Smart401k Blog

These days it seems like there is an insurance company offering coverage for almost anything. I receive at least one offer a week for one insurance product or another. From wedding insurance to kidnap insurance the list is endless. But which ones offer real protection and which are wastes of money? Below you’ll find a few simple steps you can take to evaluate your insurance portfolio.

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A couple months ago on a trip to St. Louis I got the wake-up call of all wake-up calls.  I had recently visited my doctor about a shoulder injury I suffered while exercising.  He told me a little rest and no heavy lifting would cure all my problems, but then about a week later I got an unexpected follow up call.  The radiologist had found a growth on my humorous (long arm bone), which could potentially be a malignant tumor. 

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After reading a recent report regarding investor behavior and 401(k)s, I thought I would take the time to go over some of the common pitfalls of 401(k)s.  In the coming months I will go over those pitfalls and how to avoid them.  In this initial article I thought I would take the time to go over beneficiary designations.

I know it is a delicate subject but it is a subject that we must all consider.  What will happen to your retirement plan assets should something happen to you?

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• Finance officials from the G-20 nations agreed to tougher banking rules
• AIG continues to sell off some of its smaller assets
• First Solar has laid plans to build the world’s largest solar plant in China
• NYSE sold off stakes in its Amex exchange to a handful of major brokers

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• The unemployment rate ticked up to 9.7%
• Baker Hughes announced that it would buy BJ Services for $5.5 billion
• Bank failures could test the limits of the FDIC’s insurance fund
• Newspaper operator Freedom Communications declared bankruptcy

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As the end of summer nears and the beginning of fall approaches, financial news has seemingly made a transition in coverage from the recession to fears of inflation.  While I certainly would agree that we need to be mindful of this potential danger, I think current economic conditions do not warrant the attention it has received.  The group charged with monetary policy seems to have the same opinion.

In the latest press release from the Federal Open Market Committee, they touch briefly on inflation:

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