Mutual Funds

Boost your yield and your principal gets nibbled. Here’s how to assess the trade-off. “I bought the Invesco Senior Loan ETF, ticker symbol BKLN, in 2017 and haven’t seen the light of day since. I bought it when I learned that it’s floating rate and if interest rates rise it should not lose value. Any

It’s a simple bill, and a short one, too: The Lifetime Income for Employees Act, or the LIFE Act, introduced back in mid-February as HR 6746, has one objective: to enable employers to default their employees’ 401(k) investments not just in the (by now) traditional “target date” funds but also in annuity contracts. Specifically, for

“C’mon, Dad, hurry it up!” said every kid (ever) having his or her picture taken on a family vacation. “Hold on,” Dad said, “I’ve almost got the lighting right…” Little did Dad know that we might have been onto something as kids. Indeed, taking a picture changes something about an experience, doesn’t it? And the

As economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine spread, state and local public pension plans are looking at selling off their Russian-related assets and some are already doing so. Lawmakers in at least a dozen states are pressuring their pension funds to divest from Russian-related investments. Divestment isn’t likely to have much impact

With everything going on in the world right now, there is a feeling of general unease blanketing our nation. While I cannot speak to the politics of foreign governments, I can mourn for the lives lost in the current struggles and share my thoughts on how I see the markets reacting. “It’s different this time.”

By Ronnie Genser, Next Avenue My unexpected journey to my “second act” began on September 20, 2011, the second day of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year 2011) when my beloved husband Sandy (Sanford) Weinberg, age 61, had an unexpected massive heart attack around 11 pm. Sandy was a health care management professor at the graduate

By Leslie Hunter-Gadsden, Next Avenue Entrepreneurs often begin with an idea and manage their new business alone — at least in the early stages of their startup. So, in essence, they are often “solo-preneurs” with hopes of possibly adding a few staff members as their business expands. For Patricia Wynn’s Hillsborough, N.C.-based lifestyle assistant business,

The U.S. Department of Labor came out this week with an unusually strong warning about cryptocurrencies pushing their way into 401(k) retirement accounts. Over the last few months, some financial institutions have started marketing crypto investments as potential options in these highly regulated accounts, and that’s a problem according to the DOL. “At this early

By Carol Ungar, Next Avenue When Vivian Kirkfield’s feet touched the ground after skydiving, she had an epiphany. “I realized that if I could jump out of a perfectly good airplane, I could do anything.” For Kirkfield, who received the skydive as a gift from her son when she turned 64 in 2011, that meant

Soon, California residents with personal care needs will be eligible for Medicaid long-term care no matter how much money and other assets they have. On July 1, the state will increase the program’s asset limit from $2,000 for an individual to $130,000 and from $3,000 for a couple to $195,000. The state plans to end

America’s state and local government pensions invest as much as 40 percent of their assets in secretive, offshore “alternative” hedge, private equity, real estate and venture funds which warn that certain unidentified “mystery investors” pay lower fees, are provided greater information about investment strategies and portfolio holdings, have been granted liquidity preferences and receive superior

EcoVillage in Ithaca (EVI), New York is a cohousing community that has thrived since its founding in 1992. Co-housing communities attract all ages and in the last decade a large handful of them have been developed solely for adults over 60. EVI is multigenerational and operates a farm that helps to support its residents. There

Insights into an Important Decision Most retirement plans today are defined contribution plans which promote an expectation of the potential for a large account balance. Some offer the option to convert that balance into a lifetime income, but most do not. Retirees who want a lifetime income stream can always make that choice by buying

Before long, many may start to view The Great Resignation as a Great Big Mistake. Over 3 million Americans decided to retire early amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The percentage of the US population in retirement has been gradually increasing for years, but this was a significant rise above the prevailing trend. Source: Federal Reserve Bank

For over a year, the $100 billion-plus State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio has refused to disclose critical information regarding its riskiest investments— information requested by tens of thousands of deeply concerned school teachers whose promised retirement benefits have been slashed. Public scrutiny of the state fund’s investments has been effectively thwarted by pension officials

If you have been taking life expectancy distributions from an inherited IRA, should you care about the new RMD (required minimum distribution) tables effective in 2022? That’s a question raised by S.L., and the answer is “yes.” Anyone who is a beneficiary of an inherited IRA will need to address specific questions with his or

Distinguishing good from evil on Wall Street is a challenge. Be grateful there are analysts doing most of the homework for you. An ethical portfolio excludes the shares of irresponsible companies. Which ones are those? Once upon a time that was a fairly simple matter. A handful of mutual funds had portfolios omitting certain industries,

The sustainable-investing movement is picking up momentum. Here’s how to participate. Should your portfolio align with your notion of corporate responsibility? If you think it should, join a small but rapidly expanding population of ESG investors, those sensitive to the environmental, social and governance qualities of the companies that use their capital. This three-part guide

A big change related to qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) has been highlighted in the Feb. 28 release of the official IRS Publication 590-B for the 2021 tax season. The QCD change affects those over age 70 1/2 who make deductible contributions to their IRAs. Reminder: “A QCD is generally a nontaxable distribution made directly by

Mindfulness is hot right now, maybe even hip. But for most, it still rests somewhere on a continuum between “woo-woo out there” and “yeah, I don’t have time for that,” rather than being utilized as a practical pursuit that can be applied in surprisingly tangible ways. Yet I believe that it is and can, even,

By Lazetta Rainey Braxton, Next Avenue This noted Generation X money adviser explains how financial planning is changing to be more accessibleFellow members of Generation X, I bear some good news. Financial advisers are not just reserved for the wealthy anymore. That’s timely, and I think heartening, considering this finding from a recent study by

Some people claim early because they are afraid benefits will be chopped. What are the chances of this? “I’m 66. Married, filing jointly. I have high IRA balances. Also, no debt, our mortgage is paid, and we are both healthy and locally active with a low cost of living. I’m thinking about postponing Social Security

By Grant Easterbrook, Next Avenue Approximately 20% of the American population is retired, which amounts to close to 66 million people. Despite the large retiree market, however, there has been relatively limited venture capital investment in new tools and services to help with “decumulation.” Decumulation is the phase of life when retirees must manage drawing

By Kelly K. James, Next Avenue When Ellen and Carl Otterness’ daughters were young, the couple wrote wills. Their primary goal was to name a guardian for their children if something happened to both of them. Then they didn’t think about it … for decades. Their now-adult daughters are both over 40, with husbands and

There’s some new guidance on early IRA withdrawals that pre-retirees should know about. It changes the interest rate on early withdrawals and allows a switch of method. IRAs are wonderful planning tools, since they allow the accumulation of retirement funds on a tax-deferred, or in the case of Roth, tax-free, basis. With the ‘Great Resignation’

Across the nation politicians are naïvely calling for state pensions to dump their Russian investments to punish the country for its invasion of Ukraine. Since state pensions have in recent years agreed to let Wall Street fund managers keep secret their investment holdings, states don’t even know the Russian assets they hold.   Yesterday, state

Medicaid spending is something that fluctuates fairly substantially from state to state. Medicaid income limits, too, vary by state, which can make it hard to know if you qualify depending on where you live. Here, we’ll breakdown Medicaid spending by state and Medicaid income limits by state. Medicaid Limits by State Many states actually have

Workplace retirement plans often are not helping participants avoid social environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, risks, warns a report from Morningstar’s newly created Center for Retirement and Policy Studies released Tuesday. U.S. retirement plans offer investment options that are more likely to have higher ESG riscompared with the overall distribution of ESG risk in

On Monday, the IRS released the official version of IRS Publication 590-B, “Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs),” for the 2021 tax season, and the publication’s “What’s New” section leads off with a popular topic: “Life Expectancy Tables Updated.” The New RMD Tables I’ve been on the receiving end of questions from readers asking where

If you filed your 2021 tax return early online, opted for a direct deposit into your bank account, and the IRS found no “issues” with your return, look at your bank account — you may see your refund on deposit. So says a Feb. 24, 2022, IRS press release, “Tax Time Guide: Use the ‘Where’s My