Posts by Jay Jandasek
Warning: Your 401(k) is not a Savings Account
When money is tight many people turn to their 401(k) or other retirement plans for some quick cash. If your retirement plan has a loan provision, you may be tempted to borrow money from it since you’ll just be paying yourself back. While that is true, even though you do pay yourself back over time, you can end up doing more harm than good.
Read MoreSeptember ’09 Newsletter: Market Gains Continue Despite Growing Red Flags
Market Gains Continue Despite Growing Red Flags
Stock market gyrations are a part of life. So is investment behavior in reaction to those swings. Huge market declines like we have suffered until recently chased many participants out of equity funds. And the huge rally we have seen…
Converting To A Roth? 12 Tips You Should Know
Roth IRAs are a great option for many investors who wish to set aside more money for retirement above and beyond the contribution limitations imposed on 401(k)s. They allow you to pay taxes on your contribution up-front in exchange for tax-free growth and tax-free distributions once you retire.
Read MoreAugust ’09 Newsletter: Another Market Rally, “All is, well, not so well!”
Another Market Rally, “All is, well, not so well! Do not get us wrong – we are happy for plan participant who have suffered through quarter after quarter of negative returns.
Read MoreShould You Try To Be Mortgage – Free in Retirement?
During 1-on-1 401k consultations, we often run across this question:
Should I get rid of my mortgage before retirement?
In a word, YES.
Who’s Minding the 401(k)?
A plan’s fiduciaries have the responsibility and duty to conduct ongoing management and oversight of the various moving pieces of a 401(k) plan for the express benefit of the beneficiaries of the plan, the employees investing in it. A critical part of this responsibility is putting in place a prudent process in conducting due diligence on everything from the recordkeeping provider, TPA, investment options, reasonableness of fees, etc. as well as documenting the due diligence process of monitoring these pieces. Unfortunately, most companies do not have such processes in place, as it can be atypical behavior to document every decision.
Read MoreWhich Standard? Suitability or Fiduciary? Sign the Petition
There is a red-hot debate taking place over the difference between a broker’s suitability standard versus investment advisor’s fiduciary standard. It has been well publicized, as last year’s financial meltdown has caused many people to reconsider how they are getting their advice, as well as whether it’s truly in their best interest.
Read MoreJuly ’09 Newsletter: Finally! A quarterly statement worth opening – do more gains lie ahead?
Almost every type of stock fund went up significantly in the second quarter of 2009. Benefitting from the falling dollar, foreign stocks…
Read MoreThe “F” Word is Getting a Lot of Attention
The system would feed articles and news regarding these topics to me once a week. On average, I would get 2-5 decent articles per month. Fast forwarding to the past 12 months, I have had to change the frequency to daily so not to be buried by information overload. On Monday alone, there were 10 and that has been consistent for the past year. The point is that the interest in fiduciary responsibilities and best practices in light of the recent market volatility has never received so much attention by the media.
Read MoreYour Bailout: Slash your Credit Card Debt – Mint.com Blog
Being fans of what Mint.com does, which has been documented here, they have started a personal finance blog, and the following is a great post for those trying to dig themselves out of debt. Don’t forget, debt is financial death.
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