Here you will find recent news articles,
personal finance columns, and other information useful for
401(k) investors.
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The
Cost of Not Saving for Retirement
The Cost of Not Saving for Retirement
Wed Aug 27, 1:26 PM ET Yahoo! News
By Robert Brokamp
We all know we should save for retirement,
but study after study shows that most Americans aren't saving
enough. But putting money in a checking account rather than
a 401(k) not only endangers our retirements. It also costs
us money. Here's how.
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It's
never too late for older workers to catch up on retirement
savings
It's never too late for older workers to catch up on retirement
savings
By Sandra Block
USA Today
August 26, 2003
As much as we like to think of ourselves
as masters of our fates, many things in life are out of our
control. The weather. Crab grass. Drivers who won't use their
turn signals. And as the last three years have demonstrated,
we can't control the stock market. Investors who thought they
were on track for retirement watched helplessly as the bear
market torched their portfolios and their dreams. |
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Company
in trouble? Protect your 401(k)
Company in trouble? Protect your 401(k)
By Laura Bruce • Bankrate.com
August 18, 2003
Imagine what it would be like if
you couldn't access your 401(k), couldn't get any information
about it, change your investments or receive a distribution.
Imagine being totally cut off from your retirement lifeline.
It has happened at hundreds
of companies involving thousands of employees and millions
of dollars. A company goes bankrupt and its 401(k) plan becomes
orphaned.
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Annuities:
Who Needs Them?
Annuities: Who Needs Them?
Wed Aug 13, 3:27 PM ET Yahoo! News
By Robert Brokamp
"Pssst. Hey, buddy. Can I offer
you some tax-deferred growth?"
If you've ever been advised to
use an annuity to save for retirement, then you've heard that
line (or some variant thereof). In fact, you may have heard
it over and over from the person trying to sell you the annuity.
There are many reasons not to invest in such things; the salesperson
has to overcome all objections with the promise that won't give
so much to Uncle Sam. |
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Many
retirees select lump sum
Many retirees select lump sum
Posted 8/8/2003 2:38 AM Updated 8/13/2003 8:10 PM
By Christine Dugas, USA TODAY
When Susie Cooke took an early
retirement package from Verizon last year, she opted to receive
her pension benefit in one lump sum rather than as a lifetime
annuity.
"The basic reason was dollars and cents," says the
Tampa resident, who consulted her financial adviser. "I
calculated that I'd have more money in the long run."
(Related story: Low interest rates can translate into higher
lump-sum payments) |
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Easing
up on company stock
Easing Up On Company Stock
By Todd Mason
Inquirer Staff Writer
Philadelphia Inquirer July 8, 2003
Class-action law firms are attacking
a key underpinning of employee retirement accounts: company
stock.
Invoking the specter of Enron Corp.,
the firms allege that employers push company stock on retirement
savers, and hide material problems.
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Deflation
threat faint, but worrisome
Deflation threat faint, but worrisome
Stubborn slump presents risk of tipping into period of falling
prices, incomes
By Eileen Ambrose
Sun Staff
Originally published July 6, 2003
For generations, Americans have been
riding inflation to a better life. They get a job, buy a house
and, over time, accumulate wealth as wages and home values
climb.
But what if prices started going down - triggering deflation
instead of inflation?
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Tax
changes will affect your long-term vision
Tax changes will affect your long-term vision
By David Nicklaus Post-Dispatch
updated: 07/05/2003 04:11 PM
Tax-deferred savings plans like the
individual retirement account used to be a no-brainer. They're
not quite so simple anymore.
This year's tax cuts change the rules
dramatically. By reducing the maximum tax rate on dividends
and capital gains to 15 percent, Congress took away some of
the advantages of deferral.
The problem for stock-market
investors is that dividends and capital gains earned within
an IRA, a 401(k) or a variable annuity don't qualify for the
lower tax rate. When you withdraw the money - generally, you
must start doing so at age 70 1/2 - it will be taxed at the
same rate as ordinary income. |
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Dollar
Drop Hasn't Cured International Fund Blues: Chet Currier
Dollar Drop Hasn't Cured International Fund Blues: Chet
Currier
Bloomberg.com June 27, 2003
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- A mighty boost
from the currency markets hasn't done much to lift international
stock mutual funds out of a decade-long funk.
Since early last year the U.S. dollar
has fallen in value against leading foreign currencies, notably
the euro, putting some extra kick in returns on overseas stocks
held by U.S.-based funds.
Yet international funds still struggle
to keep up with funds that concentrate on homegrown stocks.
That naturally leads an investor to wonder -- if this doesn't
get international funds out front, what will? |
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Do
You Have a Premier 401(k) Plan?
Do You Have a Premier 401(k) Plan?
Our financial planner explains best practices in retirement
plans.
by Sue Stevens
Posted 06-26-03 MorningStar.com (requires registration)
If you’ve worked for only
one company in your lifetime, you're probably familiar with
just one type of retirement savings plan. How do you know
if your employer offers a "state of the art" retirement
plan? What are other companies offering? If you are one of
the many people who have recently suffered a job loss, be
sure to take a good look at what kind of retirement plan potential
employers offer. It may tip the balance toward taking one
job over another, especially if you’ve had to dip into
your retirement savings to keep yourself afloat while you
find a new job.
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Time
to dust off that 401(k) plan Time to Dust Off That 401(k)
Plan
By Christine Dugas, USA TODAY
June 26, 2003
Most workers are ignoring their 401(k)
portfolios, even though they need attention.
Only about 17% of workers made any
investment trade in their 401(k) plan in 2002, according to
a survey of 1.5 million plan participants by Hewitt Associates.
That was the third year in a row in which most workers snubbed
their retirement plans. |
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SUSAN
TOMPOR: From stock frying pan to bond fire
Safe haven has its own set of risks
June 23, 2003
BY SUSAN TOMPOR
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Daniel Danz ditched stocks for bonds
in spring 2002. And he has no plans to jump back into the
crazy, nerve-wracking world of the stock market now.
He's staying parked in bonds.
"I just
don't see the stock market going up real soon to the 11,000
mark," said Danz, 48, who is a sales representative for Albin
Business Centers in Ann Arbor. "I just don't trust what they're
doing right now." All bonds, all the time. The move was smarter
than ever as the stock market rumbled and interest rates tumbled.
But are bonds such a safe bet now? Not by a long shot, many
experts say. Rates go up? Bond funds lose money. It's as simple
as that. And let's face it, U.S. Treasury yields are now around
45-year lows. How much lower can they go?
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Men
Outnumber Women Nearly 3 to 1 in Use of Self-Directed Brokerage
Accounts, Have Much Higher Account Balances
Schwab SDBA Research Also Shows Women Invest More Conservatively,
Trade Less Often Than Men
June 23, 2003
SAN FRANCISCO, June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Charles Schwab Corporate Services' first quarter 2003 SDBA
Indicators report points to some significant differences in
retirement investing styles among men and women. The quarterly
report includes data specific to gender for the first time
and tracks investment behavior of plan participants using
self-directed brokerage accounts within 401(k) plans. |
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statesman.com
Young people uneasy about saving for retirement, uneasy about
not
By Michele M. Melendez
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
Sunday, June 22, 2003
Retirement is nearly two lifetimes
away for Jodi Williams, but she's already saving -- as painful
as it has been. "You open your (retirement account) statement,
and it's like, `Oh, great. I lost 20 percent,' " said Williams,
24, a Washington-area urban planner. "It's not fun." |
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The Washington Post
By Albert B. Crenshaw
Sunday, June 22, 2003; Page F04
Remember all those jokes about workers
who could no longer stand to look at their 401(k) balances
and had stopped bothering to even open their account statements? |
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June 17, 2003
Hewitt Associates Study Shows Economy, Market Volatility Has
Taken a Toll on U.S. Employees' Interaction with 401(k) Plans
Research Examines Employees' 401(k) Savings and Investing
Habits in Reaction to 2002 Events
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. -- A weak economy
and stock market volatility continued to pose 401(k) plan
challenges in 2002, and according to new research by Hewitt
Associates (NYSE: HEW), a global HR outsourcing and consulting
firm, employees didn't always step up to the challenge. |
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PittsburghLIVE.com
Going it alone with a solo 401(k)
Going it alone with a solo 401(k)
By Susan Morris
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, June 8, 2003
Things are looking up for small business
owners. Until recently they had to make do with a limited
selection of retirement plans. That's changed with the advent
of the solo 401(k) plan. |
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Newsday.com
Reforms May Limit 401(k) Loans
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
June 2, 2003
Last summer's crackdown on corporate
accounting scandals has created a dilemma for employers offering
401(k) plans that let participants borrow from their retirement-savings
account.
That puts employers in a bind: Complying
with one law could force them to violate another. |
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