Target date mutual funds by all accounts seem simple. Determine the year in which you want to retire and put a bull's-eye on the calendar. Go to your employer-sponsored 401(k) or IRA, or to your individual brokerage account, and find the target date mutual funds that match your retirement date. Start pouring your retirement dollars into that one fund.
As the years go by, your fund is routinely rebalanced and becomes incrementally more conservative. The theory is that as your retirement date arrives, the changing asset mix will provide the proper recipe for stability and growth.
Inherited IRA plans are not intended to permanently shelter IRA distributions from income taxes. Instead, they are intended to provide for the retirement of the IRA holder or, after they have died, for the support of their beneficiaries. As a result, the IRS has established IRA distribution rules so that investments will be depleted over the course of the IRA holder's or beneficiary's life expectancies. These rules are known as required minimum distributions (RMDs). 
Have you ever considered rolling your 401k or other retirement account from one financial institution to another? Whether it is for higher returns, a greater variety of investments or better service in general, many times this can be a great move! If you roll over your 401k, there are some mistakes that many commonly make that you must avoid. These mistakes could result in unnecessary taxes and a 10% early withdrawal penalty. As you read below, we will give you an overview of 401k or retirement rollover rules and tips to keep you out of trouble.
There are 3 major types of annuities in the world fixed, income, and variable. An indexed annuity is a type of deferred annuity whose return is directly tied to the performance of a particular market index.
I am getting divorced, but do I need to put additional divorce planning into effect for my 401k, 403b, IRA, or other retirement plan? Divorces are never something that people pIan, however nearly 50% of Americans end up in that situation at some point in their lives.
If your current employer is offering to match a certain limit of your 401k contributions, then you should focus on making enough contributions to your 401k to fully take advantage of the match. As a result of the recent economic slowdown, companies just aren’t matching as much these days, and it may be more of the norm moving forward. But as long as the option is available, be sure to take advantage of any sort of match, it’s free money and would be detrimental not to put into effect. 
Retirement planning should be a comprehensive process, whereby you should take advantage of every opportunity to sock away some funds for the future. One such opportunity that is commonly missed is to take advantage of the spousal Roth IRA, especially if your spouse isn’t working, and you have the disposable income to do so.
With the recent economic downturn, Americans have become increasingly concerned about job security-and with just cause, turning to their 401k plans to help to meet those needs. Unemployment remains at right around a 10% rate, not even counting those who aren’t fully employed, and that means many people will search for additional funds to help them get through this financially uncertain period of time. As a result of these difficulties, some may choose to cash out their retirement accounts early. 