With stock and bond markets both faltering over the past year, it’s easy to see why more near-retirees have a newfound appreciation for fixed annuities — insurance contracts that guarantee a specified rate of return. A fixed annuity maintains its value regardless of market conditions, and yields on these products have risen in response to
As young adults embark on their first real job, get married, or start a family, retirement might be the last thing on their minds. Even so, they might want to make it a financial priority. In preparing for retirement, the best time to start investing is now — for two key reasons: compounding and tax
With the prices for gas, oil, and electricity continuing to soar across the country, consumers are facing another winter of high heating bills. According to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, the average cost of home heating is estimated to increase by 17.2% this season.1 Here are some tips to help you keep your heating
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2023-2024 school year opened on October 1, 2022. Here are some things you should know. Why file it? The FAFSA is a prerequisite for federal student loans, grants, and work-study. In addition, colleges typically require the FAFSA before distributing their own need-based aid and, in
21 – This is the average number of investment funds offered in 401(k) and profit-sharing plans in 2020 Source: Plan Sponsor Council of America, 2021 Created in 1996, National 401(k) Day has historically been celebrated on the Friday following Labor Day to shine a spotlight on this important employee benefit. Since the late 1990s, plans
If you earn money through an app or online digital platform, you may be affected by a tax reporting change that took effect on January 1, 2022. A provision of the 2021 American Rescue Plan requires third-party payment processors to report business transactions totaling over $600 per year by issuing a Form 1099-K to the
3,337,000 – Number of new cars sold in the U.S. in 2021. Sales to consumers accounted for 43.5% of this total, sales to businesses accounted for 54.7%, and sales to the government accounted for 1.8%. The sales total represents a 50% drop from 2016. Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, 2022 Most teenagers probably aren’t thinking
$12,060,000 – Lifetime limit that can be excluded from gift and estate taxes in 2022. The exclusion amount is adjusted annually for inflation but is scheduled to revert to its pre-2018 level ($5 million adjusted for inflation) after 2025. “Portability” enables a surviving spouse to use the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion amount if the appropriate
Baseball stadiums are filled with optimists. Fans start each new season with the hope that even if last year ended badly, this year could finally be the year. After all, teams rally mid-season, curses are broken, and even underdogs sometimes make it to the World Series. As Yogi Berra famously put it, “It ain’t over
After five payment pauses that began roughly two years ago, federal student loan payments are set to resume in May 2022. The first payment suspension came in March 2020 when Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and lasted for six months through September 2020. The second and third pauses came
