How to Track Your Investments
June 9, 2011
Two key parts of investing are how much money you contribute and how your investments perform. Tracking that performance will show you how much more money you need to put in to to hit your investing goals. But how important is monitoring your investment performance? Should it be done on an annual, quarterly, monthly, or [...]
401k Investment Alternatives
June 4, 2011
Investing for retirement is critical if you don’t want to rely on Social Security alone to make ends meet in retirement. Setting aside some money today will allow it to grow over time into a much larger amount thanks to compound interest. One of the most popular types of investment accounts to use for retirement [...]
How to Set Investing Goals
June 2, 2011
As you prepare to invest your money as a way to build wealth, it is important to set investing goals. Having a plan for your money is vital if you want to eventually live the life you want. Obviously, everyone’s investing goals will be different, so you will need to take the time to think [...]
Investment Asset Allocation 101
May 31, 2011
Asset allocation is an important concept to understand in investing. However, like so many things related to money, determining your own asset allocation is a personal exercise, and one that doesn’t mean the same thing for every person. Figuring out your own asset allocation means considering your investing goals, and your risk tolerance, in an [...]
IRA Investment Allocations
May 28, 2011
After comparing a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA and looking at investment risks I thought it would be interesting to talk about a study that looks at investment allocations inside individual retirement accounts. The Employee Benefit Research Institute has been studying the investment choices of over 11 million IRA investors and recently released some interesting [...]
IRA vs Roth IRA
May 26, 2011
Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA, which should you open? This is a common question that comes up with many people looking to open an individual retirement account (IRA). I’ll try to make this as concise as possible, and let you decide for yourself which IRA is best for you. Traditional IRA Definition: A traditional [...]
Roth 401k vs Traditional 401k
May 25, 2011
Traditional 401ks have been one of the main options for retirement investing for many working Americans over the last thirty years. When the Roth 401k was introduced a few years ago the new type of retirement plan left many long time 401k investors debating the benefits of the Roth 401k vs the Traditional 401k. The popularity of [...]
Investment Risks & Your Money
May 23, 2011
Every investment has some risk, the question for investors is how much risk are you willing to take on in the pursuit of higher investment returns? As I mentioned in my how to invest post, when you buy stock in a company you have both the potential of profit and the risk of losing money. [...]
How to Invest Without Wetting Your Pants
May 19, 2011
Deciding where to invest your money can be an unnerving experience in today’s world of corporate scandals, failing banks, and rivers of debt. When I asked you and other readers for your biggest concerns about investing, I found a wide range of topics. While some of them had to do specifically with the rocky economic environment, many of your concerns would [...]
Online Brokerages Tax Software & Training
February 24, 2011
Online brokerages can offer tools that can make tax planning and tax preparation easier. If you calculated your capital gains taxes on stock sales last year on your own, you might wish there was any easier way to track the details when you’re selling stocks. It can be a pain keeping track of the purchase [...]
