First off, you are probably wondering what the heck the birth rate has to do with personal finance. Surprisingly, more than you would think. The main importance of the birth rate is related to Social Security and Medicare. If we travel back in time when Social Security was originally implemented, there were 5 workers for [...]
Just the other day, President Obama released his 2013 budget. I am not going to get into all of the details of the proposal. I am going to focus in on three interesting topics that pertain to retirement savings and my thoughts on them. Please note that there are many other aspects of his plan, [...]
Is Your 401k Plan Disclosing Fees?
Posted byBack in January of 2012, I wrote an article on the upcoming fee disclosure rules for 401k accounts. Plan providers were now being required to display how much in fees the employees were paying with their current 401k plan. This is an issue because up until the rule change, providers could essentially charge anything they [...]
Open a Roth IRA for your Teen
Posted byThinking back to my teenage days, all I was concerned about was finishing up work at my weekend job so I could drive around and hang out with my friends. I never thought about opening a Roth IRA for teens! The money I made while I worked part-time put gas in the car and provided [...]
Easy Retirement Plan Goals for 2013
Posted byIt’s a new year, so that means most people will be making an annual list of resolutions. These typically range from paying off debt to saving more, losing weight and building better relationships. Pretty much anything you want to change can be included as a resolution for the new year. There is only one problem [...]
2012-2013 Roth 401k and Roth IRA Limits
Posted byThe 2013 Roth IRA limits and Roth 401k contribution limits were just announced, so you can start planning your contributions. The new 2013 limits will go up for both the Roth 401k and the Roth IRA. The 401k limits and IRA limits are determined based on inflation, so the 2013 social security wage base increased [...]
2012-2013 401k and IRA Limits
Posted byThe 2013 IRA limits and 401k contribution limits were just announced, so you can start planning your 2013 contributions. The new 2013 limits will go up for both the 401k and the IRA. Increases in the 401k limits and IRA limits are determined based on inflation, so in addition to the 401k and IRA limits [...]
Social Security 2013 Wage Base Increase
Posted byThe 2013 Social Security wage base will be going up again (just like the 2012 Social Security wage base increase). The wage base in 2013 is $113,700. It’s an increase over the 2012 Social Security wage base, which was $110,100. The wage base increase follows an increase last year over the 2011 Social Security wage [...]
Over the years, there has been a lot of hullabaloo over the solvency of the Social Security system here in the United States and whether or not Social Security will still be around in 20 years. Many people have fears and questions that are not sufficiently answered by those who represent us in congress. (A [...]
I am one year and five months away from being fully vested in my agency’s pension plan. As I mentioned previously when I discussed what happens to your pension when a company goes bankrupt, I contribute 6.45% per paycheck and my employer matches this contribution. Another nice option for staying with my employer for an [...]
