Blog
Consider Paying Down Your Mortgage
Tens of millions of Americans can earn a risk-free 3 to 6 percent annual return by paying down their mortgage. Can it get even better? Yes, it's quite often tax-advantaged as well. If you have enough money in the bank or in investments to do it, consider the logic...
What can a 529 be used for? More than you may think
What constitutes a qualified educational expense? When that question relates to 529 savings plans, the answer may be broader than you think. Although 529 accounts are often used to pay for children’s college tuition, those funds can also be used for a variety of...
5 Steps to Investing Your Health Savings Account
How much does the government want consumers to use health savings accounts to pay for healthcare expenses? So much that it has made the HSA the only triple-tax-advantaged vehicle in the whole tax code: you contribute dollars on a pretax basis, your money compounds on...
Why extended warranties are hardly ever a good deal
Cost of a three-year extended warranty for a dishwasher: $157.97. Average cost of a dishwasher repair: $159. The fact that service contracts often cost about the same as a repair is just one reason extended warranties — also known as service contracts and protection...
A ‘dead’ home-equity tax deduction sees new life due to IRS
President Trump’s new tax law has caused concern among homeowners looking to borrow against the equity in their houses. The legislation appeared to eliminate the deduction taxpayers get for the interest owed on home-equity loans, but after prodding from lobbying...
‘Nightmare’ for bonds ahead? How to explain it to clients
As investors have recently rediscovered, stocks have risks. So do bonds. When Fed Chairman Jerome Powell recently hinted his agency could boost rates as many as four times this year, volatility ensued. The stock turbulence demonstrated that weakness may be looming for...
Is it really necessary to rebalance your investment portfolio?
Periodic rebalancing is generally a good way to keep your investing strategy on track and to prevent your portfolio from becoming too risky during market surges (like the one we've been experiencing in recent years) or too conservative after big market setbacks. That...
3 Big Money Mistakes to Avoid Once You’re in Retirement
It’s the big question at the heart of all retirement planning: how long will you live, and by extension, how long should your money last? But you don’t need to tie yourself up in existential—or actuarial—knots trying to answer the unanswerable, financial advisors say....