You know that living within your means is the ticket to preventing excess debt and keeping your financial planning goals on target. But for many of us, knowing this fact is one thing and living it is another! If you aren’t exactly conscious of your budget, follow these ten steps to get your spending in [...]
When we talk about retirement planning, we consistently stress the idea that no one should rely on Social Security to completely fund their retirement. And yet, 31 percent of working Americans have accumulated 0 dollars in savings. Many others have saved very little. And so, it appears that a number of households expect to rely [...]
Planning for retirement essentially requires you to approach your finances from both directions: How will you set up dependable retirement income, and how will you spend it so that you stay within a reasonable budget? To address that second point, entering retirement free of debt, or with as little debt as possible, is one of [...]
Considering the fact that almost all of us will one day collect benefits from Social Security, you would think we’d all be familiar with the ins and outs of the program. But in reality, many people are poorly informed on how it works. MassMutual recently offered a twelve-question, true-or-false quiz for soon-to-be retirees (age 55 [...]
Once we reach age 50, most of us feel as though we have our careers on track and our finances in check. But what about your retirement plan? Are you building toward a secure future, or do some areas of your financial life still need some work? Ask yourself the following six questions to assess [...]
Have you been diligently squirreling away money for retirement over the past couple of decades? If so, you’re probably feeling pretty antsy to retire. But before you take that leap, assess your retirement readiness by looking for these ten signs that your money might not last as long as it needs to. You didn’t know [...]
If you’re like a lot of people, you might be thinking of downsizing into a smaller home in retirement. There are a number of great reasons for doing so, such as enjoying the lower maintenance of a smaller home and yard. And of course, you might wish to tap into the equity of your old [...]
After spending much of your career planning for, and dreaming about retirement, you’ve finally hit the home stretch. Retirement is just around the corner and you’re getting excited. Hopefully, there won’t be any surprises, but checking on the status of other people’s retirements can help you prepare. These statistics can clue you in on what [...]
Once you hit your sixties, you’re in the home stretch toward retirement. At this time, you need to confront several big decisions and make plans for certain parts of your life. If you’ve reached this decade and you’re approaching retirement, consider these five decisions carefully. Decide when to claim Social Security. Social Security deems “full [...]
Have you noticed rising prices on a number of goods and services recently? If so, you’re not alone. In fact, the Consumer Price Index, which monitors inflation, is currently reflecting higher prices in a number of categories. That’s the bad news. The good news is that, since a subsection of the Consumer Price Index is [...]