Choosing the Right ETF It seems over the past couple of years, more and more investors are getting on board with Exchange Traded Funds commonly referred to as ETF’s. ETF’s have become popular because they offer so many different asset classes, sectors and global regions. There are an ever increasing number of Exchange Traded Funds [...]
Browsing Posts published in January, 2011
Retirement Plans – 401k A recent report shows that 401k plans with automatic enrollment fared far better than those plans without. The report also found 401k participants are not on track to retire by the age of 65. Over a third are taking on too much risk in their portfolios especially holding too much of [...]
Estate Planning – Prenuptial Agreements All fifty states with the exception of Georgia guarantee surviving spouses a percentage of their deceased spouse’s estate regardless of the terms of the will. That percentage can be as much as 50 % and is called “elective share” To over ride that elective share you need a prenuptial agreement. [...]
Social Security Benefits – Update Social Security Administration recently made a change that previously allowed retirees to re-adjust the amount of monthly payments they received prior to full retirement age after reaching full retirement age. Under the old rules any retiree who took early retirement at age 62 or older realized a reduced benefit amount [...]
Skype to Go – Review Thought I would pass this along as I received an email recently from Skype on one of their features called “Skype to Go”. Personally I use Skype often to make long distance calls within the United States for unlimited calling to any landline or cell phone, it also includes Canada. [...]
Corporate Earnings Season – 2011 Earnings season is the period of time when companies announce their earnings for the previous quarter. Earnings season comes around at the beginning of each quarter of the year: On January 1st companies will begin announcing earnings for Q4 of the previous year. I use Zacks Investment Research as one [...]
Tax Preparation – 2010 Tax Year Another tax season is upon us or will be shortly. This year the deadline has been extended from April 15, 2011 to April 18,2011 giving you three extra days to procrastinate if you so desire. Within next couple of weeks I will be gathering tax information to assist you [...]
Financial Planning for Couples Different considerations are in play when a couple decides to get married depending on their age and financial resources. Older married couples may have children from a previous marriage, own a home and have separate assets such as investments, savings accounts and checking. When young couples marry they may wind up [...]
Tax Deadline Extended It appears this coming tax season for 2010 tax returns the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has extended the tax deadline from April 15th to April 18, 2011 and the six month extension has been moved to October 17, 2011 from October 15th. This new deadline comes because Washington DC is observing Emancipation Day [...]
Tax Cut Extension Bill Including Federal Estate Tax To summarize the Tax Cut Extension Bill the following is a short and brief outline of what to expect beginning in 2011. Its provisions include extensions for two years of former President Bush’s JGTRRA and EGTRRA long-term but temporary tax reductions on income, capital gains and dividends, [...]
