A little planning and saving now can deliver great returns for your family when children head off to college. If you are planning to fully or partially assist your child or grandchild with their tuition, consider these options to leverage every dollar effectively. (more…)

Do you have an overall financial plan for your life? What guides your decisions? Life’s journey can be like taking a vacation. You plan your transportation, where you will be staying, and what you will do when you get there. And you want to be prepared, if weather, kids, car trouble or traffic alters your plans. When it comes to financial planning, you face similar dilemmas and you often make changes in order to reach your planned financial destination. Having a plan in place and knowing when to alter it can be very useful. Here are some events to look…

We have all seen the financial ads on television and the internet and heard them on radio. With so many voices competing to give you financial advice, most of it just comes across as noise. But how do you answer the questions like “What’s the best way to save for college?” or “Did I make the right investment choices for my 401k?” Sometimes it seems like there are so many decisions that we feel as if we are in over our heads. (more…)

Most Americans have access to a 401k plan through their work, but very few truly understand the ins and outs of that plan. Here are a few basic 401k concepts that everyone should know: (more…)

At the simplest level, an investment portfolio generally consists of three components: cash, stocks and bonds. You need to hold bonds in your portfolio for a number of reasons, primarily for capital preservation and yield; this article will look at these points in more detail. A bond is an obligation used by large entities to raise money; it’s similar to a loan. In exchange for borrowing funds over a predetermined period of time, the issuer pays a coupon, or interest, to the bondholder over the life of the bond. At the end of that period, the bond’s maturity date, the…