Have you had a rough patch in your financial life? Or maybe you’re trying to position yourself to get the lowest possible rate on a mortgage or even a new job. For whatever reason, you may be like one of the many people I speak to on our Financial Helpline and Ask a Planner sessions who are trying to improve their credit. If so, here are some steps you can take: Continue reading “8 Steps to Improve Your Credit Score”
Last week, I wrote about some reasons it might actually make sense to borrow from your 401(k). After all, there’s no credit check and the interest goes back into your own account. But even in those situations, there may be better options. After all, borrowing from your 401(k) means your money isn’t growing for retirement, the money generally has to be paid back over a relatively short 5 year period, and the outstanding balance could be subject to taxes and penalties if you leave your job. Here are three alternatives along with their pros and cons relative to a 401(k) loan and a couple of sites you can use to find them: Continue reading “3 Alternatives to Borrowing From Your 401(k)”
Have you ever borrowed or thought about borrowing from your 401(k)? According to this recent study, almost half of those who took out a loan from their retirement plan later said they regretted the decision. So when does it make sense? Here are 3 situations: Continue reading “Should You Borrow From Your 401(K)?”
One of the most common pieces of investment wisdom is that you should invest more in conservative “loan” investments like cash and bonds and less in more aggressive “own” investments like stocks and real estate as you get closer to retirement. This may have made sense when bonds were paying 6% or more but with long term bonds rates now closer to 3%, this could actually make it harder to retire comfortably or more likely you could run out of money in retirement. Cash is paying less than inflation. Rather than to low-interest bonds and cash, why not shift towards high-yielding dividend stocks and real estate? Here are some advantages of this approach: Continue reading “Be an Owner Rather Than a Loaner in Retirement”
Last week, I wrote about different types of index funds and how some “index funds” aren’t as diversified or as low cost as they may seem. However, there’s also a case for certain types of diversified index funds that are designed to outperform traditional index funds. They come in two flavors: equal weight and fundamental index funds. Continue reading “Can You Beat the Market…With Index Funds?”
One of the most common bits of investment advice is to invest in index funds. But which index funds? Are all the index funds the same? If not, what should you look for in choosing an index fund? Continue reading “Not All Index Funds Are Created Equal”
One of the things that probably most surprises people about me as a financial planner is that I rent. After all, we’ve always been taught that renting is “throwing money away” while home ownership is a good long term investment and the hallmark of adulthood and the middle class. In my case, the fact that I’m a renter may be particularly surprising given that I’m also a real estate investor. So here are some of the reasons I’ve chosen to rent: Continue reading “Why I Rent”
Last week, I wrote about how I was able to buy a new set of clothes without breaking the bank. In the process, I realized something else too. It turns out that putting together a wardrobe is a very similar to putting together an investment portfolio. Here are some lessons I learned and how they apply to investing: Continue reading “How Buying Clothing is Like Investing”
Now that we’re almost halfway through the year, how are those New Year’s resolutions going? If you’re like most people, you probably resolved to lose weight and pay down debt this year. But while there’s no downside to paying down debt, I’ve learned that there is a downside to losing weight. Continue reading “How to Dress Well for Less”
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve written about the advantages of investing in individual stocks and some tools to make the process simpler and easier. However, most people don’t invest directly in individual stocks. After all, it’s more time consuming and is generally not available in the employer-sponsored plans like 401(k)s that people generally do the bulk of their investing in. Continue reading “How to Invest in Mutual Funds”
Last week, I wrote about some of the benefits of investing directly in individual stocks. However, it can be challenging to decide which stocks to invest in. Here are some tools that can help simplify that process. Continue reading “Stock Investing Made Easy”
No, I’m not talking about “sell in May and go away.” If you invest in stocks, you probably do so through mutual funds. After all, they’re available in your employer’s retirement plan and you get a degree of instant diversification even if you don’t have much to invest. But here are some reasons you might want to consider investing directly in individual stocks: Continue reading “Time to Dump Your Mutual Funds?”
A coworker of mine recently forwarded me a mass email from Ramit Sethi, author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich, about what he claims are five “unconventional truths” that go against conventional personal finance advice. Since one of the themes of my blog is being a bit unconventional, I was curious about how much I agreed with these “truths.” Here they are with my thoughts: Continue reading “5 Unconventional Truths?”
If you’re like the average American, you’re getting a tax refund of about $3k this year. So what should you do with that nice windfall? Here are some things to consider before blowing it all on a random shopping spree. Continue reading “What Should You Do With Your Tax Refund?”
April 15th is just a few days away and while most people think of it as tax day, it’s also the deadline to contribute up to $5,500 (or $6,500 if you’re over age 5o or over) to a Roth IRA for 2013. Why is this so significant? Well, here are 5 reasons it’s a good idea: Continue reading “5 Reasons to Contribute to a Roth IRA in the Next 5 Days”
As anyone who knows me can tell you, it takes a lot for me to buy something so it was a big deal when I decided to purchase a new computer. Up until now, I’ve basically been using my work computer for everything. That’s been fine except for when I have to take one of my many cross-country flights and the battery only lasts about halfway. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to sit bored in a plane for 3 hours, knowing that may not get much sleep that night because you still have a lot of work to do when you land but can’t do it because your battery is dead? Continue reading “My New $200 Computer”
A couple of weeks ago, my colleague Michael Smith, wrote a blog post defending bonds called “What’s All the Fuss About Bonds Being a Lousy Investment?” With all due respect, I do think bonds are a lousy investment right now. Let’s take a look at each of Michael’s points as to why you shouldn’t avoid them: Continue reading “Yes, Bonds Are a Lousy Investment Right Now”
You know spring is in the air when people start thinking about home buying. I recently got questions from several people asking about buying a home. One of the most common is how much to put down. Let’s look at a few things to consider: Continue reading “How Much Should You Put Down On a Home?”
In this article, Learnvest provides some guidelines as to how to budget and prioritize your financial goals. First, when it comes to budgeting, they suggest what they call the 50/20/30 rule: Continue reading “How Not To Prioritize Your Financial Goals”
While we usually discuss investing in the context of retirement planning in 401(k)s and IRAs, I was recently asked by a young mother about investing $50k in her 1 year old child’s name. (Since it’s in the child’s name, the money has to be used for his benefit but since he’s a minor, the mother has control over how the money will be invested and spent on his behalf.) Here are some things to consider. Continue reading “How to Invest for Your Child”
