With any investment approach, it is crucial to have a plan, and the bedrock of any investment plan is to have a well-diversified portfolio among various asset classes. The rationale behind diversification is to mitigate risk, as you never know when something could adversely affect one of your investments. If you had a portfolio concentrated [...]
Gone are the days when job hunting meant simply opening a newspaper and browsing the classified ads. Today, the digital age has made job searching more complicated. Fortunately, the online jungle of job opportunities and professional advice is easier to navigate when you know a few key strategies. Hone your navigation skills You won't know [...]
If you made a New Year's Resolution to get healthy, you may get more bang for your resolution buck than you bargained for. That's because healthy habits can benefit your wallet as well as your body. The link between health and money According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic conditions--including diabetes, [...]
Balancing the commitments of both work and family can be a struggle for many women. As a result, you may have to take a break from your career to stay home and raise a family or care for an elderly parent or relative. Whether you are taking a break for just a few months or [...]
Traditional economic models are based on a simple premise: people make rational financial decisions that are designed to maximize their economic benefits. In reality, however, most humans don't make decisions based on a sterile analysis of the pros and cons. While most of us do think carefully about financial decisions, it is nearly impossible to [...]
After the financial markets posted another strong performance during the first half of this year, the word “magic” keeps coming to mind! And it’s not just because the word offers an apt description of the pretty wizardly stock market returns lately. My current interest in sorcery also comes from observing a noticeable shift in investor [...]
Life is full of choices. Should you watch Breaking Bad or Modern Family? Eat leftovers for dinner or order out? Exercise before work or after? Some choices, though, are much more significant. Here is one such financial dilemma for parents. Should you save for retirement or college? It's the paramount financial conflict many parents face, [...]
For many homeowners, paying off a mortgage is a financial milestone. This is especially true when you are retired. Not having the burden of a monthly mortgage payment during retirement can free up money to help you live the retirement lifestyle you've always wanted. To pay off, or not to pay off: that is the [...]
If you're entitled to a distribution from your 401(k) plan (for example, because you've left your job, or you've reached age 59½), and it's rollover-eligible, you may be faced with a choice. Should you take the distribution and roll the funds over to an IRA, or should you leave your money where it is? Across [...]
Is the stock market rigged in favor of high-speed electronic trading firms? Perhaps, but that shouldn’t matter to most investors. Last week, media reports and a new book by author Michael Lewis have focused on a form of high-frequency stock trading where professional traders use sophisticated computers and complex programming to see stock orders coming [...]