These two share a banking account. âœLou✠/ Flickr
I share five must read blog posts about saving money every Friday.
Jim Wang tackles couple finances and weighs the pros and cons of blending your finances with your spouse or significant other. (Bargaineering)
Emergency funds act as a cushion when things go awry, but you’d be surprised how many Americans do not have money set aside. Here’s how to save for an emergency fund. (Fabulous & Frugal)
Borrowing from your 401k, good solution or bad? Laura explains the SEAL Act, that would limits 401k borrowing and ease repayment loans, and tells you what this means for those contributing to retirement accounts. (Money & Happiness) (more…)
A little graduate. Banana Custard / Flickr
This financial planning post is brought to you by Towry, the UK’s leading investment management and wealth management firm. Towry offers independent financial advice, pension advice, SIPP and retirement planning.
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Graduation season is in the air. If you’ve already received graduation announcements, it’s time to start thinking of the perfect gift. Here are four helpful gift ideas to set grads on the right financial track.
1. Retirement accounts – Students seldom think of retirement because they are busy being young. This gift not only includes a chat with you or a financial adviser about retirement, but a cash gift, which we all like. Sit down with your graduate and help them start planning for the future. By starting early, the power of compounding interest and time will allow your graduate to build wealth. If they are working for a company that provides employee retirement plans like a 401k, encourage them to take advantage of it. Before they do, make sure to read Bargain Babe’s post on how to determine if your 401k plan sucks. If your graduate will be self-employed, a talk about how to open an IRA is a must. Keep in mind that whatever amount you are willing to gift your graduate is up to you and know that it will be welcomed and appreciated.
2. Start an emergency fund – (more…)
Over time, your IRA should grow like this guy! Credit: o5com/Flickr
Do you have a retirement account? Are you contributing?
If not, make it a goal to set one up by the end of the year. You can make a contribution for calender year 2010 as late as the date you file your 2010 taxes, which means you have until April to save up!
I recently set up a SEP retirement account, which is like a 401(k) for self-employed folks. I did not contribute a cent to a SEP last year because after maxing out my Roth IRA, I did not have anything left. It was the first year I launched BargainBabe.com and my income was meager.
This year I am delighted to (more…)
Katrina.Tuliao/Flickr
I just got word of a new web series from MSN.com that is looking for financially stable individuals and families who want financial investment guidance to appear on the show. If selected, a bunch of experts will help you out to address problems, set goals, and make plans to meet them!
The show, which will be shown online, is casting in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, Denver, Miami, Omaha, and Dallas. Submit the following info by March 26, 2010 via email to investorcasting@gmail.com.
Your email submission should include your name, location, contact info, and a recent photo of you and your family. You must be 18 or older to participate.
Here are the types of people they are looking for.
1. A NEW INVESTOR with POSITIVE CASH FLOW who will explore riskier investments
2. A seasoned and CONFIDENT INVESTOR who has SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS (i.e. 2 years salary)
3. An active RISKY INVESTOR who has a very LARGE PORTFOLIO
4. Someone who does most of their TRADES ONLINE who wants ADVANCED investment skills
5. A CAUTIOUS INVESTOR who wants INDEPENDENCE from their broker
6. A person in their PEAK EARNING years who needs an UPDATED financial plan
7. Someone with HIGH FUTURE INCOME potential who wants ADVENTUROUS YET SAFE investments
m kasahara/Flickr
Here’s another great tip from my interview with author Laura Rowley: BrightScope.com. The site ranks 401k plans for some of the country’s biggest employers, from 0 to 100. Is your company listed?
- Home Depot
- Apple
- Hewlett Packard
- Lowe’s
- Dell
- General Electric
- Microsoft
- IBM
- McDonald’s
- Walt Disney
- Exxon Mobile
- Walmart
- Boeing
- Qualcomm
- Nike
- Proctor and Gamble
- Sears
- Nike
- Coca-Cola
The ratings consider 200 factors, including total plan cost, company generosity, and investment menu quality. For each of these factors and others (like participation rate, salary deferrals, and average investment) you can see how each plan ranks compared to others. The Google 401k plan, for instance, is in the top 15 percent of plans with the lowest fees, but is in the 35th to 64th percentile for average account balances. Those young computer whizzes are banking on their stock options, apparently. You can also get a report on the fees associated with your 401k when you register for the site.
BrightScope’s goal is “to increase the retirement security of America’s workforce by bringing transparency and efficiency to the 401k plan market,” the site says. BrightScope claims to be “the only 401k analytics firm that is truly independent and does not accept compensation in the form of revenue sharing from mutual fund companies or plan providers.”
So how does the site make money? BrightScope is “aligned with plan sponsors,” which is all the website says about its bottom line. That leaves me slightly suspicions. It seems the site means well, but if the folks behind BrightScope are not willing to explain how it makes money then they are hiding something. You can read more about the company on their About page.
As for the data sources, the site culls 401k info from the Department of Labor, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some mutual fund and investment data come from mutual fund prospectuses, and a few companies provided information.I hope this site is a resource for you!
