Wise money moves for parents under 40. As you start a family, you start to think about certain financial matters. Before you became a mom or dad, you may not have thought about them much, but so much changes when you have kids. Parenting presents you with definite, sudden, financial needs to address. By focusing on those needs today, you may give yourself a head start on meeting some crucial family financial objectives tomorrow. The to-do list should include: Life & disability insurance coverage. If one or both of you cannot work and earn income, your household could struggle to meet education expenses, medical expenses, or even paying the bills. Disability insurance payments could provide s

Why an early start (and accepting some risk) matters. Are you on track to save $1 million or more for retirement? If you are 50 or younger, you may need that much in savings to generate the kind of retirement income you prefer. Personal finance website NerdWallet recently did some math concerning this very objective. What kind of sustained savings effort would a 30-year-old with nothing invested need to make to amass $1 million in retirement savings by age 67, assuming a consistent 6% annual return? (Keep in mind, a tax-advantaged retirement account is not the only potential source of retirement savings.)1 According to NerdWallet’s projection, a 30-year-old earning $40,000 a year would have

Little things that might help your children look forward to the fall. How can you get your kids back in school mode? Unscheduled summer days can lead to unstructured mornings and frustration for families when school days roll around. You may be wondering what you can do to bring back some organization in the mornings. Regular sleep can really help. If your kids can go to bed at a consistent time starting 10-14 days before the first day of school, that may help them to get up regularly (and early) again, so you can avoid a frenzied morning, and consequently, they can avoid a hurried bike ride or a race to the school bus. Taking a bath or a shower at the same time every day should be another g

How can you convey its importance and its meaning? Are you an owner of a thriving business or a medical or legal practice? Are you a highly paid executive? If you have children, at some point they may discern how wealthy you are – and in turn, learn how “rich” they are. How will you handle that moment? How will they handle that knowledge? Some kids end up valuing family wealth more than others. We all know (or have heard) about children from wealthy families who grew up to become opportunistic, materialistic, and unmotivated young adults living off their parents’ largess. Other children learn to treat family money with respect and admiration, recognizing the role it plays for the family, whi

Companies are luring & retaining employees with this key perk. What do your retirement plan participants wish you would offer? Besides the chance to save and invest part of their paychecks, that is? The answer could be “a little more help.” Last year, Charles Schwab surveyed workers contributing to the 401(k) programs it provides, and 46% wanted help “calculating how much I need to save for retirement.” Forty-three percent wanted assistance in “determining at what age I can afford to retire,” and 39% listed “figuring out what my expenses will be in retirement” as an item on their financial to-do list. Others wanted help with day-to-day financial matters, such as debt management and budgeting