Will You Make Your Money Back?

Want to pick a date for the stock market to get back to its 2007 high? You may need a calendar that goes to 2017.

• Jul 20, 2010

Can You Afford to Retire ... Ever?

The "new normal" retirement will start at 67, not 62. You'll pay for it with investments that don't even exist today. And you'd better start saving now.

• Jul 20, 2010

I Will Not Time the Market. I Will Not Time the Market

When people in the advice business make the point that timing the market is a loser's game, they often trot their favorite hypothetical. You've not doubt encountered it in the "Investing is Easy" brochures that your company gave you when you enrolled in your 401(k). (That is, if you even read them...

• Jul 6, 2009

Dividends Can Help Fight Inflation

While most investors focus on the change in the value of the stock market, dividends have served as an important component of long-term total stock market returns. Because dividends tend to grow over the years, they may serve as a good source of increasing income to help offset the effects of inflation, particularly during your retirement years.

• Jun 19, 2009

Why Everyone Is Right About Regulatory Reform

The President's proposed overhaul of financial regulation has to be doing something right because it seems to be making so many different people unhappy. Douglas Elliot, a fellow at the liberal Brookings Institution, calls the plan largely sensible, but worries that it's vulnerable to being watered ...

• Jul 6, 2009

Who Should Have A Will?

About 70% of adult Americans don't have a last will and testament. But they should — and for some groups of people, it's particularly important. Financial analyst Ray Martin gives you the lowdown.

• Jun 18, 2009

Inflation May Not Play Out Like You Think

At just about every meeting I go to these days, people are asking about runaway inflation. What concerns me about the inflation issue is the certainty many people expresses about how the inflation threat may unfold. While we may get inflation, its effect on the economy and markets may play out differently than in the past.

• Jun 17, 2009

4 Biggest Long-Term-Care Dangers to Avoid

Recent congressional hearings underscored a host of problems consumers can face with long-term-care insurance. The coverage may still be worthwhile — particularly if stroke or dementia runs in your family — but you should know the risks.

• Jun 17, 2009

Why You Need To Diversify Even Your Safe Money

Over the last two weeks, I've written a couple of posts on bonds to help you become a better bond investor. I covered how bonds can help keep you on track for retirement as well as making sure you own safe bonds. Today I'm going to talk about why the safe bonds you own also need to be diversified.

• Jun 15, 2009

The Confidence Trap

Confidence, these days, is the only thing more infectious than swine flu. On MoneyWatch.com Thursday, for example, CBS's Alexis Christoforous ticked off postive developments under the headline Signs of an Economic Comeback. Initial unemployment claims dipped and retail sales edged up. (Never mind...

• Jul 6, 2009

Are Deferred Compensation Plans Safe?

If you participate in a nonqualified deferred compensation plan, you may recall reading something about the money being subject to the claims of your employer's creditors. With big companies dropping like flies, the risk of losing your deferred compensation money is greater than previously understood. The tax benefit you get from the plans may not be worth the risk to your retirement security.

• Jun 12, 2009

IRA Beneficiary Forms May Be More Important Than Your Will

When you think of estate planning, most people think about getting their wills and trusts in order. But for many investors, their IRA or 401(k) beneficiary designation form will control the distribution of most of their assets.

• Jun 10, 2009

How Safe Are Your Bond Holdings?

Last week I wrote a post on how bonds can help keep you on track for retirement. But not all bonds are created equal. So this week I'm going to give you a few pointers on how to figure out if the bonds you own are safe enough for your retirement plan.

• Jun 8, 2009

Change Mortgage Debt Into Retirement Equity

One of the simplest strategies you can use to help create more assets for your retirement plan is to make small and consistent prepayments on your mortgage. Since the home mortgage is usually the largest debt most families incur, a small change to your monthly mortgage payment may make a big difference to your retirement plan decades down the road.

• Jun 5, 2009

The Confidence Game

In the past weeks, we've seen two 200-plus-point rallies in the Dow. The first coincided with the news that a starving nation led by a Stalinist throwback cult leader had detonated a nuclear bomb on the Korean peninsula. The second came on the day that a century-old symbol of American industrial mig...

• Jul 6, 2009

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