden. Here are the tips that you need to know. 

This post was last updated on September 30, 2023, to reflect all updated information and best serve your needs.

How do you measure your personal financial health? If you were running a business, you’d pay close attention to its financial health, right? Elements like cash flow, debts, and total assets would be part of your normal routine.