Study Shows Poor Financial Literacy among Americans

Study Shows Poor Financial Literacy among Americans

With Americans being forced to take more and more responsibility for their retirement savings and growth, the need for making better financial decisions is becoming paramount. Unfortunately, a recent survey by LIMRA, a life insurance market research association, designed to test the financial literacy of the average American, shows that we still have a long…
Read more

Sudden Wealth – Blessing or Curse?

Now that the Powerball lottery has arrived in California, I thought it would be good to talk about the impact of unexpected or sudden wealth on one’s life.  We’ve all probably dreamed at one time or another about how fantastic our lives would become if we could only win the lottery.  I’ve no doubt there…
Read more

How to (Legally) Maximize Your Social Security Benefits

The Social Security Administration gives retirees the option of collecting social security (SS) benefits as early as age 62. But they offer a much higher monthly benefit if you choose instead to delay collecting benefits until age 70. How much more? According to Elaine Floyd of Horsesmouth, LLC, a financial advisor consulting company, if you…
Read more

A New Metric to Aid Mutual Fund Selection

One of the most widely debated investment approaches among financial planners involves active versus passive management, especially when investing in stocks.  Indeed, this debate has taken on many of the attributes of a holy war.  Those supporting passive investing argue that the odds of any individual investor putting together a portfolio that can consistently beat…
Read more

Buying a Mutual Fund? Which Class is Right for You?

If you’re like many investors, you like the diversification and perhaps the active management that many mutual funds offer. And there are lots of resources available for you to identify, compare, and choose funds in which to invest. Let’s say you’ve decided to put some of your money into the Pimco Total Return Bond fund.…
Read more

Are Your Children Putting You into Debt?

It seems like the bad news about our retirement prospects just keeps on coming.  According to a U.S. Census Bureau report just released, the median level of debt among households led by someone 65 and older more than doubled over the last decade from roughly $12,000 to $26,000.  This increase was the biggest among any…
Read more