Retirement Funds

Annuities are investments designed to provide an income at some point in a person's life. There are various types of annuities including employer-sponsored contribution plans as well as privately…

Saving money for retirement helps you build that lump sum of money you'll need to live on when you get too old to work. Retirement savings plans help you build that savings quickly and efficiently.…

In January 1987, the Federal Employees Retirement System, or FERS, became effective. FERS is a three-tiered retirement system consisting of a defined benefit pension, Social Security benefit, and…

Vanguard is a well-known investment company that primarily sells mutual funds. Investors recognize Vanguard as having some of the lowest expense ratios in the industry, on average a full percentage…

When a company declares bankruptcy, this can be a real worry not just for the company but for the employees too. This is because employees face the risk of losing benefit plans that include pension…

A 401k plan is a tax-deferred plan that allows you to save money for your future retirement. A 401k plan gives you the flexibility to save as little or as much as you want up to a federally imposed…

Retirement plans are a key component of your financial plan. A Maine state retirement plan is one set up by the state which provides an income for you when you retire. This retirement plan differs…

Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund, commonly referred to as TIAA-CREF, is a large institutional money management firm that initially focused on providing…

Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) provides retirement, life insurance and education savings plans at U.S. colleges, schools, medical and other…

TIAA-CREF is a financial services company that helps people plan for retirement. Even if you are not near retirement, you might have an account with the company that you want to close for any number…

The tax implications of your mobile home will really depend on whether you use it as a residence or personal vehicle. When you use the mobile home as a residence, then you may be eligible to claim the…

The amount of time it takes your 401k custodian to send your funds to you depends on a number of factors including, the manner in which the funds are disbursed and the timing of your request to…

Inflation is the rate in which the cost of living rises. Therefore, your ability to buy goods and services for the same dollar value declines. Inflation risk is a major concern for many investors…

When you move funds from one retirement account to another, it is likely that the rollover or transfer will involve the sale of assets in the original account. This sale does not count as a sale of…

For those looking to save a few bucks at the grocery store checkout, the allure of purchasing in bulk is almost irresistible. Conventional wisdom says that by buying in bulk, you pay a lower price per…

Retirement plans for employers allow employers to offer a benefit for employees that they cannot receive without the employer. These plans range from simple contribution plans to full pension plans.…

Retirement planning requires that you have a firm idea of what you want your retirement to look like. Your retirement plan may be complex, so you should consider making a checklist. A checklist is…

Your retirement plan is supposed to support you when you are no longer working. But, what if you don't want to stop working? Your retirement savings can be used to keep you employed. If you want to…

Whether or not you can borrow money from your retirement fund depends on what type of retirement plan you have and on the specifics of your plan. But even if you can't borrow, you may be eligible for…

Filing for bankruptcy can put a serious negative mark on your report, which can hamper your ability to get financing again the future. Even after you file bankruptcy, your need for transportation will…

No matter where you are in your career cycle, it is never too early to start thinking about retirement. The sooner you get started with your retirement savings and investment program, the better off…

When saving money for retirement, consider an annuity. Retirement annuities allow you to build long-term savings. This savings can then be converted to monthly payments when you retire. This process…

Deciding whether to invest potentially is one of the most important financial decisions you will ever make, as investments may yield millions or drain your assets over your lifetime. Looking at…

A lifetime of planning and saving has left a large nest egg ready and waiting for retirement. Now that the time to retire has arrived, the question of the best use arises. How can you maximize your…

There are very polar views on the value of annuities for those in or nearing retirement. Major financial journals and research outlets such as SmartMoney heavily warn investors about potential…

For many debtors, filing bankruptcy is the least attractive option for digging out of a financial hole. If you have a 401k account, you may consider cashing it in to pay down your debt, rather than…

Employers are changing retirement plans to take advantage of federal laws allowing for more employee involvement in retirement planning, as well as greater contribution limits. It is hoped that…

Most of the time, rolling a company-sponsored 401k over into a self-directed IRA is a straightforward process. The investments within the plan are exchanged into a cash-equivalent asset and the…

When you need quick cash, the money in your 401k or other retirement plan can look pretty tempting. It can be even more tempting to tap that money if your employer allows you to take out a 401k loan,…

Annuity contracts are life insurance products issued by insurance companies. Annuities offer many benefits including tax deferred growth. However, they also carry certain risks that, for some…

When you contribute money to your retirement, it would be nice if it was there when you need it. Thankfully, your retirement benefits are insured so that you are assured of having whatever you've…

Investors who establish retirement accounts seek both safety of principal and long-term gains. In the investment arena, safety and minimal returns go hand in hand, while people chasing long-term gains…

Baby boomers are the post-World War II children born between 1946 and 1964. The first boomers reach 65 in 2011 and enter the stage of life characterized by Social Security and Medicare. Retirement…

The windfall elimination provision reduces or cancels a retiree's Social Security benefits if the retiree collects certain types of pensions, such as a pension from a state or local government or a…

Targeted retirement funds are mutual funds that often set an explicit retirement year to attract investors planning for retirement within different time frames. Targeted retirement funds can adjust…

Target-date mutual funds are a type of investment product that many people have started to use for their retirement portfolios. With this type of investment, you choose a target date that you would…

If you own a business and want to start a retirement plan for your employees, you should understand why some plans offer the option to make contributions. Some contributions are mandated by law, while…

When you are saving money for retirement, you must have a good idea of your options. Employer-sponsored retirement plans often help you fund your retirement. However, some retirement plans are not…

When you inherit a retirement account from a loved one, you may or may not be required to pay taxes on the inheritance. Whether you are liable for taxes depends on what type of account you inherit.…

When you have to file for bankruptcy, you might make payment arrangements with your creditors to pay back at least some of your debts. But you could also lose a substantial amount of your assets and…

Valuable items must be kept safe, or they will be stolen, lost, broken or fall into disrepair through neglect. The same is true for money. When you entrust someone to take care of your assets for you,…

In this age of shrinking pensions and the uncertainty surrounding Social Security, it has never been more important for every worker to save for a comfortable retirement. Fortunately workers have a…

During retirement, people are subject to complex tax rules that apply to all sources of income, including government Social Security distributions. While some seniors experience zero tax liability and…

Not every employer 401k allows stock purchases in the plan. Most allow mutual fund options that are less expensive to manage and administer for the employer. Those that do offer stocks usually limit…

If you are passing up the opportunity to invest in your company's 401k plan, you might want to reconsider that decision. Investing in a 401k allows you to save money for retirement, but that…

When you are making the transition to retirement, you enter a period in your life when you will live off of your savings. This presents some challenges from a tax perspective. There are a few ways you…

To fund your retirement online you need to open an online Individual Retirement Account. Unlike a pension or a 401K that is set up and managed by an employer, an IRA is funded and managed by the…

According to a 2009 Fortune magazine article that appeared on the CNNMoney website, target retirement funds are meant to be a one-choice solution to saving for retirement. Index funds are a low-cost…

Vulcan Materials Company in Birmingham, Alabama, is the largest producer of construction aggregates in the U.S. The company offers a compensation and benefits programs to its employees that includes a…

Saving for retirement can be a long and complex process, with employers, banks and the federal government offering several different investment options. Investing in retirement funds is even more…

Locked-In Retirement Funds are retirement savings accounts offered to Canadian residents. LRIF plans are forms of Registered Pension Plans established by employers with employer contributions fully…

You spend your entire working life saving and investing for retirement, but what you do after you stop working can have just as big an impact. Learning how to use the appropriated funds you have saved…

In times of severe financial distress, people often take drastic measures to continue supporting themselves. Two options that are sometimes presented are loans against the vested principle of a…

Retirement is an exciting achievement. The road to retirement is long and tiring, and at the end of it, you reward yourself with opportunities to sit back, relax and reap the benefits of your hard…

Entrepreneurs must find the resources to fund a new business venture. Small-business loans or venture capital are elusive and hard to obtain without the right business plan, networking connections and…

With company pensions disappearing, more and more workers are being asked to save for their own retirements. While creating your own retirement fund provides some good opportunities, it also presents…

Americans have myriad options when it comes to retirement funds. Some of them can be set up individually or through employers. There are also types offered through the government, employer-employee…

The Guardian Life Insurance Company was founded in 1860 in New York. Guardian offers a variety of retirement plan services including Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA), 401k plans and retirement…

LifeStrategy funds, offered by Vanguard, and target retirement funds, offered by a number of mutual fund companies, provide two different approaches to investing in mutual funds. They serve different…

Retirement accounts funded with pretax money are generally taxed when withdrawn during retirement. Retirement funds paid for with after-tax money are generally not taxed at retirement. With few…

When you invest for retirement, you have a number of options at your disposal. The options you choose can have a significant impact on the earnings you achieve in your portfolio and the buying power…

While the ultimate goal of building a retirement fund is to create a comfortable retirement, there are times when investors need to withdraw money for other worthy purposes. If you need to tap the…

It is easy to be concerned about running out of money after retirement. For most retirees, retirement funds are the only available source of income. According to Retirement Watch, there are three…

With traditional pensions disappearing, it is important for every worker to have a solid retirement plan in place. Investing in a 401k, 403b or IRA is a way to ensure you have a sufficient nest egg…

Learning to manage your retirement funds is a lifelong process that begins, ideally, in your twenties and thirties when you begin to squirrel away funds for your golden years. You will need to learn…

Different account types exist for retirement savings, and each one has separate rules and regulations regarding contributions and withdrawals. While no limits are typically imposed on the aggregate…

Protecting certain assets during bankruptcy proceedings helps you start over and maintain self-sufficiency. There are several types of bankruptcy filings, and they deal with debt and creditors in…

For most Americans, their largest asset is their home. For a growing number of people, their retirement savings are either a close second, or are even growing larger than the equity in their house.…

The Retirement Reserves Money Fund is an investment option for some employer sponsored 401k retirement plan. If this fund is an available option in your employer's retirement plan, you should…

The days where your employer would be the one supporting you during your retirement are long gone. Traditional pensions have all but disappeared from the vast majority of industries, leaving you…

A 401(k) plan is an employer sponsored plan that allows an employee to save pretax dollars towards retirement. Employees have the option of maintaining a 401(k) plan with the employer, even after they…

A retirement fund is the amount of money you save for retirement. Once you are no longer working, you will need to draw from your retirement fund, as well as from Social Security and an…

An 801k is nothing more than an investment product offering investors information on direct purchase plans (DPPs) and dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) for a fee. You can get equivalent information…

There are many ways to fund your retirement. While some people will rely entirely on the resources paid into Social Security funds, others are able to take advantage of the many types of supplemental…

Most IRA custodians allow only equity and bank investments in portfolios. Custodians are not required to offer the variety of investments allowed by the Internal Revenue Service as suitable IRA…

When you are faced with a large tax bill, using your retirement funds may be your only option to avoid late penalties and fees. The problem is you don't want to incur income tax and penalties on your…

One of the primary benefits of working for the federal government or public agencies is a retirement package. You may have worked in places where there was a benefits package but changed employers…

Since the goal of investing in a retirement plan is to accumulate as much money as possible for retirement, suspending payments to a plan is generally not an advisable strategy. For most investors,…

A monetary windfall can be a great blessing. These are often unexpected and allow you to put the money to use without affecting your overall budget. Some people end up in a worse situation as a result…

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) guarantees that $250,000 of your checking and savings accounts (combined) are returned if the bank failed. However, as stocks fell in 2008, many people…

An annuity can help strengthen your retirement portfolio and provide additional income after you retire. Investing in an anuity allows you the option to receive a lump-sum payout or monthly or…

Transferring your retirement savings from one fund to another is relatively easy to accomplish without incurring substantial fees or tax penalties. The two options for transferring a retirement…

Retirement can be an exciting new adventure--or a time of great anxiety. How you prepare for life after work will have a lot to do with how you spend your golden years, so it is important to plan your…

Saving for retirement is a balancing act between making safe investments and making investments that pay out enough to keep you financially afloat when retirement time comes. Although investing in…

Despite your best projections, you will not know what your retirement tax bracket will be until you retire. However, you can minimize your tax bill at retirement by taking advantage of nontaxable…

Investors looking to save for retirement have many mutual fund options available to them. If you are planning to invest your retirement savings in mutual funds, here are a few tips to consider that…

As retirement approaches and the focus shifts from how to save for retirement to how to use retirement money to pay living expenses, it is wise to put some numbers on paper and develop a spending…

There's no better time than during these tough financial times to seriously think about your future and consider opening a retirement fund. You may have the opportunity for a retirement plan through…

Many retirement accounts such as 401ks and IRAs allow for significant tax advantages for those saving towards retirement. As a result, they are a popular retirement investing strategy. However,…

Retirement funds provide money for retirement years, but you can borrow from those funds to buy a business. To do so, you need to know a bit about the types of retirement accounts you have and the…

Having retirement funds sitting in an account that you can't put to use can be frustrating. There are ways to tap into those resources without penalty and here we will go through the process of what…

Retirement plans are potentially hairy situations. It’s hard to plan for the future while making sure that today is manageable. Employee retirement plans have to spell out all of their…

The subject of windfall taxes on retirement funds crops up from time to time in Washington. So how do you tell if windfall taxes are just talk, or are they coming soon? Here's how you separate fact…

If you find yourself in need of money for an emergency or for a home purchase or home repair, you may find yourself in need of a loan. Many people take out home equity loans, also known as a second…

American Funds is a well known family of mutual funds that have been in business offering funds since 1931. The company in general has taken a long term, conservative approach to investing, making…

It's never too early to start saving for retirement. So whether you're 25 or 55, if your workplace offers a 401K plan, you should probably take advantage of the opportunity to make use of it. Although…

Contributions to retirement plans will generally reduce adjusted gross income (AGI) on your income tax return. If your employer sponsors a retirement plan, you can reduce the taxable income reported…