Posted September 23, 2009 - 05:00 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
If you quit checking your 401(k) balance last year, because the market crash made it too depressing, now might be a good time to take a fresh look. It'll still be well down from the peak, but it's probably recovered quite a bit from the low. However small it may be compared to some imagined goal, don't underestimate the value of any amount of retirement savings.
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Posted July 29, 2009 - 12:00 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
Your IRA and 401(k) (or 403(b) if you work for a non-profit) are great tools for deferring taxes, and have other advantages as well. But because they're labeled "retirement" accounts, people are much too likely to put the wrong investments in them. Here's how to use them correctly.
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Posted April 8, 2009 - 09:54 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
Everybody knows that retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs offer great tax advantages (and once upon a time--and maybe again someday--a corporate match). But people who have plans to spend the money before they reach retirement age worry about the restrictions on early withdrawals that come with the various retirement plans. Here's a cheat-sheet for working the angles.
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Posted November 11, 2008 - 04:23 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
If there are two pieces of financial advice that get hammered more often than any others, they're "Get out of debt" and "Put enough in your 401(k) to get any corporate match." With times getting tough--making both debt reduction and saving seem more urgent than ever--how do you balance those two choices?
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Posted May 22, 2008 - 23:46 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Investment, Taxes
Yesterday I was talking to a friend and he mentioned that his company just started offering the option of investing in Roth 401ks. He was wondering if he should stick with his regular 401k or switch to the new option and we talked about the pros and cons of each for a little bit. Here are my conclusions.
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Posted March 23, 2008 - 03:02 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
I saw this poster on the window of a store-front brokerage firm office near the grocery store. Although the firm in question has an obvious self-interest in getting you to consolidate your investments with them, the underlying message is a good one.
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Posted February 21, 2008 - 15:38 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Credit Cards, Investment, Real Estate and Housing, General Tips
Dealing with financial products can be very confusing and stressful, but there are some products that you should absolutely stay away from for the sake of your financial health. Read on for a list of six things I think people should avoid.
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Posted May 1, 2007 - 17:18 by Troy Hadley
Career and Income
As someone who has had to make the decision to leave more than one lousy job, here's my 10 signs for knowing when to leave. I don't take the decision to quit lightly, and I don't think anyone should. See if the problems can be fixed first.
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