Financial Designations You have probably seen financial advisors list an alphabet soup of abbreviations after their names, such as "John Smith, CPA, CIA"....    Read More...

Coverdell Education Savings Accounts A Coverdell plan is a way to save money for college. Coverdell's provide special tax advantages not otherwise available through general savings....    Read More...

529 College Savings 529's provide special tax advantages not otherwise available through general savings. These plans are named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code which governs them....    Read More...

457b A 457(b) is a type of retirement plan available to employees of state and local governments and some tax-exempt organizations....    Read More...

403b A 403(b) is a type of retirement plan available to employees of government-funded education institutions such as public schools, some non-profit organizations, and self-employed ministers....    Read More...

401k A 401(k) is a type of employer-sponsored retirement plan. It is a way for employees to save for their retirement by having a percentage of their paycheck withheld by their employer and deposited into the 401(k) plan....    Read More...

SEP IRA This article covers the basics of SEP IRA's and is meant to be an introduction to the main questions you may have about them. Use it as a starting point for learning about SEP IRA's, but since it is not meant to be a comprehensive guide, check wi...    Read More...

Traditional IRA A Traditional IRA is a type of individual retirement account that has different tax rules than other types of IRA's. The main advantage to Traditional IRA's is that contributions of money to the account may be tax deductible in the year that they...    Read More...

Roth IRA IRA stands for individual retirement account, and Roth IRA's are a specific type of IRA receiving different federal income tax treatment than other types of IRA's....    Read More...

Electronic Federal Tax Payment System Cited in New Email Scam The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers to be on the lookout for a new e-mail scam that uses the Treasury Department's Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) as a hook to lure individuals into disclosing their personal information....    Read More...

Interviewing an Advisor You are now considering letting a professional make your investment decisions. This is your future and this task should not be taken lightly. I will often boil down to feeling comfortable with the advisor you are dealing with but there are still some qu...    Read More...

Read Any Good Disclaimers Lately Maybe you should, especially the one from your credit card company. Ten years ago, those disclaimers were truly in fine print, but only ran about a page. Today, the print is still the same tiny font, but the disclaimer may run to more than 25 pages. The a...    Read More...

Become a Millionaire If I were to invest $1000 into a stock that retuned 12 percent, it should double in 6 years. Leaving the initial investment at 12% return for 60 years would get us to the million-dollar mark....    Read More...

529 Plan It pays to go to college, according to the old adage. And theres more than a nugget of truth to it. A college education can pave the way to a broader range of interests, to increased career opportunities, to a more rewarding life overall. And in dollar te...    Read More...

Wealth Building What are your financial goals? A comfortable retirement? A quality college education for you child? A down payment on your first home? No matter what your financial goals, no matter what your age, you will probably need to invest in order to achieve them....    Read More...

Contribute Early to Your IRA What is it that keeps us all from building or optimizing wealth? The answer is "debt" and Merriam Webster defines it as "the common-law action for the recovery of money held to be due." To most of us, it means "paying bills over time."...    Read More...