retirement

Proper Asset Allocation in Retirement

by Michael on Apr 22, 2013 · 3 comments

A reader recently wrote in with a question about asset allocation in retirement, having been advised that anyone in retirement should have at least 80% in equities. He’ll be retiring at age 66 later this year and, based on everything that he’s read, this recommendation seemed quite high to him. [...]

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Investing With Fidelity's BrokerageLink

by Michael on Apr 17, 2013 · 0 comments

Do you have an employer-sponsored retirement plan with Fidelity and wish that you had access to better investment choices? If so, then you should definitely check to see if their “BrokerageLink” service is available within your plan. To be fair, Fidelity has a number of good, low-cost options in the [...]

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Putting a Cap on Retirement Accounts?

by Michael on Apr 12, 2013 · 3 comments

One of the big pieces of news out of President Obama’s budget proposal was a proposed cap on retirement accounts. You may have heard rumblings about this in the form of a possible $3M limit on balances across all of your retirement accounts. Today I want to shed a bit [...]

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Are You Saving Enough for Retirement?

by Michael on Mar 27, 2013 · 3 comments

Despite the strong stock market recovery and the gradually improving employment picture, an increasing number of Americans are concerned about their retirement savings. Or at least that’s the message from the most recent survey of retirement confidence by the Employment Benefit Research Institute. Indeed, the percentage of workers who reported [...]

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I’ve been fortunate. Over the years, my employers have offered excellent retirement plans. But for many, that’s not the case. If your 401(k) or 403(b) plan stinks — due to high fees, lack of appropriate investment options, or both — what should you do? Should you still contribute? Or should [...]

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HSA After Leaving Job

by Michael on Jan 23, 2013 · 2 comments

A reader recently wrote in with a question about what to do with your health savings account (HSA) after leaving your job. The answer here is… It depends. Consider your options and don’t make any rash decisions. For starters, the money in the HSA is yours, and it’s portable. You’re [...]

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Advantages of a Roth IRA

by Michael on Jan 14, 2013 · 2 comments

After singing the praises of traditional (i.e., tax-deferred) retirement accounts, I thought it was only fair to highlight the advantage of Roth retirement accounts, too. Obviously, Roth accounts are nice because, though your contributions are non-deductible, all qualified distributions are tax free. But the advantages don’t stop there… At least [...]

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Roth IRA Income Limits for 2012/2013

by Michael on Jan 11, 2013 · 0 comments

As a followup to my earlier posts on IRA contribution limits and the income limits for traditional IRA deductions… I thought I’d highlight the income limits for making Roth IRA contributions. As you’re likely aware, not everyone can contribute to a Roth IRA. Rather, depending on your modified adjusted gross [...]

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