A couple of months ago, our five-year-old son was relieved to find out that he could have two best friends. For weeks he’d been stuck in an innocent adolescent triangle where both kids wanted him to be their exclusive bestie. They would pull his arms at the playground and he would come home agonizing about…
A new set of reforms to America’s retirement tax and savings plans passed a key hurdle in Congress last week. Variously known as the SECURE Act 2.0, the EARN Act and the RISE & SHINE Act, the measures will make changes to rules around IRAs, 401 (k) s and other tax-privileged retirement plans. The bills…
Read More “3 big problems with Congress’ new retirement reforms” »
If you’re thinking of pulling your 401 (k) out of the stock market, or you’re too terrified to invest more, you need to meet my friend Betty Badluck. Poor old Betty has had the worst luck of any stock market investor you’ve ever met. In the last 40 years she has invested in the stock…
Read More “Meet the ‘unluckiest’ stock market investor of modern times” »
I’ve been doing this — writing about the stock market and investments — for a quarter of a century. It’s been a heck of a turbulent ride, including Russian defaults, emerging market crises, dot-com disasters, terrorist atrocities, global financial meltdowns, a US housing collapse that rivaled the Great Depression, inflation panics, deflation panics, energy crises,…
Hello and welcome to Financial Face-off, a MarketWatch column where we help you weigh financial decisions. Our columnist will give her verdict. Tell us whether you think she’s right in the comments. And please share your suggestions for future Financial Face-off columns. Markets have been tanking, with the S&P 500 SPX, -3.07% recently dipping into…
Read More “Is now a good time to do a Roth IRA conversion?” »
If you’re like many retirees, the combination of inflation and stock market volatility may set you on edge. “It is one of the higher risk environments for retirees,” says John Pilkington, a certified financial planner and senior financial adviser at Vanguard Personal Advisor Services. Watching your retirement accounts fluctuate, what are the best ways to…
Read More “Retirees on edge over inflation and stock volatility can take these 5 steps” »
