If you’ve ever felt a rush of excitement at making a big purchase or experienced feelings of shame at making a financial mistake, you know that our relationship with money isn’t completely rational. For most people, money comes with a lot of emotional and psychological baggage that affects the decisions we make.
The 401(k) plan is becoming the single largest source of retirement savings for a majority of American workers. According to the Society of Professional Administrators and Recordkeepers (SPARK), over 55 million people participate in 401(k) plans. If you participate in a 401(k) plan, the good news is that you have more control over your retirement money. The bad news is that you have more control over your retirement money.
By Michael J. Searcy
When it comes to an advisor managing the money you are saving and investing for retirement, the management and recommendations should be transparent and made with your best interest in mind.
The Department of Labor believed this strongly enough to spend years working on a rule that was finally issued on April 6, 2016. The rule states that any advisor managing a retirement plan or its participants is a fiduciary, legally bound to make decisions in the best interest of their clients. This rule also applies to advisors who recommend consumers move their investments from a retirement plan to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA).
By: Jessica Kmetty
The World Health Organization notes that an estimated 47.5 million people currently live with dementia, a syndrome that affects memory, thinking, behavior and ability to perform everyday activities.* It can severely impact the ability to make financial decisions, and finding ways to help those with dementia manage their finances is critical to their health and well-being. These 5 tips can help families protect and preserve assets:
Few things strike fear into a taxpayer’s heart like a letter from the IRS. Fortunately, the odds of you ever being audited by the IRS are lower than ever. Recent budget cuts have reduced the number of IRS auditors, and in 2014 the IRS audited less than one percent of the individual tax returns it received, the lowest level since 2004.
Making a mistake with life insurance can hurt the ones you love most. Fortunately, with some advance preparation and careful thought, these costly errors may be avoided. Here are some of the most common life insurance pitfalls we see:
Tax season is underway and that means an uptick in tax-related scams. One particularly pernicious form of fraud is tax identity theft. Tax-related identity theft happens when someone uses sensitive personal information (like your Social Security number) and files a fraudulent tax return in your name to collect a refund. According to recent statistics, scammers filed over 5 million returns in 2013 using stolen information, costing the IRS $5.8 billion in fraudulent refunds.
After 18 years in the National Football League, the Denver Broncos’ star quarterback, Peyton Manning, is calling it quits after a very successful career. We wish him well and hope that he’s made the preparations needed to enjoy a long, comfortable retirement. If he has, he’ll be in the minority. Research shows that an estimated 60% of retired NFL players go broke within five years of retirement; nearly 16% declare bankruptcy.
Nothing can eliminate completely the stress most taxpayers feel when dealing with the IRS. However, there are plenty of ways you can make tax time easier on yourself. The filing deadline for 2015 returns is April 18, 2016, instead of the usual April 15. Because of Patriots’ Day, residents of Maine and Massachusetts will have until April 19 to file.
By Marc C. Shaffer
Have you recently found yourself with a large amount of cash and need to decide how to manage the funds? If you receive annual bonuses or are a 1099 employee, this may be a decision you face regularly. Or, you may be facing this decision for the first time if you have received an inheritance, a large tax refund, or have liquidated stock options. How do you know which strategy for managing your money is best?
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