Speaking of becoming a millionaire (or not), the most recent issue of Money magazine had some interesting statistics on how much money people think they’d need to retire today. Based on the results of a national poll: 10% of respondents said $250k-$500k 24% of respondents said $500k-$1M 35% of respondents said $1M-$2M 31% of respondent […]
Millionaires make tons of money. Right? They must. Otherwise, how would they have reached such heights? Well… According to data from Thomas Stanley, co-author of “The Millionaire Next Door” (amongst other things), the typical millionaire’s annual income is just 8.2% of their total wealth. These data are backed up by a Treasury Department analysis that […]
In response to my recent post about Roth IRA withdrawal penalties, a reader named Aaron asked the following: My wife has $40k in a traditional IRA. It was a rollover from when she used to work. We have about $40k in debt (cars, credit cards, school loans) plus a mortgage. Is there any way to […]
A reader named Bill recently asked for clarification on the details surrounding Roth IRA early withdrawal penalties. I’ve talked about this in the past, but with the end of the year looming, I thought it would be good to touch on it again. As with traditional IRAs, the IRS views all of your Roth IRAs […]
To all of our readers in (or from) the United States… Happy Thanksgiving! Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, I hope you’re having a great (and relaxing) holiday. If you’re on the road, please travel safe. And if you’re heading out for some Black Friday shopping, be sure to get to bed early. 😉 […]
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s time to remind you that this coming Saturday is none other than Small Business Saturday. This is a promotion started back in 2010 by American Express to encourage people to shop at small businesses, and to reward small businesses for accepting American Express credit cards. As in years […]
Every year around this time, the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner. Their estimate include enough turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and trimmings to feed a family of ten. This year’s estimate comes in at $49.48, or just under $5/person. Compared to last year, than an increase of just $0.28 […]
Walter Updegrave of CNN/Money recently fielded a question from a guy whose employer employer had stopped matching his 401(k) contributions. He was wondering if he should start looking for a new job. This is a perfectly reasonable question, as a loss of this sort of benefit is effectively a pay cut. But it also relates […]
Earlier this week, I ran across an interesting article over at Investor Junkie. In it, Larry described the destruction of his Long Island rental property by Hurricane Sandy. One of the most interesting points in all of this (at least to me) was that his renter did have a renter’s insurance policy, but their losses […]
While perusing the web the other day, I ran across an amusing story about a drunk guy at a Vikings game that was eating ice cream with a credit card. Someone nearby captured the moment in a photo and shortly thereafter it went viral. Here’s the pic: It’s kind of hard to see, but he […]