» retirement

With consumer debt causing millions of American families distress, it is a good time to start focusing on setting savings goals. Teaching your children to save from a young age may prevent them from joining the ranks of others totaling $858.4 Billion in consumer debt. This averages out to $7,194 per credit card in debt. Since 46% of Americans have credit card debt, learning how to save is more important than ever! Here are some ways to focus on saving at any age.

Young Children

Take your children to a local bank and open a savings account. This is a simple way to teach elementary-aged children about banks, savings accounts, credit cards, checking accounts, and retirement accounts. While… » Read more

Retirement is not as clear-cut and simple as it was in the past. Instead of relying on retirement from your work and Social Security benefits, retirees must plan for their golden years many years before they occur. This is typically done with two retirement “workhorses”: the IRA and the 401k.

Both the 401k and the IRA have contribution limits, which when reached will not allow you to add any more. At this point you must seek other methods of saving for retirement. However, contributing to your 401k and your IRA should be your first plan of action.

In many companies you will have the option for your employer to match your contributions. Although each… » Read more

There have been a few changes to money market funds. There have been over 750 funds started since 1971 and this totals up to about $3 Trillion in money management. Now when you place $1 into the fund, you will only get $1 out of the fund when you sell your shares. This has been established by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a way to provide stability and to reduce some of the risks that investors take with these funds.

Since 2008, many investors have struggled to make money with their funds. It has been found that a number of funds are not turning profitability to their investors due to struggling markets and… » Read more