Other Financial Topics
Calculators
- Car Affordability
How much can you afford to pay for a car?
- Cash Flow Analysis
This Cash Flow Analysis form will help you weigh your income vs. your expenses.
- Credit Card Debt
How Long Will It Take to Pay my Balance?
- Estate Taxes
Use this calculator to estimate the federal estate taxes that could be due on your estate after you die.
- Federal Income Tax
This calculator can help you estimate your annual federal income tax liability.
- Home Affordability
Estimate of the maximum amount of financing you can expect to get when you begin house hunting.
- Lease Payment
How much would your monthly lease payment be?
- Life Expectancy
Knowing your likely life expectancy is an important factor in making long-term financial plans.
- Lifetime Earnings
This calculator is designed to help you attach a dollar figure to your life’s work.
- Loan Payoff
How much will it cost to pay off a loan over its lifetime?
- Long-Term Care Self Insurance
Will you be able to afford nursing home care?
- Mortgage Acceleration
This calculator can help you determine how soon you can pay off your mortgage.
- Mortgage Refinancing
Determine whether you should consider refinancing your mortgage.
- Savings Accumulation
Estimate the future value of your current savings.
- Savings Goals
How much do you need to save each year to meet your long-term financial goals?
Flipbooks
- Financial Protection: Using Insurance to Help Manage Life’s Risks
Home, auto, life, disability — Protect your financial interests by having the appropriate insurance coverage.
- Time to Get Tax-Savvy: Managing Your Tax Burden
Understanding tax rules and spotting tax-saving opportunities might help you put the money to better use.
- Wealth Preservation: Planning to Leave a Legacy
An estate planning strategy could increase the value of your estate and help avoid potential conflicts and delays.
Newsletters
- A Financial Wellness Plan Can Help Pave the Road to Retirement
This article outlines four elements of financial well-being and offers suggestions to strengthen financial wellness.
- Accumulating Funds for Short-Term Goals
Saving for short-term goals can require a conservative approach. This article explores some guidelines and potential investment vehicles.
- All-in-One Funds: Targeting Time or Risk?
This article discusses target-date funds and lifestyle funds, with the more common of the two based on time horizon rather than risk.
- Big Data for Smaller Players
Read how small businesses use software services to help streamline operations, understand customers, optimize websites, and find new markets.
- Business Cycle Basics: Recessions Begin and End Before We Know It
This article discusses how economists identify and measure economic contractions and compares some characteristics of past recessions.
- Five Investment Tasks to Tackle by Year-End
2020 market turbulence underscores the importance of reviewing an investment portfolio. These five steps could help keep it on track.
- Five Tips to Regain Your Retirement Savings Focus in 2021
This article presents five steps that could help focus and enhance a retirement savings strategy in 2021.
- Four Steps to Rebuilding Your Business
Small-business owners may need to think on their feet and visualize what a recovery might look like for their operations post COVID-19.
- Four Things Investors Should Know About Stock Splits
If you’ve wondered what stock splits are and what effect they might have on your investment portfolio, this article covers the basics.
- Full House: Adult Children Coming Home
If your adult children have returned to your once-empty nest, these tips might help promote a peaceful and productive living situation.
- Gift vs. Inheritance: Consider the Tax Difference
When deciding whether to gift assets now or transfer them to heirs at death, you need to understand step-up in basis and tax consequences.
- HOT TOPIC: High-Frequency Indicators: Where to Look for Signs of Recovery
This article discusses various high-frequency indicators economists use to monitor the pandemic’s impact and the economic recovery’s progress.
- HOT TOPIC: How COVID-19 Has Changed Consumer Behavior and the Future of Retail
This article looks at the “new normal,” its effect on consumer behavior and the retail industry, and what that could mean for the economy.
- HOT TOPIC: Pandemic Relief Measures and Your Tax Return
This article discusses various tax issues stemming from the two tax relief bills passed in 2020 in response to the pandemic and how they may affect you.
- HOT TOPIC: Revisiting the 4% Rule
For years, the “4% rule” helped retirees make their savings last, but now a more aggressive withdrawal strategy might be the new norm.
- Income Investors May Find Closed-End Funds on Sale
Do you know the differences between open-end and closed-end funds? This article compares the two.
- Insurance to Help Protect Your Business from Lawsuits
Some businesses are exposed to risks that may call for a specialized type of liability policy. Does your business have appropriate coverage?
- Investing in UITs
A Unit Investment Trust is structured differently than a mutual fund or ETF. Could its unique features help you ladder your investments?
- Money Market Funds in a Low Rate Environment
Did you know there still may be reasons to hold money market mutual funds despite low yields? Read this article to find out more.
- New Fed Policy Suggests Low Rates for the Long Term
The Fed now seeks to control inflation through the benchmark federal funds rate. Find out what this means for investors and consumers.
- Passive, Active, or Both?
Passively managed index funds and actively managed funds can perform differently over different market cycles. Find out more about each.
- Prepare Your Finances for the Next Emergency
The pandemic has underscored the importance of a well-stocked emergency fund. This article offers tips for building up a cash reserve.
- Putting Your Nest Egg in Three Baskets
Find out how understanding sequence-of-returns risk could help you develop a three-prong distribution strategy for retirement.
- Return of Premium Life Insurance: Protection and Cash Back
This article provides an overview of the pros and cons of a type of term policy – return of premium life insurance.
- Sequence Risk: Preparing to Retire in a Down Market
This article offers a strategy that may help address sequence risk — the danger of poor investment performance at the outset of retirement.
- Should You Pay Off Student Loans Early or Save More for Retirement?
Wondering whether you should pay off student loan debt today or save for the future? Here are some considerations to help make the decision.
- Take Advantage of Deductions for Business Investments
A look at bonus depreciation and Section 179, plus CARES Act changes that may benefit companies that reconfigured spaces for safety reasons.
- Three Questions to Consider During Open Enrollment
Making benefit elections for next year? This article covers three key areas that require careful consideration during open enrollment.
- Watch Out for These Financial Pitfalls in the New Year
Financial opportunities and potential pitfalls can appear at any time. Here are common money mistakes to avoid at various stages of life.
- When You Can’t Speak for Yourself
Discover how a living will and durable powers of attorney for health care and finances can help ensure your wishes are carried out.
- Working While Receiving Social Security Benefits
Do you understand the Social Security retirement earnings test and how it may affect your current and future Social Security benefits?
- Your Business: Could You Benefit from a Roth Conversion in 2020?
This article focuses on the potential short- and long-term tax ramifications of a Roth IRA conversion.
- Your Business: Reasons to Keep Personal and Business Finances Separate
Find out why it’s important to draw a line between business and personal finances, especially for credit, tax, and personal asset purposes.
- Your Estate: Have You Looked at These Legal Documents Lately?
This article looks at documents that should be kept up to date, including wills, trusts, advance medical directives, and beneficiary forms.
Research Articles
- Am I Prepared for Long-Term Care Expenses?
The odds of needing long-term care increase as you age. Prior planning can help protect you from financial ruin.
- Do I Need Disability Income Insurance?
Knowing the basics of a disability income insurance policy is a good first step toward protecting your family.
- History of the Federal Estate Tax
Careful estate planning is still one of the most important ways to manage and protect your assets for your heirs.
- How Can a Living Trust Help Me Control My Estate?
A living trust can help control the distribution of your estate upon death.
- How Can I Benefit from a Charitable Lead Trust?
Charitable lead trusts are designed for people who would like to benefit a charity now rather than later.
- How Can I Benefit from a Charitable Remainder Trust?
A designated income beneficiary could receive payment of a specified amount from a charitable remainder trust.
- How Can I Benefit from a Wealth Replacement Trust?
A wealth replacement trust could be used to gift appreciated assets to a charity as well as provide for heirs.
- How Can My Gift Benefit Me and the Charity?
To retain the tax advantages associated with charitable giving, your gift must be made to a qualified organization.
- How Likely Am I to Need Long-Term Care?
If you were to suffer an illness or disability that required long-term nursing care, would you be covered?
- How Long Will It Take to Double My Money?
Before making investment decisions, it is helpful to determine the real rate of return on the investment.
- How Will I Pay Estate Taxes?
If you believe your estate will be subject to estate taxes, consider how your heirs will pay the bill.
- United States Tax History
United States tax law is a constantly changing landscape. The latest major piece of tax legislation is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
- What Are Some Tips for Managing My Money?
A sound cash management program uses a disciplined approach: accounting, analysis, allocation, and adjustment.
- What Are the Pitfalls of Probate?
The probate process can be lengthy and complex. There are strategies you can use to help avoid the probate process.
- What Is Tax Deferral?
There can be a substantial benefit to deferring taxes as long as possible.
- What Is the Best Form of Property Ownership for Me?
Sole ownership, joint tenancy, tenancy in common, and community property have special benefits for property owners.
- What Key Estate Planning Tools Should I Know About?
Wills and trusts allow you to spell out how you would like your property distributed, but they also go beyond that.
- What Savings Alternatives Are Available?
There are a number of savings alternatives that could help you earn a reasonable rate of return.
Videos
- Do You Know Who Your Beneficiaries Are?
Valuable assets will convey directly to beneficiaries, regardless of instructions in a will.
- The Latte Habit
How little things can add up over time.
- What Would Happen to Your Estate?
Estate planning documents can help you manage your estate.