It’s the holiday season, it’s cold outside, you’re tired, and you’re prepared to relax and spend some time with friends and family. But, this is also the time of year we need spend time to prepare ourselves financially.
As TIAA-CREF writes in their November 16th Market Monitor (pdf):
It’s hard to overcome inertia.
Circumstances change — [...]
If you haven’t seen it yet, the CBS News show 60 minutes aired an episode this evening entitled: Retirement Dreams Disappear With 401(k)s.
This 60 minutes episode couldn’t have come at a better time.
A friend just informed me on Friday that she has multiple 401k plans from previous employers, that she hasn’t rolled-over in an IRA. [...]
Did anyone know that this week is National Save for Retirement Week?
National Save for Retirement Week was established by the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) to raise awareness about the need for retirement planning among today’s workers.
This year, both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Reps. have passed resolutions declaring [...]
According to today’s Wall Street Journal:
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s deal to buy Bear Stearns for $2 a share wiped out the life savings of many of Bear’s 14,000 employees, who owned one-third of the firm’s shares. Most employees at Bear, known for its loyalty and a strong merit-driven culture, expected to lose their jobs.
Mr. [...]
My Short-term Perspective
Although I sometimes speculate and invest in the markets using contrarian investment strategies, it’s usually because I feel pretty confident about my forecasts or where we’re headed.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any of that confidence right now. I’m not too sure what to make of the markets lately and I really don’t have any strong clues [...]