Saving and investing are two areas America needs to know about, but rarely reads up on. It can cost you in money, in years before retirement, even happiness or your possessions. Of course, when it comes to investing to a goal thats immediate, there are a few key things I can suggest to you. First of all, remember to consider your immediate goal and how immediate it really is. Remember that debt also means it will cost you more in the long run, with interest. Its also very hard to pay off debt before retirement, and even harder during retirement. This goal has to be worth what youre spending.
Secondly its important to remember that investment means you expect something back from what youre investing in. Of course with investment, there is also risk. Never risk more than you can afford to lose! I have to repeat that, because its vital: never risk more than you can afford to lose. Lets use the analogy of gambling. Gambling is an extremely risky investment, you could score big and get extreme profit, or you could walk out with empty pockets. Some men gamble away their childrens college funds and cant pay their own bills. Though this is an extreme case, it exhorts the amount of caution needed.
Okay, youve made your choice: now what? First of all, dont let your bills slide to make an investment. If the investment flops, so does your bill money. Many would say if this is a case of closer certainty, use your normal saving money. Either way, there are people who went to school and trained and have much experience in these very issues. Consult one of them before you invest in any goal. They are available to give you the confidence or warning you may need to take the plunge and advice on how to not go broke doing so. Making investments can be important to your future, if your investments go well thats a nice, healthy retirement!
Paying taxes can be stressful and annoying. A lot of things also change when youre considering retirement or in retirement. Retirement is something America is still trying to figure our correctly. When social security started, it was to help us out of the depression and was a temporary fix. Later in our history, that was changed. It didnt turn out to help us much– the average social security check is $838.00, which is not enough to support most peoples cost of living after retirement. All of that said and done, how do you pay taxes on retirement account withdrawals, penalty-free?
According to SmartMoney.com, You probably know that taking withdrawals from a tax-deferred retirement account before age 59 1/2 generally results in a 10% penalty. The penalty applies to payouts from traditional IRAs, simplified employee pensions, or SEPs, and qualified retirement arrangements such as pension plans, profit-sharing plans, stock bonus plans, 401(k) plans, Keogh plans and the like. So we are talking insult added to injury here. While I certainly discourage raiding a tax-deferred retirement account before actually reaching retirement age, it sometimes can’t be helped. In these situations, a key objective is to dodge that darned 10% penalty whenever possible.
Confusingly enough, the list of exceptions for IRAs and SEPs isn’t identical to the list for qualified retirement plan accounts. One exception available for all types of accounts is taking annuity-like withdrawals over your life expectancy. You can use this calculator to figure the amount of penalty-free annuity-like withdrawals that you can take from a particular tax-deferred account. The annuity-like withdrawals must be taken at least annually. Because that may be confusing, most experts would suggest you consider talking to a trained professional, someone with skills and experience in these areas. Make sure you trust this professional, as slip ups in these areas could really cost you.
- Avoid These Major Money Missteps and Stay Out of Debt
- Avoid These Major Money Missteps and Stay Out of Debt What you can do to avoid getting into debt? Experts say there are certain money missteps that many of us are likely to make. Here are the major money missteps that can easily land you in debt. These are very common missteps that many of
- Companies That Buy Structured Settlements
- There a many companies that buy Structured Settlements, however they are not all the same and you will not sell your settlement for the same price everywhere. What these companies do is purchase the settlement, for instance it might be for a certain value per week or month and over a lifetime amount to say
- Importance of an Emergency Fund and Ways to Fund It
- Importance of an Emergency Fund and Ways to Fund It An emergency fund is necessary for obvious reasons. Unexpected circumstances include job loss, car breakdown, sick kid, and natural disaster. You can build an emergency account using one or more of the following principles: If you invest in your company’s 401K or other pension plan you may
- Ten Ways to Simplify your Life and Lower Debt
- You should shop for quality insurance. Ask your friends for their recommendations. Do they like their insurance representative? Does the insurance agent seem to be responsive to their needs? Is the agent easy to contact? How long have they had this agent handling their insurance? Determine your real needs. What types of insurance will you
- Second Mortgages
- What are Second Mortgages? A second mortgage is a loan made against your home when you already own a primary mortgage. The home equity is used as collateral for the second mortgage loan. Your second mortgage has less priority in comparison to the first on the identical property. So if you default you will want to clear
