by Rupe | Sep 25, 2017 | Money Matters
As I was listening to my voicemail on a Saturday morning, I picked up a message from a relative. “Christine, I have some extra money to invest,” she said. “I put some cash into my traditional IRA earlier this year, but this time I wonder if I should make a Roth contribution instead. Call me back, please.”
Source: Christine Benz, Morningstar
My Comments: Awesome stuff…great advice. I never knew there was an earned income requirement for the IRA contributions
by Rupe | Sep 4, 2017 | Money Matters, Real Estate, Social-Race Issues
The national conversation in the U.S. is focused squarely on improving the lives of people in the working class. The debate revolves around exactly how to do that. Politicians and pundits have all sorts of ideas, from efforts to save jobs, create tax cuts, subsidize housing, and provide universal healthcare. Thing is, people don’t even agree on how to define the working class, much less how their living conditions stack up across the country. We created a data visualization to illustrate this complex situat
Source: The Working Class Can’t Afford the American Dream
My Comments: Pretty sobering revelations about the direction of the country. Living in Jacksonville, it appears I am in a relatively good position for now.
by Rupe | Aug 30, 2017 | Health-Wellness-Sex, Money Matters
My husband and I were dreaming about what we would do if we won the recent $758 million Powerball jackpot. (We didn’t.) I told him he should keep working his federal government job so that we could hold on to the insurance into retirement. “I think with that much money we could afford our own policy,” he said.
Source: Here’s what health care will cost you in retirement
My Comments: Good piece from Michelle SIngletary from WAPO.
by Rupe | Aug 30, 2017 | Money Matters
The uptake of index products has been widely hailed as an expression of investors’ preference for low-cost investments. And a quest to lower total portfolio costs and cut out higher-priced, underperforming funds may well be the main driver of the enormous asset flows into passively managed products: It hasn’t been lost on investors that most active funds, especially high-cost ones, don’t beat their cheap index counterparts after fees.
Source: Your Financial Life Is Complicated; Your Portfolio Shouldn’t Be
My Comments: Pretty good insights by Christine from Morning Star
by Rupe | Aug 28, 2017 | Money Matters
In my last post, The coulda, shoulda, woulda behind every retirement story, I asked for comments. Who better than soon-to-be retirees and recent retirees to share lessons learned about preparing for retirement, right? (Exactly right.)
The record-setting number of comments we received was amazing, but the comments themselves are what truly blew me away.
Source: Straight from Vanguard retirees: 6 retirement-planning tips
My Comments: These are really good insights worth
by Rupe | Jul 21, 2017 | Money Matters
If you’ve saved a lot for retirement, do you have any regrets about what you may have given up to achieve your financial security?
Last week, a reader, who is not a millennial, asked what if you get to retirement age and can’t enjoy your money because you’re infirm. It’s a question I’m sure is behind why many young adults delay retirement saving.
“I recently turned 50, have what I believe to be a reasonably decent amount saved for retirement but also face some significant insecurity regarding my current (well-paying) gig,” Steve wrote. “I am consequently struggling with wanting to be ‘the ant’ and save enough for retirement but also worry about getting to my 60s and regretting not having done more when I was younger and had the money.”
Source: One millennial’s advice to peers on saving for retirement: Don’t live by FOMO
My Comments:
Started reading Michelle’s column in the Sunday paper and decided to sign up for her blog. Really like her advice.
