What is 401K Vesting

February 21, 2012 By 1 Comment

You just started a new job and one of the perks of the job is a 401k.  To make things even better your company also offers a match for your contributions.  Who doesn’t like “free” money for investing? Before you get overly excited, let’s look at one aspect that may impact just how much of [...]

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Stop Being Indecisive About Your Money

February 7, 2012 By

When making major personal finance decisions sometimes we just want someone to tell us what to do.  Instead of deciding if we need a credit card; we want someone else to tell us if it is the right thing to do.  We just don’t have the time or desire to figure it out on our [...]

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Target Date Funds and Your Retirement Money

January 24, 2012 By
Vanguard Summary

Picking the right selection of mutual funds for your retirement plan can be an intimidating task.  The options seem to be endless and in a foreign language.  Then you spot it: the Target Date Fund for your retirement year.  Could this be the answer to your problem?  Before you jump right in, let’s take a [...]

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How to Keep Focused on the Future Without Going Crazy Today

January 10, 2012 By

Sometimes being “smart” with money can make you want to cry (at least it does this to me!)  It is hard day after day to control your spending and look to the future, especially when it seems like everyone else is doing just fine. So how do you keep focusing on the future without going [...]

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What is a Roth IRA

January 4, 2012 By

So what exactly is a Roth IRA?  (Other than one more confusing term for investing). History (short and sweet): Back in 1997 congress put together a bill called the Taxpayer Relief Act of 197.  One of the great things to come out of this was a new IRA, called the Roth.  (Named for the Senator [...]

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Smart Money Steps Contest 2012

December 30, 2011 By
giveaway books

Update 1/9 – congratulations to our winner: Dorenda Every year at this time we get ready to set New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately many of us fail to achieve them. Don’t let that happen to you this year. Make this the year you take control of your money goals. Enter the Smart Money Steps Contest 2012 [...]

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Keeping Track of Non-Cash Charitable Contributions

December 30, 2011 By
charity

Donating goods is a great way to pass on items to those who can use them, and at the same time earn yourself a tax deduction.  However, you need to actually keep track of what you drop off so that you can get a tax deduction.  In an audit, if you do not have proper [...]

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How to Make Life Changes Easier

December 15, 2011 By
change

Every morning my son wakes up, gets dressed, and comes down stairs.  If I am not in my white chair reading with a cup of coffee he gets upset and has me grab my coffee and sit down. Why? Well mainly because he wants to cuddle every morning (which I am not going to say [...]

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What is a Ticker Symbol

December 13, 2011 By

Sometimes the most confusing part of starting to invest is knowing all the terms.  Today we get a quick run down on what a ticker symbol is. A ticker symbol is a combination of letters used as an abbreviation for a particular stock.  This is so that it is not necessary to write out the [...]

Filed Under: Investing

The Skinny on an IRA

December 8, 2011 By

The term IRA gets tossed around when talking about investments, but have you every wondered what exactly an IRA is? The letters in IRA stand for Individual Retirement Account. An IRA is not actually an investment, such as a stock or a bond is an investment.  Instead an IRA is an account where you hold [...]

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