Retirement portfolios held up surprisingly well through the Great Recession. But housing declines made for the worst period in several generations for pre-retirees, a study finds.
Portfolio Strategy
Door Opens to Tax on IRA and 401(k) Gains
From the beginning, questions have swirled around the future tax standing of retirement savings. In an age of soaring deficits, would Congress really be able to keep its hands off hundreds of billions of dollars of tax-advantaged …
Dividend Stocks Are Hot, But They Aren’t Bonds
The search for retirement income in today’s low-yield environment inevitably comes back to dividend paying stocks. How could it not? Money market funds and short-term bank CDs pay about .5%; the 10-year Treasury bond pays only about 2%.
Bernanke to Income-Starved Retirees: Tough Luck
If it wasn’t clear already, it is now: securing decent retirement income in a low-yield environment is going to be a problem for a long time. Seniors who have been eking by through temporary measures like drawing down an …
The Lessons of Mitt Romney’s IRA
Mitt Romney may have made the classic IRA mistake: holding low-tax investments inside a tax-favored account. His IRA strategy isn’t clear, of course. Romney continues to guard his personal finances. But details are trickling …
Cash Back: Banks Battle for Your Rollover IRA
Your 2011 tax documents are beginning to arrive in the mail, signaling the start of another tax filing season. Right on cue, financial firms are in a spending battle to win the business of anyone considering an IRA rollover as …
Dividend-Growth Stocks Could Thrive This Year
Shares with above-average yields and rising dividends may well offer the best returns in 2012.
Why the Smart Money was So Dumb in 2011
If your 401(k) was down in 2011, don’t hang your head. You have plenty of company. Many of Wall Street‘s most successful investors were losers in 2011 as well.
According to Hedgefund Intelligence Database, 60% of all hedge funds …
What Last Year’s Stock Market Says about 2012
Day to day, the stock market may feel like a roller-coaster, but in fact the U.S. is experiencing stagnation with a very, very faint upward trend.
Skittish Market’s Winners and Losers Point the Way
A highly volatile stock market may have given you whiplash in 2011. But as the year draws to a close, the final numbers don’t look so dramatic: the S&P 500 is poised to end the year almost exactly where it began, and about as …
The U.S. Government Bond Bubble (And What To Do About It)
Treasury bond prices will likely suffer a major decline in the next few years. Here are eight high-yielding stocks that are a smarter alternative for the income part of your portfolio.
Guru Gaffe: Investors Losing Faith in ‘Bond King’
Bill Gross, a legendary bond fund manager, is about to close the books on a terrible year for his $241 billion PIMCO Total Return Fund. His missteps underscore the risks of a concentrated investment and in staying too long with a …
