Category: IRAs

  • Investment Accounts 101

    Planning your investments to build a retirement fund can be a dizzying prospect. The various questions, options, details, accounts, and amounts are enough to make anyone’s head spin. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a generic recipe for success? A nice neat list of step by step instructions on how to make the best…

  • Investing in a Roth as Part of College Education Planning

    A Roth IRA can be a smart way to save for a child’s education or fund continuing education classes. However, the key is to maintain the right amount of risk depending on when the money will be used for college expenses. Education Planning doesn’t have to be complicated, especially with the guidance of a respected…

  • Are Investment Fees Tax Deductible?

    I was looking for a specific answer to this question and I found this great article from David Marotta on Forbes Magazine so I thought I would share on the blog. “I often get asked, “Are investment management fees tax deductible?” The answer is not a simple “yes” or “no.” Like many tax questions, the answer is…

  • Do You Qualify for this Investing Tax Credit?

    The Saver’s Credit: almost a well-kept secret? It’s becoming increasingly difficult for low to middle-income families to save; however, the IRS allows a Saver’s Credit that could mean a $1,000 tax credit. Of course, it depends on the tax filer’s status as well as their adjusted gross income, or AGI.  The tax benefit is to…

  • 3 Reasons to Roll Over an Old 401K to an IRA

    After leaving a company, former employees can usually opt to keep their 401K or move the money over into a Rollover IRA. The benefits of rolling over old employer 401ks often outweigh the negatives. 1. Opening up new opportunities Most 401K or company-sponsored retirement plans offer only a small selection of mutual funds, target-date funds…

  • Tax Time IRA Answers

    Let’s take down the age old question of “Should I invest in a Roth IRA or a Traditional IRA?”   Before I jump into this, you must know that neither one is a bad choice, and it all depends on your situation and goals.  Both accounts are considered “Qualified Accounts”, meaning they have tax advantages over…

  • Retirement Planning Basics: Investment Accounts

    Planning your investments to build a retirement fund can be a dizzying prospect. The various questions and options and details and accounts and amounts are enough to make anyone’s head spin. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a generic recipe for success? A nice neat list of step by step instructions on how to…

  • Equities in the Last 30 Years: A Retrospective

    Looking at a chart http://bit.ly/qSHuve covering the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the last century is a lot like looking at a chart of profitable business earnings at a cartoon enterprise meeting–it’s almost a caricature of itself, a steady upward slope punctuated by regular but far-between drops, always ending higher than it…

  • MyRA:Obama’s New Retirement Plan

    The new idea of the MyRA is similar to a Roth IRA, but with only one investment option, the US Government. There is obviously some diversification red flags that come up with these accounts as well as a few others. Here is more basic information on what a MyRA is from a article on Yahoo…

  • Retirement Planning Microscope Moves to the 20’s

    As time moves onward, a lot of the retirement conversation has shifted. Many discussions no longer revolve around you Baby Boomers. Now, the eyes are on the younger investors, your children. They say hindsight is 20/20, and it seems that many of the twentysomethings have seen the retirement struggles of their parents’ generation all too…