Roth IRA

The economic decisions that you make on a daily basis have a direct impact on your financial future. Your decisions can either set you up for a nice comfortable retirement or force you to work much longer than you ever planned. If you want to get on the right track to a successful retirement then [...]

I’m not exactly sure when parents started giving allowances to their kids.  I wonder if that was around the same time when the tooth fairy started stock piling teeth.  However, somehow kids are introduced to the economics of life when they are just wee little humans. On the one hand, some parents say kids should [...]

Not everyone has the time or inclination to master the subject of personal finance. Luckily, it is not always necessary to master it. In the same way you can hire an electrician without understanding the inner workings of home wiring, you can hire a financial advisor to get your money in order. There are all [...]

Tax season just ended. Do you really want to think about taxes already? You do if you are interested in reducing your tax liability and saving money more efficiently. What you do now can result in tax savings when April rolls around again. A tax deduction is an expense that can lower your taxable income, [...]

We all know (or should know) that having an emergency fund is a good thing, and I think most people would agree that the best place to keep your emergency fund is in a high yield savings account or a short-term CD. However, I try not to keep a lot of money in my emergency [...]

People are greatly divided on the topic of early mortgage pay off — some say it’s a good idea, others disagree. This topic is highly debatable because there are so many factors to consider, and even a slight change in one of these factors could swing the answer in one way or another. In any [...]

Traditional IRAs can give you a tax break and grow tax-deferred. Roth IRAs are funded by after-tax money and grow tax-free. Along with your 401(k), IRAs will likely constitute the bulk of your retirement savings. But IRAs can also be used for non-retirement purposes. If you’re buying your first home or paying for college, you [...]

Many people like to dream big and think big. Unfortunately, the sheer amount of effort to accomplish their big goals simply overwhelms them. For instance, take a routine activity like walking across the street. You take one step at a time and you get the job done. But if I ask you to leap across [...]

When Do You Plan To Retire? That was the question our financial advisor asked the very first time we met together.  Since my wife and I were both in our early 20’s, we said 50.  We figured 50 is really old and if we waited much longer we would probably need to do all of [...]

There are a plethora of things that seems to constantly be on the mind of a business owner or self employed individual and quite often retirement planning is not one of them. After all, who can think about retirement planning that affects 40 years down the road when there is next weeks payroll, next month’s [...]