Newsletters
Most Americans spend more time planning for vacations and
holidays than planning for their retirement.1
Will you outlive your retirement income? How much liability insurance should
you have? Should you add stocks to your portfolio? Are your financial
expectations for the coming year realistic?
Our financial newsletters are designed to provide helpful information on a wide
variety of financial topics. Simply click on one of the newsletter topics
below to read the article in its entirety.
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July
HOT TOPIC: Looking for a Recovery in Odd Places
Are signs of an economic recovery showing up in hemlines and lipstick sales?
Get Your Retirement Reality Check
A retirement needs-calculation goes beyond the commonly suggested target to have 70% of pre-retirement income.
Higher Education Pays, But So Will You
It’s likely that admission to the nation’s top colleges and universities will remain competitive, but adequate college savings can help ensure that a student’s opportunity to attend his or her school of choice is not compromised by the lack of resources.
It's Not Too Late to Consider Life Insurance
Results from one survey suggest that confidence in financial security tends to increase as life insurance coverage increases.
Good Care Begins Early
Ironically, people who avoid important discussions because they don’t want to be a burden are sowing seeds for even greater troubles because they are forestalling preparation and ignoring the risks associated with aging, possibly until it’s too late.
Stalking the Mighty Consumer
Economists, traders, investors, and policymakers all take great interest in the financial health of consumers and what they may do next.
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June
HOT TOPIC: Social Security and Medicare in Crosshairs
An entitlement crisis has been looming on the horizon for several years. Unfortunately, according to the latest reports from the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, a spike in unemployment has helped to hasten the arrival of these programs’ insolvency.
Estate of Emergency?
To help ensure that an estate is distributed according to one's wishes, it’s important to have certain legal documents in place.
It's Time to Get Real
During times of market volatility, it can be easy for investors to lose sight of two seemingly immovable obstacles standing in the way of their long-term investment goals: taxes and inflation.
Inflation Goes to College
Over the past 10 years, tuition and fees have grown more than 4% faster than the rate of general inflation at public four-year colleges and more than 2% faster than inflation at private four-year colleges.
Testing Your Liability Limits
This quiz tests the reader’s understanding of personal liability.
The Positives of Negative Correlation
Few asset groups are perfectly negatively correlated, but a portfolio may still be able to benefit from the correlation principle.
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May
HOT TOPIC: Don't Risk an IRA Rollover Mistake
A rising unemployment rate means more people face an important decision about what to do with the money in their former employer’s retirement plan. Fortunately, an IRA rollover can help, but only if it's done correctly.
Celebrate Life and the Benefits of Insuring It
In addition to the protection it can bring, life insurance can also offer some tax benefits.
A Question of Identity
Not only is identity theft costly, it can also be a major hassle that affects a person’s credit score for years. The key to preventing ID theft is awareness.
Exchange-Traded Funds Can Be for Conservative Portfolios, Too
If you avoided ETFs because they were predominantly composed of stocks, the growing availability of bond ETFs might warrant a second look.
The Land of Income Mobility
In America, just about anyone who is dissatisfied with his income has the opportunity to roll up his sleeves and move into a different income bracket.
Recapping Market Capitalization
The blurring of lines between large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap companies is an indication that it may be time to evaluate whether your portfolio holdings have shifted toward or away from your investment objectives.
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April
HOT TOPIC: The Fed Plans to Spend Trillion or More to Spur Growth
For the first time in a generation, the Federal Reserve has undertaken a campaign to influence long-term interest rates, a departure from recent monetary policy that has focused almost exclusively on short-term rates.
Never Too Old—or Too Rich—to Consider Life Insurance
There are many possible reasons to consider owning life insurance, even if you have convinced yourself that it's no longer necessary in your situation.
Avoid the Timing Trap
Market timing is a risky approach that could have a significant effect on a portfolio’s long-term performance.
Income Now or Later
Immediate and deferred fixed annuities are insurance products that could help retirees safeguard some of their nest eggs and provide a steady income stream throughout retirement.
Defend Your Retirement from Inflation
Over long periods, inflation can pose a significant threat to quality of life for retirees, primarily because it reduces the purchasing power of their retirement incomes.
Separate Your Business from Your Portfolio
Allocating too much of your investment capital to one company — even your own — is a risky proposition.
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March
Hot Topic: Historic Stimulus Strives to Spur Economy
In an attempt to address the nation's ongoing economic challenges, Congress has passed and the president has signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The $787 billion package is remarkable not only in its scale and scope but in the speed of its passage as well.
Can You Count on Disability Income?
Disability income insurance replaces a percentage of your salary if you should experience a disability that makes it impossible for you to continue working.
When It Comes to IRAs, Know Your Limits
In recent years, IRAs have become the single largest vehicle for retirement savings in the United States.
Time to Revisit Risk
During volatile financial times, it is only natural to reconsider your own personal risk tolerance and review the role of risk in your portfolio.
Another Update on the History of the AMT
The future of the AMT is nothing but uncertain. Therefore, it is important to consider the potential effect of the AMT on your tax liability in the coming years.
What You Can Learn from LIBOR
To investors around the world, LIBOR is more than a mere benchmark for short-term interest rates. It’s a proxy for how global markets view the outlook for the U.S. economy.
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February
Variables You Can Count On
One way to pursue gains in the stock market while also limiting downside risks is through the use of living benefit guarantees that are offered with some variable annuities (for an additional cost).
Preparing Not to Inherit
Preparing for retirement will require adequate saving and investing, not just working hard to stay in the good graces of wealthy relatives.
Essential Fundamental Analysis
The fact is that the financial markets rely heavily on fundamental analysis in order to set prices and make decisions to buy or sell.
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January
HOT TOPIC: Saving America's Storied Automakers
The White House agreed to a strings-attached loan package to help keep the Big Three out of bankruptcy. But will the measure help keep the U.S. auto industry from dragging down the U.S. economy?
A Simple Conversion
It has never been easier to convert all or part of an employer-sponsored retirement plan to a Roth IRA.
Investors Without Borders
As foreign markets step up to take their places on the international stage, investors content to stay at home may miss out on some opportunities.
Averaging for Dollars
Dollar-cost averaging is a method of investing that may enable you to achieve a lower average cost per share over time.
The Most Important Blank
The most important document in an estate conservation strategy might not be a will or any other document a lawyer was paid to create, but rather your retirement account beneficiary form.
Time for Forecasts
Economic forecasting is an important part of business, but the future is elusive. Forecasts have limitations that should be considered when making investment decisions.
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December
HOT TOPIC: What's Ahead for 2009
Economists believe the U.S. economy probably entered a recession in late 2008, but a recovery could be in motion by the second quarter of 2009. What else might 2009 have in store?
Protection for a Rainy Day
For a reasonable price, umbrella liability insurance policies can help close the gap between your auto and homeowners insurance policies and a potentially devastating liability claim.
Social Security Outlook
If your retirement is a long way off, you might want to consider the possibility that Social Security may not provide a significant source of your retirement income. Here’s why.
Don’t Bet Your Life on These Insurance Myths
Learning about common life insurance misconceptions can help you make one of the most important decisions for those you leave behind.
Managing Volatility with a Bond Ladder
One way to help manage interest-rate risk and cash flow from bonds is to construct a bond ladder.
What Employment Says About the Economy
As important as the national unemployment rate is, it’s only a small segment of the overall data collected on the nation’s jobs situation and the economy at large.
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November
HOT TOPIC: A Bear Market History Lesson
If it feels like the sky is falling, it wouldn’t be the first time. But is the downturn that began in October 2007 all that different from bear markets of the past? Here’s a look back at the nine other bear markets that have occurred since 1950.
How Much Is Enough?
When you look at your life insurance coverage as a lump sum, it might seem like a lot of money, but how much is it in relation to your annual income?
TIPS for Managing Inflation
The U.S. Treasury issues a form of debt that helps protect investors from the effects of inflation: Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS).
Investing Can Be Funds
The popularity of mutual funds is not surprising, considering the benefits they can offer to investors. Some of these benefits could help make mutual funds an important part of your portfolio.
Leaving Memories, Not a Mess
Although it is not a legal document, a letter of instructions enables you to clearly describe your preferences for a variety of issues, such as organ donations, memorial/funeral arrangements, and other details that are not specified in a will or a trust.
Gauging Investor Sentiment
Technical analysis, the evaluation of securities based on historical prices and other trading variables, is based in part on market psychology and thus looks at a host of sentiment indicators for clues about the near future.
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October
HOT TOPIC: Government Intervenes in Credit Crisis
September was an unsettling month for the financial markets that Americans may not soon forget. Here's a look at what happened.
Adding Stability in Volatile Times
One strategy that can add growth potential to a portfolio, without assuming many of the risks associated with the financial markets, involves purchasing an annuity contract from an insurance company.
Why Do Lower Prices Equal Higher Yields?
The price/yield relationship is rooted in the secondary bond market, where bonds may trade at a premium or discount of the par (or face) value.
Will Going Green Grow Green?
About one out of every nine dollars under professional management in the United States is already invested according to socially screened criteria. There are several key questions to ask yourself when considering how this rising tide could affect your portfolio.
Increase Your Protection
If your net worth exceeds the amount of liability coverage provided by your homeowners and auto insurance policies (each usually tops out somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000), you might want to consider an umbrella liability insurance policy.
Should You Found a Foundation?
If you want to control how and where your donations are used, create an entity that has the potential to last for generations, and unite family members behind a worthy cause — and don’t mind some fairly strict paperwork requirements — this type of organization might be worth considering.
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September
Beat the Big Three What Ifs
Taxes, inflation, and medical costs — among other factors — could have an unanticipated effect on your retirement. There may be little you can do to combat them once you are no longer working.
Stay Off the Phishing Hook
In the run-up to this year’s April 15 tax deadline, taxpayers forwarded more than 33,000 phishing scam e-mails to the IRS, causing the agency to put phishing at the top of its annual list of scams of concern to taxpayers.
Charity That Pays
By organizing your giving, you can make it more effective, allowing your largess to benefit not only the intended charity, but potentially yourself and your heirs. Two popular ways to structure your giving are charitable lead trusts and charitable remainder trusts.
Your Best Interest
Successfully managing credit is crucial, but there are some arcane credit-card rules that may affect your balance, your interest rate, and even your credit score.
Put Some Infrastructure in Your Portfolio
The normally placid muni bond market has been roiled by a confluence of variables related to the stock market, slow economic growth, and credit-market woes. One result has been yields high enough to get the attention of investors who normally stick to Treasurys.
Life Lessons
Research shows that most people who own life insurance may not have adequate coverage. The real problem is that many of these people may not find out that they lack the proper coverage until it's too late.
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August
The Election and Your Money
In this year’s election, there are issues, such as energy, free trade, and inflation, playing a role that could have a significant effect on investors and consumers over the next four years.
It’s Your Home, Not Your Retirement
Although downsizing or using a reverse mortgage to free up home equity can be appropriate for some older retirees, planning to rely on your home to fund your retirement is a corner you may not want to paint yourself into.
Protect Your Downside
When the economy takes a turn for the worse, bond mutual funds offer investors a chance to diversify their holdings and dampen risk.
Every Little Bit Helps
IRA catch-up contributions enable investors aged 50 and older to make up ground in saving for retirement, whether they had a late start or just want to sock away more money.
What’s in It for You?
The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 contained favorable provisions that will benefit small business. It appears that the government wants to inspire businesses to spend freely, too.
Good Time to Keep Going
Inflation is rising. Home prices are falling. Oil and stock prices are volatile. Could this be a good time to ramp up your retirement savings? You might be surprised at the answer.
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