Most workers eat lunch out at least once a week. It’s convenient and maybe even fun. But if you simply stop going to the deli or pizza shop you can retire on the savings. The trick is getting set up. Here’s how.
Financial Planning
401(k) Plans Back to Pre-Crisis Levels (and Improved)
New data show that the percentage of companies offering a 401(k) match is back at pre-recession levels. Meanwhile, features like advice and auto enrollment are way up. Now, if we can just get workers to pay attention.
Why Higher Future Tax Rates are Certain but Won’t Matter
An important part of retirement planning is estimating your future tax rate. Most financial planners assume tax rates will go up in the future. But while that may be true it doesn’t necessarily mean the amount of tax you pay …
What Do You Mean We’re Going to Get Old?
Everyone seems to want lifetime-income products as a 401(k) option. But our retirement system is so skewed toward accumulating, not drawing down, assets that the income problem managed to catch us by surprise. Change is coming–but not nearly fast enough.
Back to School: How to Vet Student Bank Accounts
If you have ever looked for the perfect bank account for your teen, you know how frustrating the search can be. Linked accounts, transfer limits and fees, ATM fees, overdraft protection and more vary from bank to bank and from account to account. How do you sort through this maze?
Bernanke: Kids Will be Better Off Than Parents, But…
Speaking at a Fed town hall meeting with educators, Chairman Ben Bernanke said kids today will have it better than their parents. But they’ll also need to be financially astute, and Bernanke said every student should be exposed …
Social Security Now Takes More Than it Gives
Social Security has reached another critical threshold: For the first time, a typical husband and wife retiring today can expect to collect less in benefits than it paid in payroll tax over the course of their life.
Are ‘Safe Accounts’ the Answer to Our Consumer Banking Problems?
So-called Safe Accounts offer extremely low fees and no overdraft penalties. Banks are still experimenting but the early results have been encouraging and a product geared at the unbanked may just right for many others too.
The New Way to Pick a Place to Retire
Retirement living is no longer about sunshine, golf, hospitals and low costs. It’s about senior-friendly activities, jobs, transportation and technologies. A new report examines 78 criteria in 359 cities to rank the very best …
Why Kids Will Feel the Pinch on Back-to-School Duds
If any good came of the recession it was that individuals refocused their values and that families started discussing debt and what they could and could not truly afford. Psychologists predict it’s just a matter of time before …
Back to School: Top Five Things That Stress College Students
Fitting in? Finding a date? That’s nothing. College students are more stressed than ever, and money issues have emerged as the top culprit.
Lifetime Income Stream Key to Retirement Happiness
A new study in a land of grumps reveals that retirees with a guaranteed lifetime income stream can find true happiness.