If you’re looking at the investment options available in your 401(k) and you’re overwhelmed by your array of choices, consider yourself lucky. Many 401(k) plans offer very limited investment options and some encourage participants to invest heavily in the shares of their own company. You might not feel lucky, of course, as you scroll through…
What is a Financial Advisor? A Financial Advisor is a professional who deals with informing and educating clients about wealth, investing and other money matters, and sometimes managing these financial affairs as well. It is a generic term that includes stockbrokers, financial planners, investment advisorstax preparers, bankers, insurance agents and estate planners. According to salary…
If your employer offers you a 401(k) planthis can be a very effective way to save for retirement. The money you put into your plan is deferred tax, so you won’t pay income tax for the year you earn it. Instead, you will be taxed on exit from your 401(k) account during your retirement. Since…
The term “suspension account” can have several different meanings, depending on the context. In the general business world, a suspense account is a section of a company’s financial books where it can record ambiguous entries that require further analysis to determine their proper classification. In the mortgage service, the manager can use a suspense account…
What is a haven of peace? A safe haven is a type of investment that is expected to maintain or increase its value during times of market turbulence. Investors look for safe havens to limit their exposure to losses in the event of a market decline. However, the assets that are actually considered safe havens…
If you have never worked or paid Social Security taxes (or haven’t paid them long enough), you won’t be able to claim Social Security retirement benefits on your own. However, you may be able to receive spousal benefits through your spouse’s account. You can file a claim under their account from age 62, provided your…
If you have a 401(k) planyou probably know that you can use it to invest in a wide variety of funds—target date fund, passively managed index funds and actively managed mutual fund. However, some plans also allow you to access other types of financial products, such as annuities. An annuity is a contract between you…
What is an Investment Policy Statement (IPS)? A Investment Policy Statement (IPS) is basically a business plan for an investment portfolio. It is very common for financial advisors to create an IPS for their institutional clients such as retirement plan sponsorsfoundations and endowments. Many financial advisors will also write one for their individual clients. Having…
What is the SALT (national and local tax)? The acronym SALT stands for State and Local Tax and is commonly associated with the Federal Income Tax Deduction for State and Local Taxes available to taxpayers who itemize their deductions. In 2017, a $10,000 cap on the previously unlimited SALT deduction was adopted and made applicable…