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A look at some of the market movers from the week:
Ah, it’s that time of the year again. The college football post-season is upon us, and I love to watch the bowl games.
Call me crazy, but I see a lot of parallels between college football and retirement investing.
As a football fan but not an expert, the BCS ranking system seems really complicated to me. But I know that there is a lot of really good information that they use from lots of sources in order to come up with the top-tier group of bowl teams. Two things stand out to me: (more…)
With the holiday season and the year drawing to a close, many people think about charitable giving. In fact, lots of people have built budgets that include giving during the holidays.
If you’ve considered making a charitable donation, think about this: it’s a gift that gives back. A charitable donation might be one way you could reduce your taxable income. (more…)
For the 27th year, PNC Bank released a Christmas Price Index – the PNC CPI is not to be confused with the government’s Consumer Price Index, which is a little more important. The Christmas Price Index assesses the value of each gift from The Twelve Days of Christmas, and they have this fun video to provide some details. Though we haven’t received a single call about the index, we thought a little analysis was still in order. (more…)
A look at some of the market movers from the week:
Congress just passed The Tax Relief, Unemployment Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, one of the most popular topics in the news recently. The most well-known part of the bill is the extension through 2012 of existing tax cuts that were set to expire at the end of 2010. Without passage of the bill, your tax rates would have risen in January by 3%-5%, depending on your tax bracket. There were also several add-ons that were not part of the original Bush-era legislation. To read a summary of the bill from the Senate’s Committee on Finance website click this link.
Perhaps the most significant part of the bill for anyone contributing to a work retirement plan is a reduction in the amount that employees owe in payroll tax. The bill temporarily reduces payroll taxes from 6.2% to 4.2% for 2011, which is roughly a 32% reduction. This presents a great opportunity to review the amount you are currently contributing to your work retirement plan. Consider increasing your (more…)
The market decline of 2008 and the following recovery in 2009 have, without a doubt, taken investors on an emotional roller coaster ride. Now those who’ve seen their accounts recover nicely during the past two years are wondering what to do with recently realized gains. Over the past few months, our advisers have received calls from clients asking whether they should take the gains from their portfolios and place them in an ultra-low-risk or fixed-investment option. The fact is that gains are the same as any other money that you have invested. As such, you should apply the same plan to gains that you use to manage the bulk of your account.
With the nerve-wracking market events and tumultuous economy of the past few years, many investors feel more like they’re gambling than investing. The negative sentiment surrounding Wall Street firms only adds to the feeling that investors are like casino patrons and the fate of (more…)
Taking precautions with investments, whether in taxable or tax deferred accounts, is just smart planning. Monitoring your own plan on a regular basis is your best defense against theft and fraud. That’s one reason we spend so much time talking about the importance of staying engaged with your retirement plan. SmartMoney posted an article about this topic, New Worries for 401(k) Investors, that included some simple steps you can take to stay on top of your work retirement plan account and guard yourself against unscrupulous activities. Here are some suggestions we have for monitoring your work retirement plan: (more…)
A look at some of the market movers from the week:
Like many other people, I have started my holiday shopping. I do have a budget for holiday gift-giving that I created before I started looking for presents. I thought I was well-prepared, but one purchase-free trip to Best Buy and one Super Target shopping spree later, I’ve decided I need to create a better budget next year. (more…)
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