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First the good news: Total retirement assets in America made a nice comeback in 2009, recouping 23 percent. So go ahead, open your year-end 401(k) statement. Now the "could be better" news: even with the 2009 rebound you may still be a tad shy of your goals. Here's how to give your 401(k) a quick tune-up.
Wealth management lessons from the wealthy. Merrill Lynch's latest Affluent Insights survey finds that most well-off folks haven't felt the need to do much belt tightening.
Here's a nice alternative to the "save more, retire later" advice for fixing an expected retirement kitty shortfall: become an ex-pat. International Living has its top picks for retirement havens.
New fuel-economy rules require automakers to average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. To get there, the auto companies are rolling out a mix of technological innovations. That makes your car-buying calculus a bit trickier.
Market predictions look scientific, but for the most part they're just guess work.
Even experienced investors make mistakes. When Cal bought a second home with a bridge loan, he failed to keep in mind the No. 1 objective of successful financial planning: always keep your financial options open. If you're considering a big purchase, like real estate, be sure to have an exit strategy. Here's how to think ahead.
The markets are still making it tough for anyone in search of a decent income payout. Right now your best option can be to stop looking around the fixed income side of the market and set your sights instead on dividend-paying stocks. Plenty of blue-chips beat the payout on today's 5-year Treasury.
Credit-card users are not well served when politicians tell them that banks are the reason for their bloated debt and financial problems. If you think banks credit-card fees are the source of your financial troubles, then you have the mind set of a money loser. Here's how to turn that mindset around and get rid of credit-card troubles for good.
A recent survey by the mutual fund lobbying group tries to suggest that all is well with the de facto national retirement plan, the 401(k). Not true.
Every year Morningstar trots out its picks for the best funds over the past calendar year. Yet the three funds they picked for 2009 aren't really the best of 2009. And that makes them great choices.
To retire comfortably, you ultimately want to accumulate 12 times your pay in retirement assets. But don't panic: To make your money do most of the work, you just have to get to an amount that's double your pay.
With a little effort, you can probably earn $500 an hour with some smart tax moves.
Forty percent of parents report they have bailed an adult kid out of debt. Often spending money that puts their own financial security at risk. That's a solid wake-up call for parents of younger children: make sure your kids leave home with a solid grounding in basic personal finance and you'll both be a lot better off down the line.
You may now be able to swap your tax-deferred IRA for a tax-free IRA. But before committing to a conversion, be sure you can afford the taxes that come with it.
By letting the estate tax lapse this year, Congress has created a bunch of unintended consequences and exposed more people to taxes rather than fewer. What's more, since many wills and trusts are written on the assumption that the estate tax exists, they now may result in a surviving spouse getting inadvertently shut of a partner's will.
