Search results for 401k
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Posted
Sep 15 2009, 07:26 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.com.
One of the biggest challenges in almost anything you do is knowing where your blind spots are. In simpler terms, you don't know what you don't know.
So, today I'll point out four money mistakes you might be making that you don't even realize you're making. Hopefully, you're making none of them. If you are making one of these, don't beat yourself up over it. Now you know you're making it and you can take steps to fix it.
Paying too much tax too early. Would you give the government several hundred dollars a month, for no reason, just for the government to write you a check in April? Would you give the government a zero interest loan? Probably not (if you would, feel free to send me money). However, that's exactly what you're doing when you get a tax refund in April.
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Posted
Jul 31 2009, 06:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
One of the features of many 401(k) retirement plans is that you can borrow money from your own account. While 401(k) plans are not required to permit plan participants to take out loans, many plans do.
Much has been written about the pros and cons of 401(k) loans. One of the potential drawbacks comes into play if you leave your job (voluntarily or otherwise) while you still have an outstanding loan from your 401(k) plan.
When this happens, you generally have two options: Pay back the loan in full within 60 days, or don't. If you follow the second option, the IRS will treat the loan as an early withdrawal from your 401(k) plan and, with some exceptions, smack you with a 10% penalty of the outstanding loan amount AND require you to pay taxes on the distribution.
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Posted
May 29 2009, 06:55 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Recently I published an article called "Dave Ramsey unleashed." I learned long ago that any post about Dave Ramsey will receive a passionate response from readers. Those who follow his financial teachings do so with "gazelle-like intensity," as Dave would say.
One response I received in both comments and e-mail is that Dave Ramsey teaches that one should stop contributing to retirement savings (whether 401(k) or IRA) while paying off nonmortgage debt. The question is whether this is the right choice.
The first thing to keep in mind is that there is no "right" choice. There is a reason it's called personal finance, as a reader reminded me just the other day. That's not to say that any choice is a good one. But there is almost always more than one reasonable approach to a money-management decision. For example, while Dave Ramsey would stop saving for retirement to pay off debt, as would Michelle Singletary, Liz Pulliam Weston believes we should not stop saving for retirement to pay off debt.
With that in mind, let's walk through several steps that will help you make the best decision for you and your family:
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Posted
May 19 2009, 07:40 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Having one or two bad money habits probably won't land you in the poor house, but a lifetime of making the 50 money mistakes on Jeff Nickles' list could mean dog food on your dinner plate. That's not exactly what we had in mind when we urged you to eat at home more often.
What? More lists? you say. Sorry, but we think these snappy reminders are worthwhile. No matter how much we emphasize the basics of personal finance, we always find people who say, "I didn't know that was a bad idea."
For instance, how many people still routinely buy extended warranties on products? "You can always find someone who was glad they bought the extended warranty, but for each of these there are a thousand people who gained no benefit from the extra cost," Jeff says. "This is exactly what the warranty provider banks on."
We picked out others from Jeff's post called "50 bad money habits that will leave you eating Alpo for dinner" at My Super-Charged Life that many people, including some we know, are guilty of.
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Posted
May 07 2009, 10:48 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Frank Curmudgeon at Bad Money Advice.
A reader named Trent pointed me to a story that "60 Minutes" did recently, "Retirement dreams disappear with 401(k)s." It's not their best work, and I'm not one who thinks much of their best work.
Helpfully, the CBS Web site gives a near transcript of it, so I can easily quote the way over-the-top copy read by the reporter, Steve Kroft.
It was a gray, chilly morning in midtown Manhattan and a line of unemployed, mostly white-collar workers stretched for blocks around the Radisson Hotel. More than 1,000 middle managers, stockbrokers, consultants, secretaries and receptionists had come hoping to find a job.
It was called a career fair, but there was no merriment -- only a whiff of desperation.
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Posted
Mar 27 2009, 06:37 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Picking your first mutual fund is kind of like a first date -- scary at first, but later you wonder what all the fuss was about. And with the recent market volatility, investing in the stock market can be downright horrifying.
A couple years ago, a close relative spent some time with my family and me. We'll call her Susie (not her real name). Susie was 31, had one daughter (cute as can be), and had no retirement savings (not so cute). Her employer not only offered a 401(k), but also matched 100% of all contributions up to 6% of Susie's pay.
We got to talking about why she'd never starting saving for retirement, and her answer was illuminating -- she was intimidated.
Sure, there were times when money was tight, but one of the biggest hurdles for her was not knowing what to invest in. We spent about 30 minutes looking over her investment options, and I'm happy to report that she enrolled in her company's Fidelity 401(k) plan and began contributing 7% of her gross pay.
If you or somebody you know is in a situation similar to Susie's, this article is for you.
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Posted
Jan 07 2009, 01:25 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
On two days this month, you can get free answers to your retirement questions from people who normally charge $150 to $300 an hour.
This wonderful opportunity -- called Jump-Start Your Retirement Plan Days -- is sponsored by Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors -- an organization of fee-only advisers.
If you're nearing the end of your career or just starting out, you're probably worried about your dwindling retirement accounts, so this advice couldn't come at a better time. Here are the details:
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Posted
Dec 05 2008, 08:19 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Today is my 51st birthday and it's already looking a lot better than my 50th because this year my building isn't flooded.
At 51, some people are looking forward to retirement. Personally, I expect to have to work for a long time, for several reasons. Having spent 13 years of my adult life either part time or freelance means my Social Security isn't huge. A fair amount of my retirement is based on a 401(k) from my newspapering days, and we all know what's happened to 401(k)s recently.
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Posted
Nov 28 2008, 01:15 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Christmas songs are already playing -- nonstop, in fact -- where "rutgerskevin" works, and that's gotten him in a holiday frame of mind, tinged by the economy.
Thus was born his clever version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" at The Red Stapler Chronicles. Sing along: "On the first day of Christmas, this economy gave to me a shrunken 401(k)."
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Posted
Nov 20 2008, 05:21 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
It's bad enough that your retirement funds are shrinking at a disturbing rate. Now some employers have stopped matching employee contributions to 401(k)s, and Nickel at Five Cent Nickel suspects more companies in struggling industries will follow their lead.
General Motors, Ford, Frontier Airlines and several other large companies have suspended 401(k) matches, and The Wall Street Journal reports that a growing number of small business are also put matching on hold.
Nickel writes: "Imagine how you'd respond if you received a memo saying that you've been targeted for a salary reduction. A cut in retirement benefits should be interpreted in exactly the same way."
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