There are all kinds of things you can do to improve your future money-wise, but a few are super easy to do. In fact, you can improve your future in about 5 minutes, just by doing one little thing: (more…)

Retirement often seems either far, far away or right around the corner — depending on how close to retirement you are. So the most important things you need to know about about retirement may not be what you’d imagine. (more…)

You might be thinking of cashing out 401k when leaving a job. It can be especially tempting to do so in two circumstances: when there’s “only a little bit” in the 401k, and when there’s a whole lot of money in it. If you’re doing a hardship withdrawal as a last resort — such as to stave off foreclosure or feed your family — that can be another matter, but there are still things you should be aware of. (more…)

If your child has taxable earned income and qualifies, a Roth IRA can be a great way to get them started on investing for retirement. This is the case for several reasons.

Like Roths for adults, money in a Roth IRA for children grows tax free. Since the majority of kids have very low earned incomes, they’re probably paying little or no taxes on that income anyway. In that case, a Roth can be even more beneficial because it’s likely that most or ALL of the money added to the Roth will be tax free. (more…)

Have you thought about how you’ll pay for the things you need and want after you retire? If not, it’s probably time to come up with a few retirement income strategies. (more…)

If you contribute to a 401k plan at your job, chances are your employer may allow you to make a hardship withdrawal of funds that you have contributed. Not every plan allows hardship distributions, but if yours does, the IRS requires that it must be due to an “immediate and heavy financial need” — which doesn’t mean that you can take a hardship withdrawal from your 401(k) to pay off credit card debt. (more…)