My Retirement Blog
-
Vanguard Changes Fee Structure
Recently Vanguard did away with all those small fees they charged for low balances, custodial charges, etc; and went with one fee for every fund in which you don’t have a balance over $10,000. If you don’t have $10,000, you can always opt for going all-electronic (or having over $100k) because that will get you…
-
Save For House or Retirement?
One of the parts of Walter Updegrave’s latest article on retirement and housing was whether one should forgo retirement savings for a home downpayment saving. Updegrave separates the discussion into two parts: Should you defer retirement savings for a while to save up for a downpayment? If you do defer, will the house’s upkeep and…
-
Longevity Insurance
This may sound a little strange but you can actually buy insurance for living too long, from a retirement perspective. According to Yahoo Finance, you might be able to buy a longevity insurance policy at 65 for $25,000 that pays out $3,000 a month for every month after your 85th birthday. How does that compare…
-
Top 5 Reasons To Save For Retirement Now!
Do you really need five reasons to save for retirement? Probably not, but in case you did here are five very good reasons why you should start saving, even if it’s not for retirement, right this second. 1. Time Is Your Friend Time will smooth out the ups and downs of the stock market and…
-
401K Retirement Savings Calculator
Looking for a 401k retirement savings calculator? Use this one from Financial Calculators, Inc. It will, given your entry of some assumptions, give you an estimated value of your 401K account come retirement and might be helpful in your retirement planning. Also, by tweaking with the numbers, you can see how small changes now can…
-
Start Saving Right Now!
How old are you? How many years away from retirement are you? No matter how you answered any of those questions, if you aren’t saving some money away for your retirement right now, you’re already behind. But it’s okay, being behind is no big deal as long as you recognize that you’ve fallen behind and…
-
What Are Hardship Withdrawals
When you contribute money to your 401k, the only way to get the money out before you turn 59.5 is if you borrow the money or activate what’s called a hardship withdrawal. Now, in both cases (borrowing or hardship withdrawing), they are permitted by law but your employer isn’t required to allow you the ability…
-
Saving 10% May Not Be Enough
Like many of the personal finance benchmarks and rules of thumb, your own personal situation will dictate how you must adjust those benchmarks and rules because what applies to you may not apply to someone else (likewise, the advice may be meant for smoeone else and not for you). So, whenever I hear of these…
-
$25k In Savings Puts You Above Average
Believe it. Nearly half of all workers saving for retirement have savings that fall short of the $25,000 mark, according to the 2007 Retirement Confidence Survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Matthew Greenwald & Associates. As scary as that thought is, some of it is explained away because that percentage includes all working…
Got any book recommendations?