About 70% of taxpayers receive sizable refunds from the Internal Revenue Service. Just how sizable? The average refund totals about $2,800.1 What do households do with that money? It varies. Last year, consumer financial services company Bankrate asked Americans about their plans for their federal tax refunds. Thirty-one percent of the respondents to Bankrate’s survey said that they would save or invest those dollars, and 28% indicated they would attack their debts with the money. Another 27% said they would buy food with that cash or use it to pay utility bills. Just 6% said they would earmark their refunds for shopping sprees or vacations.2 So, according to those survey results, about six
Over time, these seemingly small factors could make a major difference. Saving for retirement takes decades and demands the investment of significant amounts of your income. As this major effort unfolds, you should recognize that some subtle factors and seemingly minor decisions could end up making a sizable and positive impact on your financial future. Your investment yield may be less important than the amount you save. Beating the S&P 500 feels great, but outperforming the market is not your foremost goal. Your real retirement saving objective is to accumulate sufficient assets – enough to provide adequate income in the “second act” of your life. How much control do you have over your inv
[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>956</o:Words> <o:Characters>5452</o:Characters> <o:Company>Medallion Financial Distributors</o:Company> <o:Lines>45</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>12</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>6396</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>14.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG></o:AllowPNG> <o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif][if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves></w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting></w:T
The argument for doing that is pretty convincing. Every now and then, you read an article about a woman past the age of 65 who says she loves her job and will “never retire.” In addition to keeping herself engaged and active, she may be doing herself a great financial favor as well. More women are working after 65, and some are even in the office full time. How long should a woman plan to work? Should she prepare for a 40-hour workweek until age 65 or age 70? Should she try to work part time after that? If a woman invests and plans sufficiently for retirement, that may not be necessary – but there are some strong reasons why a woman might want to retire later than age 62. Ideally, Social Sec