401k

Don't Despair Over Small Retirement Savings

Posted September 23, 2009 - 05:00 by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance

Early-morning sun on beach chairs under palm trees

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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Optimize Your IRA and 401(k)

Posted July 29, 2009 - 12:00 by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance

Apollo 4 Liftoff

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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Retirement accounts and money to spend

Posted April 8, 2009 - 09:54 by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance

Statue of Athena with an Owl in Chicago's Union Station

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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Funding your 401(k) when you're in debt

Posted November 11, 2008 - 04:23 by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance

Stone steps in the forest

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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Should You Choose a Roth 401k or a Regular 401k?

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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Left a job? Do a rollover.

Posted March 23, 2008 - 03:02 by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance

Your previous job is no place to leave your retirement savings

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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Six Horrible Financial Products You Should Avoid

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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10 important signs that your job sucks

Posted May 1, 2007 - 17:18 by Troy Hadley

Career and Income

my job sucks

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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