An individual retirement arrangement (IRA) is a personal savings plan that offers specific tax benefits. IRAs are one of the most powerful retirement savings tools available to you. Even if you’re contributing to a 401(k) or other plan at work, you should also consider investing in an IRA. What types of IRAs are available? The
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Why do so many people never obtain the financial independence that they desire? Often it’s because they just don’t take that first step–getting started. Besides procrastination, other excuses people make are that investing is too risky, too complicated, too time consuming, and only for the rich. The fact is, there’s nothing complicated about common investing
Approximately 60 million people today receive some form of Social Security benefits, including retirement, disability, survivor, and family benefits. (Source: Fast Facts & Figures About Social Security, 2016) Although most people receiving Social Security are retired, you and your family members may be eligible for benefits at any age, depending on your circumstances. How does
Few terms in personal finance are as important, or used as frequently, as “risk.” Nevertheless, few terms are as imprecisely defined. Generally, when financial advisors or the media talk about investment risk, their focus is on the historical price volatility of the asset or investment under discussion. Advisors label as aggressive or risky an investment
Knowing how much retirement income you might receive from Social Security may help you decide when to begin claiming benefits, and how Social Security might fit into your overall retirement income plan. One way to get an estimate of your future Social Security benefits is to use the benefit calculators available on the Social Security
There is no easy answer to this question. Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs share certain general characteristics. Both feature tax-deferred growth of earnings and allow you to contribute up to $5,500 in 2017 (unchanged from 2016) of earned income, plus an additional $1,000 “catch-up” contribution if you’re 50 or older. Both allow certain low- and
You may have heard that IRAs and employer-sponsored plans (e.g., 401(k)s) are the best ways to invest for retirement. That’s true for many people, but what if you’ve maxed out your contributions to those accounts and want to save more? An annuity may be a good investment to look into. Get the lay of the
An annuity is a contract between you, the purchaser or owner, and an insurance company, the annuity issuer. In its simplest form, you pay money to an annuity issuer, and the issuer pays out the principal and earnings back to you or to a named beneficiary. Life insurance companies first developed annuities to provide income
When you determine how much income you’ll need in retirement, you may base your projection on the type of lifestyle you plan to have and when you want to retire. However, as you grow closer to retirement, you may discover that your income won’t be enough to meet your needs. If you find yourself in