Oh what lessons do we learn?  The markets are great, people are feeling great about them, and why shouldn’t, you’re up.  Something tell me we’ve seen this before.  According to the numbers from The Chicago Financial planner, The S&P 500 peaked at 1,527 on May 24, 2000 and then dropped 49% until it bottomed out at [...]

As the market has been bullish recently and experiencing all-time highs, don’t get caught up in the rally and sway from your retirement plan.  According to a recent article in U.S. News and World Report there 5 keys to follow even in a bull market:       1)      Stay the course – Don’t let [...]

Too many Americans find themselves living beyond their means. The CFED Scorecard found that around 30% of Americans don’t have any savings at all and over half (56.4%) have subprime credit rates.  Many people who find themselves with subprime credit rates are more likely to turn to payday loans or auto-title loans. Listed below are [...]

If you are considering opening a retirement plan or have just recently enrolled in a 401k retirement plans, you may realize that 401k’s make it very easy for you to start saving for your retirement. Your contributions are deducted for you, invested for you, and then a statement is sent to you without you having [...]

Find out all of the 401(k) Secrets That Your Employer Does NOT Want You to Know About with the most recent 401(k) report from Annuity Think Tank!   The free report called the “Top 10 401(k) Secrets that your Employer does NOT Want You to Know About” contains many of the most common misconceptions that [...]

USNews has an interesting take on moving around your old 401(K).  They do a really nice job of breaking down the 4 options you have when it comes to that old 401K that we almost all have.  When you leave a job, you have four options for your 401(k) plan balance:   1. Leave it.  [...]

Earlier this week, the Department of Labor announced they are looking for input regarding lifetime income illustrations given to participants in 401(k)s and 403(b)s.  According to Phyllis Borzi, assistant secretary of Labor for EBSA (Employee Benefits Security Administration), “retirees run the risk of outliving their savings.  If workers have the benefit of seeing how long [...]

Earlier this week, Wells Fargo Retirement agreed to offer Prudential’s IncomeFlex Target to their 3 million plan participants.   According to Sri Reddy, Prudential Institutional Income senior vice president, “the partnership will enable more and more American workers on a more secure path to and through retirement.”  “This type of innovation is important as people look [...]

 A recent article from US & World Report discusses the way to plan for income in retirement.  Once you have properly prepared for your retirement, meaning you have evaluated your savings, your expenses, and your needed income you are ready to get your plan on track.  The key is to align your guaranteed income level [...]

An increasing amount of companies are decreasing their employee 401(k) matching programs or cutting them completely.  A recent 2011 survey demonstrated a 7% decrease in companies that had matching programs.  With only 42% of U.S. companies actually offering an employee matching program, more and more employees are on their own when it comes to planning [...]