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In times of crisis, you don’t want to be shaking pennies out of a piggy bank. Having afinancial safety net in place can ensure that you’re protected when a financialemergency arises. One way to accomplish this is by setting up a cash reserve, a pool ofreadily available funds that can help you meet emergency or…

529 plans can be powerful college savings tools, but you need to understand how your plan works before you can take full advantage of it. Among other things, this means becoming familiar with the finer points of contributions and withdrawals. How much can you contribute?To qualify as a 529 plan under federal rules, a state…

Your need for life insurance changes as your life changes. When you’re young, youtypically have less need for life insurance, but that changes as you take on moreresponsibility and your family grows. Then, as your responsibilities once again begin todiminish, your need for life insurance may decrease. Let’s look at how your lifeinsurance needs change…

Selecting beneficiaries for retirement benefits is different from choosing beneficiaries for other assets such as life insurance. With retirement benefits, you need to know the impact of income tax and estate tax laws in order to select the right beneficiaries. Although taxes shouldn’t be the sole determining factor in naming your beneficiaries, ignoring the impact…

It’s nice to own stocks, bonds, and other investments. Nice, that is, until it’s time to fillout your federal income tax return. At that point, you may be left scratching your head. Just how do you report your investments and how are they taxed? Is it ordinary income or a capital gain?To determine how an…

A successful investor maximizes gain and minimizes loss. Though there can be no guaranteethat any investment strategy will be successful, and all investing involves risk, including thepossible loss of principal, here are six basic principles that may help you invest moresuccessfully. Long-term compounding can help your nest egg grow It’s the “rolling snowball” effect. Put…

Whether you’re seeking to manage your own assets, control how your assets aredistributed after your death, or plan for incapacity, trusts can help you accomplish yourestate planning goals. Their power is in their versatility — many types of trusts exist, eachdesigned for a specific purpose. Although trust law is complex and establishing a trust requires…

You know how important it is to plan for your retirement, but where do you begin? One of your first steps should be to estimate how much income you’ll need to fund your retirement. That’s not as easy as it sounds, because retirement planning is not an exact science. Your specific needs depend on your…

Do you ever wonder where your money goes each month? Does it seem like you’re neverable to get ahead? If so, you may want to establish a budget to help you keep track of howyou spend your money and help you reach your financial goals. Examine your financial goalsBefore you establish a budget, you should…