The stock market is off to a rocky start this year. But focusing on your overall financial picture, combined with sound planning, can pay dividends regardless of market conditions. These 5 steps can help steady your pulse during market downturns and elevate your financial security
Setting clear
time frame—will
investment approach.
Revisit your financial goals. Setting clear, prioritized goals—each with steps to achieve the goal, a…
If you want to maximize your income in retirement and the legacy you leave behind, annuities are a better choice than bonds for your fixed income allocation.
NEW YORK, September 12, 2013 — One benefit of being single is that your money is your own, to use as you see fit, so you have the freedom to decide which savings plans and investment vehicles are right for you. But you are also solely responsible for protecting yourself financially, and insurance should be at the top of the list. In observance of Unmarried and Single Americans Week (September 15-21), the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) provides advice to protect your greatest asset—you…
By
Retirement columnist
You might not think it’s a risk at the moment, what with the market close to all-time highs. But at some point the market will fall again. And when it does, current and future retirees will get to experience what the experts refer to as sequence-of-returns risk—the risk that you’ll withdraw money from a nest egg that keeps falling in value, especially in the early years of retirement
“One of the biggest risks to a successful retirement is the exposure…
Retirement columnist
Come December, there’s typically no shortage of experts forecasting about the year to come: “Clouds of uncertainty,” “sunglasses required,” etc
Earlier this week, for instance, BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research predicted that a “cloud of uncertainty is likely to overhang the markets through a painful and protracted resolution of the U.S. fiscal cliff” at least through April
But every cloud, apparently, has a silver…
By Morningstar Canada | 28/03/16
Question: I hear the terms "average maturity" and "average duration" used to describe bond funds. They sound similar, so what's the difference
About the Author
Morningstar Canada, a subsidiary of Morningstar Inc., is a leading provider of independent investment research and data. We provide extensive reporting, analysis and commentary on investments and personal finance. The editorial team can be reached at…
Annuity products are the only financial instruments that provide long-term, open-ended guarantees in the form of a fixed income for a lifetime.
The cash bucket is simply an emergency fund stocked with money that represents the equivalent of 2-3 years of income the household does not receive as a result of pensions or similarly scheduled payouts. In other words, if a couple gets $35,000 a year from Social Security and needs $55,000 a year to live comfortably, the cash bucket should hold $40,000-60,000
The household replenishes the cash…
Due to increasing life expectancies, many are running into the problem of outlasting their savings. Use this calculator to help determine when your retirement savings account may be depleted given a specified monthly income target. You may currently be in receipt of a company pension or other fixed income such as Social Security to help supplement your retirement savings account
The results and explanations generated by…
By: David Smyth, January 23, 2019
One thing that always follows New Year's resolutions is the review of your stock portfolio, right? Lots of folks want to sit down and talk about not just the previous year, but take a look three or five years back. Then come the questions of "what have you done for me lately?" as folks look at their statements after the volatility of the last quarter. We know we need to be prepared to answer these questions, and…
What to Do with an Old Life Insurance Policy
As people prepare to retire, it's not uncommon to find an old life insurance policy in their portfolio. Sometimes the policy has accumulated thousands of dollars or more in cash value. Other times, the death benefit is worth millions of dollars - if it can be kept in force until the insured dies
Fortunately, those who find themselves with old life insurance policies they've been paying on for years often have several good choices.…
What do higher rates mean after almost a decade of near-zero rates? It's time to reconsider risk in fixed-income portfolios.
Last Updated: May 18, 2011 5:39 p.m. ET
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Investing for retirement is more complicated than opening an IRA or maxing out your 401(k). In fact, according to a 2010 survey by Charles Schwab of people 50 and older, nearly one in three say they find investing for retirement a bigger challenge than dealing with expenses or saving money. And no wonder: Pensions have mostly given way to so-called defined contribution plans -- think 401(k), 403 (b) and 457 plan -- which have…
The biggest opportunity in the sharing economy is our talent, as I highlighted in Part I of this post. Let's take a closer look at 5 major disruptions that are driving the talent sharing economy and upending the way we work and live
1. Corporate loyalty is dead
A recent survey shows that nine out of ten Millennials say they expect to stay in a job for less than three years. This translates into 15-20 jobs over the course of their working lives!…
Retirees can’t expect a fixed income stream from risky investments, Sunday Journal columnist Jonathan Clements writes.
Traveling on a fixed income may seem like a challenge, but these tips for retirement travel can help you make trips fit within your budget.
Guy Lebas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, reacts to the Fed’s latest Beige Book survey. He speaks with Bloomberg's David Gura and Shery Ahn on "Bloomberg Markets." (Source: Bloomberg)
Until this year, provisions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) only governed employee benefit managers of companies with more than 100 employees. But that changed in January 2016, when the federal law expanded its coverage of mid-sized businesses.
By Christine Benz | 04/04/16
Question: As a 68-year-old new retiree, I have about half of my portfolio in bond funds. But frankly, I'm questioning the wisdom of such a large fixed-income position given the prospect of higher interest rates. How can I tell how interest-rate-sensitive my portfolio really is
About the Author
Christine Benz is Morningstar's director of personal finance and author of 30-Minute Money…
Learn why investment portfolios should rely on fixed income for diversification from equities, capital preservation, income and inflation protection.