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Contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement plan or an IRA is a big step on the road to retirement, but contributing to both can significantly boost your retirement assets. A recent study found that, on average, individuals who owned both a 401(k) and an IRA at some point during the six-year period of the study had combined balances about 2.5 times higher than those who owned only a 401(k…

According to a March 2021 survey, an estimated 2.8 million Americans ages 55 and older decided to file for Social Security benefits earlier than they expected because of COVID-19. This was about double the 1.4 million people in the same age group who said they expected to work longer, presumably due to pandemic-related financial losses.1

Many older workers were pushed into retirement…

The COVID-19 economic crisis tested the mettle of all Americans, particularly working mothers. Research shows that the pandemic's impacts on women have been far-reaching and potentially long-lasting. Now that the U.S. economy is picking up steam, it may be more important than ever for women to re-examine their retirement planning strategies.

The COVID-…

The opportunity to acquire company stock — inside or outside a workplace retirement plan — can be a lucrative employee benefit. Your compensation may include stock options or bonuses paid in company stock. Shares may be offered at a discount through an employee stock purchase plan and held in a taxable account, or company stock might be one of the investment options in your tax-deferred 401(k…

You may have purchased life insurance years ago and never gave it a second thought. Or perhaps you don't have life insurance at all and now you need it. When your life circumstances change, you have a fresh opportunity to make sure the people you love are protected.

When you were single, life insurance might have seemed like an unnecessary expense, but now someone else is…

If you make significant gifts to your children or someone else's children (perhaps a grandchild, a nephew, or a niece), or if someone else makes gifts to your children, there are a number of things to consider.

There are a variety of ways to make transfers to children that are not treated as taxable gifts. Filing a gift tax return is generally required only…

If you lose a job, switch employers, or step into retirement, you might consider rolling your retirement plan savings into an IRA. But this isn't your only option; it could make more sense to keep the money in your previous employer's plan or move it to your new employer's plan (if allowed by the plan).

You could also cash out, but that's rarely a good idea. Withdrawals from tax-…

U.S. assets invested in socially responsible strategies topped $17.1 trillion at the start of 2020, up 42% from two years earlier. Sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investments now account for nearly one-third of all professionally managed U.S. assets.1 This upward trend suggests that many people want their investment dollars to pursue a financial return and make a positive…

Qualified retirement plans, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, have many rules, and some of them can be quite complicated. Take the following quiz to see how well you understand some of the finer points.

1. You can make an unlimited number of retirement plan rollovers per year.

A. True

B. False

C. It depends

2. If you roll money from a Roth 401(k) to a Roth IRA,…

Term life insurance provides life insurance coverage for a specific time period (the term). The face amount of the policy is paid if you die during the term of the policy. When you live longer than the term of coverage, nothing is paid, as there is no cash surrender value. Permanent life insurance provides protection for your entire life, regardless of your age or health, as long as you pay…