Retirement Planning

When a company matches the money you contribute to your 401(k) plan, up to a certain amount, these matching funds can be a very powerful way to save money over time for retirement and, as such, it's important to take advantage of a company's full 401(k) match if you can. Every company has different policies regarding these matching funds, and things can often be confusing for new investors. Here are some key things to know.

What makes your 401(k) plan the best place to invest your money for the long term? In this post I will show you all of the reasons why this type of investment account has the greatest impact on the growth of your money.

Pensions are run like Ponzi schemes; as long as the cash coming in to the fund is equal to or exceeds beneficiary payouts, the scheme can continue but it’s a catastrophe when economic conditions deteriorate and tax revenue flattens or declines, as is occurring now. When the stock market inevitably cracks, it will wipe pensions out.

If you're caught in two minds about what sort of life you want when you wave goodbye to your work commitments, here are 7 reasons to retire abroad.

Most boomers are painfully aware of how badly prepared they are for retirement. Almost half of them have saved virtually nothing for their golden years. The only solution for many is to work full-time to age 70 (and beyond for some) or to transition into part-time employment after their full retirement age. We may not have done a good job of planning for retirement, but we can make the next 15 or 20 years even more rewarding than our previous work lives were. Here's how.

There are all sorts of rules of thumb about saving for retirement but, while they can be helpful as a baseline for setting expectations, you need to make a plan and monitor your progress as you age to be effective in the real world.

With longer life spans, inflation, and increasing health care costs, it's possible that many retirees won't have enough to comfortably sustain their retirements. Here are 7 smart moves that will help you catch up on savings even late in the game.

40 years ago, a grand experiment was embarked upon that promised American workers that by contributing to newly introduced defined contribution vehicles they would be better off when they reached retirement age. That raises a simple but very important question: How have things worked out? Well, the bottom line is that the vehicles and the promises made are proving woefully insufficient to fund the "retirement" dream you've been sold your whole life. Frankly put: retirement is now a myth for the majority.

Daydreaming about retirement is easy, but saving for it, however, takes time and effort — and is something a lot of Americans struggle with - but there are strategies that can help make the process easier. Here are 20 ways to pad your bank account before it's time to retire.

The Wall Street Journal writes that "many US states have been slow to improve their finances nine years into the economic expansion raising a risk they won't be prepared when another downturn hits, making them susceptible to big spending cuts that make the next recession worse".