All the Ways You Can Mess Up Your 401(k)
by Mitch TuchmanWorkplace retirement plans get a lot of bad press, primarily small company plans loaded with high fees. But, truth be told, 401(k)s have been a boon to millions of Americans with access to them. In total, 55 million savers held $5.3 trillion in these plans at the end of 2017, according to industry data. Put… Continue reading
New Rule Safeguards Wall Street’s Profit Pipeline, Putting Investors at Risk
by Mitch TuchmanThe Securities and Exchange Commission, the chief regulator in charge of Wall Street, has a startling message for investors: “You’re on your own.” The SEC has just opened to public comments a potential change to how your stockbroker must operate. The only reason any action is being considered at all is because another government agency,… Continue reading
Our Retirement System Is Inherently Unfair To Women. Here’s Why
by Mitch TuchmanA lot has been written about the “sandwich generation,” working adults under pressure to raise kids and care for aging parents — and probably forgoing their own financial needs to pull it off. To which women of just about any generation might say: Welcome to my world! Kara Stiles at Forbes wrote an excellent piece… Continue reading
Jack Bogle: Wall Street Buys In Bulk, Then Upcharges Investors to the Hilt
by Mitch TuchmanEver looked at the price labels on grocery store shelves? I mean really looked? Sure you have. Any good shopper knows that the big number is the price of the thing you want to buy, while the tiny number is the price per ounce, per pound, or some other unit. That way you can easily… Continue reading
How ‘Easy’ Target-Date Funds Can Endanger Your Retirement
by Mitch TuchmanAmericans love “set and forget it” products. Like rotisserie roasters and slow cookers that prepare delicious dinners while we’re miles from the kitchen, any approach that takes out complexity is beloved in our harried, overworked society. That’s why index funds are growing so rapidly. Why pay an advisor good money to pick stocks when the… Continue reading
Retirement Is Expensive. Here’s What To Do About It.
by Mitch TuchmanYou probably think of your own home as your largest expense in life. Perhaps your kids, if you think of them as expenses. A recent study, in fact, estimated that buying a house and raising a child cost about the same — $245,300 for the house and $278,300 to raise a child from birth to… Continue reading
Is Your Broker Really On Your Side? SEC Action Might Force Hand Of Advisors
by Mitch TuchmanQuick question: What title does your financial advisor use? What’s actually on his or her business card? If the words are “financial advisor,” the feds could come calling with pointed questions. The problem is one of legal responsibility. In the final weeks of the Obama administration the government was set to raise the bar on… Continue reading
All Fired Up Over Guns? A Better Way To Invest For The Socially Conscious
by Mitch TuchmanThe headlines are outrageous and heartbreaking. Seventeen dead in a Florida high school, victims of an angry young man with a powerful weapon in his hands. This follows, of course, the mass attacks in Las Vegas, in Orlando and in Newtown, Conn. Never mind the estimated 96 guns deaths daily around the country, most of… Continue reading
How To Spoil Valentine’s Day — But Maybe Save Your Relationship
by Mitch TuchmanWhat could be more complicated than love? Money, hands down. The strange, beautiful chemistry that binds two people together can make us blind to many faults. That’s good, because we certainly have faults of our own to conceal. Where things can turn sour, of course, is when we have to talk to our partners about… Continue reading