Bob and Lisa Smith, 58 and 63, are looking ahead to their retirement early next year. They dream about heading south to a cheaper and warmer state but haven't made conclusion either way. Bob is the sole breadwinner and earns $75,000.

The Smith’s two main concerns are outliving their savings and taxes. "Ideally, we would like...

Read More >>

Are you looking for other ways of diversifying your investments in your IRA account? Most know that you can invest in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds within your tax deferred funds, but there are other investment vehicles available. Real Estate, Currencies, and Precious Metals, are a few examples of outside the box type of investments to round out your portfolio. In this entry, we will focus...

Read More >>

Retirement Proposals from the Obama Administration

There is absolutely no doubt that the last few years have been rocky, and we may not be out of the woods yet. Certain factors such as high unemployment, inflation fears, and a still stagnant housing market, could be catalysts working against a full economic recovery.

As a result, the Obama administration has started proposing new changes to protect the retirement savings and income strategies...

Read More >>

The Good ole U.S. Treasury Bonds, Bills, and Notes

Historically, some of the most popular investments are the United States Treasury bonds, bills, and notes. While these bonds bring back memories of bond certificates in Grandma's safe deposit box, there are several misconceptions about U.S. treasury issues that are commonplace. In this entry, we will address some of these investing misnomers, and parlay that knowledge into today's bond...

Read More >>

Taxes imposed to finance Medicare

Medicare is financed in part by payroll taxes imposed by the Federal Insurance Contributions. When there are employees, the tax is equal to 2.9% (1.45% withheld from the employee and a matching 1.45% paid by the company) of the salaries and other compensation in connection with employment. Until December...

Read More >>

First and foremost, for those who do not have a grasp on the definition of a pension plan, please read the following.

A pension plan is a way of saving for retirement in which an employee transfers part of his or her current salary toward retirement income. The two main types of pension plans are defined-benefit plans and defined-contribution plans. In the defined-benefit plan, the employer gives a guarantee that their employee will receive a defined amount of income upon retirement, regardless...

Read More >>