As a member of NAPFA, the largest professional organization for fee-only financial advisors in the country, I routinely receive a number of press requests via email during the course of the week. I delete the vast ...(more)
About two years ago I wrote what remains one of the most popular posts on this blog American Funds-The Secret Sauce for 401(k) Plans. The point of the article was to look at 401(k) plans sold by many commission-based ...(more)
In September of 2009 I wrote Bond Funds Safe Haven or Risky Asset thinking that interest rates were headed up in the near future. I wrote an update of this post in January of 2010 under the same premise. This ...(more)
I suspect in part as an outgrowth of the stock market meltdown of 2008-09, guaranteed income products (annuities) in 401(k) and other retirement plans are a major topic of discussion. The Treasury Department recently ...(more)
Nobody can forecast whether the politicians in Washington will ever put aside their childlike bickering and address the debt ceiling issue. I have been in the financial advice business since the mid 90s and have seen ...(more)
A recent report by HSBC revealed the following:Americans with a financial plan have accumulated on average $127,000 in retirement savings vs. $56,000 for the average U.S. household. Non-planners have an average of ...(more)
In a recent post for US News Smarter Investor I said the following: “Sorry to disappoint, but investing is not sexy or trendy. It takes persistence, monitoring, and commitment.” I want to elaborate on this a bit ...(more)
Participating in your company's retirement savings plan is a great first step, but that alone won't guarantee a comfortable retirement. When thinking about your financial goals and retirement savings, keep these 401(k) ...(more)
The stock market volatility of the past several weeks, along with two substantial market declines over the past 10 years, has really brought investment diversification and balance into the spotlight. As an investment ...(more)
Target-date funds are a staple of many 401(k) plans. Most target-date funds are funds of mutual funds. The three largest firms in the target-date space are Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and Vanguard with a combined market ...(more)
