Quantcast
Channel: Jump-Start Your Financial Plan
Browsing latest articles
Browse All 45 View Live

We are 68 years old, own a house, $400,000 in mutual funds, bonds, CD's. and...

We are 68 years old, own a house, $400,000 in mutual funds, bonds, CD's. and have 1 disabled child living with us. We want to buy dividend stocks, but our Financial Advisor will not do this for us. We...

View Article



@defensive, sorry it took so long to get to your question. Here is an article...

@defensive, sorry it took so long to get to your question. Here is an article about RMD's you might find helpful: www.kiplinger.com It also features a calculator that makes it easy to compute your RMDs.

View Article

@Defensive: I recommend "Life Planning" or "Career Asset Management" for...

@Defensive: I recommend "Life Planning" or "Career Asset Management" for everyone I meet. At any age you can decide that you want something different, something more out of life. You will earn more...

View Article

My husband is still working and we have a 401K program. Is there a formula we...

My husband is still working and we have a 401K program. Is there a formula we should put the money in at 68 years old?

View Article

@defensive: Thanks for clearing that up for me. David's suggestion of having...

@defensive: Thanks for clearing that up for me. David's suggestion of having some part-time income is a good one. Also, since this year your only income is Social Security, you could probably take some...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

This chat is sponsored by Vanguard. Open An Account

View Article

@Pat: Here is our recommendation for an asset allocation for a typical...

@Pat: Here is our recommendation for an asset allocation for a typical 68-year:5.0% Short Money13.0% US Bonds13.0% Foreign Bonds23.5% US Stocks26.4% Foreign Stocks19.1% Hard AssetsIf you can't get this...

View Article

@Pat: By age 68 you ought to have about 40-50% of your investments in bonds...

@Pat: By age 68 you ought to have about 40-50% of your investments in bonds and cash. The rest should be in a diversified mix of stocks. Again, pay attention to the expense ratios of the funds you...

View Article


@defensive, David posted a link to one of our articles about taxing Social...

@defensive, David posted a link to one of our articles about taxing Social Security earlier in the chat. Here it is again: www.kiplinger.com

View Article


I am single adoptive mother to 13 1/2 year old girl. I am 58 1/2, so I am...

I am single adoptive mother to 13 1/2 year old girl. I am 58 1/2, so I am saving for retirement and college at the same time. I have a Roth and IRA, and a 529. plus a small pension. Can I use my Roth...

View Article

I do not want to work any part time job at all, I asked what I should do with...

I do not want to work any part time job at all, I asked what I should do with the 200K in an IRA (that is taxable) to maximize my monthly income

View Article

@Pat: Dividend paying stocks are "hot" currently because they did better...

@Pat: Dividend paying stocks are "hot" currently because they did better recently. They are just a subset of value stocks and tilting value makes sense but putting all of you eggs in the dividend...

View Article

I'm finding your advice to Pat helpful. Thanks

I'm finding your advice to Pat helpful. Thanks

View Article


@defensive: I don't think there is an investment strategy that will maximize...

@defensive: I don't think there is an investment strategy that will maximize your monthly income from $200,000 in your IRA other than keeping your withdrawal rates low and constant so that you will...

View Article

@Vicki: You can withdrawal your contributions to a Roth IRA at any time prior...

@Vicki: You can withdrawal your contributions to a Roth IRA at any time prior to 59.5 without having to pay a penalty, so you could potentially take withdrawals to pay for college. The real benefit of...

View Article


I want to convert my 457 into a Roth IRA. Do I have to convert the 457 into a...

I want to convert my 457 into a Roth IRA. Do I have to convert the 457 into a Traditional IRA first?

View Article

@Pat, we write a lot about dividend stocks. Here are couple recent articles...

@Pat, we write a lot about dividend stocks. Here are couple recent articles you might want to check out: www.kiplinger.com and www.kiplinger.com

View Article


@Vicki: I completely agree with Vicki. The government will loan you money for...

@Vicki: I completely agree with Vicki. The government will loan you money for college, but it won't loan you money for your retirement. Video: What's more important: Saving for College or Retirement?...

View Article

@Jeff: You can convert a 457 plan directly to a Roth IRA. It is treated as...

@Jeff: You can convert a 457 plan directly to a Roth IRA. It is treated as having been rolled to a traditional IRA first, then converted to an IRA, but you should not actually have to take that...

View Article

Our ages 79 & 76. We have a stable annual income of $67,000 (Soc. Sec. and...

Our ages 79 & 76. We have a stable annual income of $67,000 (Soc. Sec. and Pensions) and a retirement portfolio value of $1,051,000.00. Our present asset allocation is: 65% stock, 32% bonds, 3%...

View Article

@Vicki: The least expensive ways to fund college are: (1) Take AP classes and...

@Vicki: The least expensive ways to fund college are: (1) Take AP classes and score well on the tests. My daughter took 10, passed 7 for college credit, entered with 1.5 years worth of credits and is...

View Article


Oops! Try #2: @Vicki, Danielle and David offered some great advice! You may...

Oops! Try #2: @Vicki, Danielle and David offered some great advice! You may also want to check out our special report about Paying for College: www.kiplinger.com Lots of good resources there about...

View Article


@Joe: Here is our age appropriate asset allocation for a 76 year old (we...

@Joe: Here is our age appropriate asset allocation for a 76 year old (we always use the younger of the two spouses):5.0% Short Money16.2% US Bonds16.2% Foreign Bonds20.2% US Stocks22.8% Foreign...

View Article

I'm 66 and planning to wait until I'm 70 to start taking Social Security...

I'm 66 and planning to wait until I'm 70 to start taking Social Security benefits. Will the amount that I eventually receive in benefits be increased by the COLA increased (for instance the one just...

View Article

We are in our late 60's. Where should we have our money invested? We own a...

We are in our late 60's. Where should we have our money invested? We own a home, $100,000 in bank, $400,000 in funds and one unmarried son living at home. Is there a formula to make more money or at...

View Article


@Joe: I'd say your target allocation of 50% stocks/bonds is reasonable, maybe...

@Joe: I'd say your target allocation of 50% stocks/bonds is reasonable, maybe just a touch on the aggressive side for how we invest our client's assets. I think I would scale back the allocation to...

View Article

@Joe: If you wanted a more conservative 7 years of safe withdrawals in...

@Joe: If you wanted a more conservative 7 years of safe withdrawals in Stability at age 76 here is our recommendation:43.6% Stability56.4% AppreciationOr broken out:5.0% Short Money19.3% US Bonds19.3%...

View Article

@Joe: I should put the disclaimer that we invest more in the foreign markets...

@Joe: I should put the disclaimer that we invest more in the foreign markets than most advisors. The world markets are 40% US and 60% foreign and we think diversifying outside the United States...

View Article

@Janet: If you invest your $400k in an allocation of 55% stocks and 45% bonds...

@Janet: If you invest your $400k in an allocation of 55% stocks and 45% bonds and cash, you might reasonably expect income from the investments of 3.5% a year, or $14,000. This is the interest and...

View Article



@Janet: Also another thing to consider - if your son is living at home and...

@Janet: Also another thing to consider - if your son is living at home and you are providing 50% of his support you might be able to claim him as a dependant (maybe you are already).

View Article

@Janet: We recommend investing in six asset classes www.marottaonmoney.com...

@Janet: We recommend investing in six asset classes www.marottaonmoney.com and we recommend using exchange traded funds from Vanguard or iShares for diversification and low fees. We have a gone-fishing...

View Article

Re: the questions about making your money last. The Kiplinger Retirement...

Re: the questions about making your money last. The Kiplinger Retirement Report regularly writes about such strategies. You can find several of their articles here: www.kiplinger.com

View Article

After Jim's question, we unfortunately only have time for one more question.

After Jim's question, we unfortunately only have time for one more question.

View Article


I am 75 and have a Long Term Care policy with 5% cost of care incremental...

I am 75 and have a Long Term Care policy with 5% cost of care incremental protection. Have 3 years of coverage and am wondering if I should stop paying. It's getting harder to keep up. I probably won't...

View Article

@Jim: As I understand Social Security increases, they are done everyone all...

@Jim: As I understand Social Security increases, they are done everyone all together, so you benefit should go up as well as everyone else's.

View Article

@Helen: Your question is about as complex as they get, but my gut reaction...

@Helen: Your question is about as complex as they get, but my gut reaction would be to keep your coverage. You know you have a heart condition and are probably either going to need it or not be around....

View Article


@Helen: The average cost of a nursing care facility (at least in Cincinnati)...

@Helen: The average cost of a nursing care facility (at least in Cincinnati) is over $200 a day, or just about $75,000 a year, so $13k of benefit isn't going to get you very far. I'd be willing to bet...

View Article


@Helen, you may also want to check out our special report about long-term...

@Helen, you may also want to check out our special report about long-term care: www.kiplinger.com

View Article

Folks, unfortunately we are out of time for today.

Folks, unfortunately we are out of time for today.

View Article

Danielle and David, we cannot thank you enough for taking the time out of...

Danielle and David, we cannot thank you enough for taking the time out of your day to be here! And readers, thanks for some great questions.

View Article

Thank you to Kiplinger and the other NAPFA members for making this possible....

Thank you to Kiplinger and the other NAPFA members for making this possible. It was very enjoyable.David John Marotta, CFP®, AIF®, is President of Marotta Wealth Management, Inc. of Charlottesville...

View Article


Thanks to Kiplinger and all of you who submitted questions. Have a wonderful...

Thanks to Kiplinger and all of you who submitted questions. Have a wonderful day!

View Article

I apologize to those of you whose questions did not get answered. We had...

I apologize to those of you whose questions did not get answered. We had several readers submit comments before 1pm, which led to somewhat of a back-log. The good news is we will be hosting these live...

View Article


Next Thursday, we will be hosting a live chat about income investing with...

Next Thursday, we will be hosting a live chat about income investing with senior editors Jeff Kosnett and Nellie Huang. We hope to see you then!

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

This chat was sponsored by Vanguard. Open An Account

View Article

Browsing latest articles
Browse All 45 View Live




Latest Images