Smart401k Blog

This post is part of Smart401k CEO Scott Holsopple’s contribution to the U.S. News & World Report Smarter Investor blog series. To view the original article, click here. Original post date March 27, 2012.

Employees are transient. Look at your own life: Even if you’re in your 20s or early 30s, it’s possible you’ve already worked with several different employers. One report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that the boomer group studied held an average of 11 jobs while they were between the ages of 18 and 44.

In the process of all of these job changes, though, we’re leaving behind lots of 401(k) investments.

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The housing market has been a hot topic during the past several years, with mortgages and home valuation at the forefront of the conversation.  Most recently, the media has focused on a structure available for homeowners who still have home equity. This structure is intended to boost retirement savings using that equity while gaining a tax break at the same time. I’m not talking about a reverse mortgage or downsizing to a less expensive home. Both of those strategies are most applicable at or near retirement age. There’s a strategy that could allow more immediate action under the right circumstances.

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This post is part of Smart401k CEO Scott Hollsopple’s contribution to the U.S. News & World Report Smarter Investor blog series. To view the original article, click here. Original post date January 31, 2012.

New regulations require greater fee and expense transparency from employer-sponsored retirement plans such as 401(k)s. As a result, we may see more plans experiment with lower-expense investments such as ETFs (exchange-traded funds). Though they’re already featured in some plans, ETFs could increasingly become part of the retirement plan conversation.

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This post is part of Smart401k CEO Scott Hollsopple’s contribution to the U.S. News & World Report Smarter Investor blog series. To view the original article, click here. Original post date January 3, 2012.

How many of you have taken time off from work for a family vacation?

With the new year comes a new set of vacation days for many workers. Perhaps some have already started planning their next trip, even if it is months away. Eventually you pack your bags and everyone loads into the car in anticipation of the event. Now, how many of you have been in the car, looked at your spouse and asked, “So, where are we headed?”

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Photo Credit NS Newsflash

If I could change one aspect of the financial industry it would be the media’s attention surrounding financial news. While it’s great that so much news is readily available for investors, far too often I see individual looking at financial journalists as if they are investment advisers and analysts. While some may have the adviser credential or background, their news coverage isn’t based on your individual situation.

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It seems like every talking head in the financial world has an opinion about annuities. They’re the best or the worst or too complicated or just perfect. The whole thing can be confusing for people trying to make good financial planning decisions.

So what’s all the fuss about?

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You can feel it in the cooling of the air and see it in the decline of Sunday yard work, football season is here. And with football season comes, the increasingly popular, fantasy football. While preparing for this years’ fantasy football season, I couldn’t help but notice some of the same general strategies vital to fantasy football success can be used as a guide to creating an effective basic investment strategy for your 401(k).

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Several years ago, while on a road trip to New England, my friends and I spent a few days camping and hiking in Acadia National Park, located on an island off the coast of Maine. Being at one of the easternmost points of the country, we decided to climb one of the mountains on the island in the early morning so we could be some of the first people in the United States to see the sun rise.

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This week, our CEO, Scott Holsopple began his guest blogging duties with U.S. News and World Report. In his first post, Scott discussed five 401(k) mistakes to avoid.

The post offers great advice for anyone who is investing for their retirement. But as someone who recently entered the workforce and began planning for their retirement, I found the information especially useful and beneficial.

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Many times throughout the year, events take place that raise concern for investors. Whether these events are natural disasters, an uprising overseas or an event on U.S. soil, they can cause a few sleepless nights for investors. The most recent of these events is the debate in Washington over whether or not the debt ceiling should be raised. One side states that not raising the debt ceiling would cause the delay or elimination of crucial government benefits and default on government debt. They state this would cause a downgrade in the U.S. credit rating leading to skyrocketing interest rates, plummeting bond prices and general market chaos. The other side of the argument states that if the debt ceiling is raised, the U.S. will plunge deeper in debt and eventually cause all of the same chaos to happen.

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