Inflation: If You Wait Until it Arrives, You’ll be too Late

Despite the current benign inflationary environment, inflation poses a threat to your financial well-being as great as that of market volatility.
And if you think you’ll be able to see it coming and react fast enough to protect yourself, guess again. Like stock prices and interest rates (and every other financial or economic variable), inflation is [...]

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A Primer on TIPs Bonds (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities)

Inflation-adjusted Treasury bonds (TIPs) offer investors a nice inflation hedge, but they aren’t without risks. Namely, their total return will be affected by prevailing interest rates, supply and demand, and expected future inflation (not just actual inflation). Lesson: while appropriate in many portfolios, they aren’t a “silver bullet.”
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Don’t Bet the Farm on Bonds

Bonds are an important piece of most portfolios but the “great recession” has many investors moving money to bonds based on recent past performance.
The past isn’t necessarily prologue: the current interest rate environment and potential future inflation could cause this strategy to be “performance chasing” of the worst kind.
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Be Careful About Picking Beneficiaries for Your IRAs and 401(k)s

Inheriting IRA or 401(k) proceeds from a friend or relative can be a potentially huge windfall, but it can also be a sizable tax headache. For both the giver and the recipient, it’s worth getting some advice.
Bank accounts, stocks, real estate and life insurance proceeds generally pass to heirs free of income tax. However, inherited [...]

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John Gay, CFP® of Frisco Financial Planning Named to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) “Best Financial Planners List”

John Gay, CFP® was recently named by his colleagues to the D Magazine List of the Best Financial Planners in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW).
Frisco, TX: December 19, 2008 — John Gay, CFP®, a Certified Financial Planner(tm) practitioner in the Dallas suburb of Frisco was named by his peers in the January 2009 issue of D Magazine [...]

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Should You Roll Your 401(k) Money Into an IRA?

If you’re entitled to a distribution from your 401(k) plan (for example, because you’ve left your job), and it’s rollover-eligible, you may be faced with a choice. Should you take the distribution and roll the funds over to an IRA, or should you leave your money where it is?
Across the universe
In contrast to a 401(k) [...]

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Where to Stash Your Emergency Cash

A financial cushion can improve your ability to survive bad times, but right now that cash may be earning a relatively low interest rate. However, try to think of it as you might insurance: your emergency fund is designed to be there when you need it. Here are some possibilities that balance safety with liquidity:
Interest-bearing [...]

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Long Term Care Partnership Policies

As the number of older Americans has grown, so has the need for long-term care. To encourage more people to buy long-term care insurance, states have teamed up with private insurers to develop special long-term care (LTC) policies. These “Partnership” policies combine the features and benefits of traditional LTC insurance with Medicaid asset protection.
Individuals who [...]

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The Economics of Borrowing from Your 401(k) Plan

When times are tough, that pool of dollars sitting in your 401(k) plan account may start to look attractive. But before you decide to take a plan loan, be sure you understand the financial impact. It’s not as simple as you think.
The basics of borrowing
A 401(k) plan will usually let you borrow as much as [...]

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Ask the Experts: I Inherited my Spouse’s Traditional IRA. Now What?

When you inherit your spouse’s traditional IRA, you have a number of options.
Option 1: You can roll the proceeds of the inherited IRA over to your own traditional IRA. This can be a new IRA, or one you already own.
Option 2: You can treat the inherited IRA as your own by designating yourself as the [...]

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