Terry Savage’s Archives
Below you will find the columns terry has written by date.
Below you will find the columns terry has written by date.
Money Moves Markets
Interest rates are rising. The price of Brent crude oil edged over $80 a barrel for the first time in four years. The Russell 2000 broad stock market index managed to hit an all-time high last week. The U.S. dollar is strong. And commodity prices are generally higher, reflecting both demand and inflation fears. Can..
Muni Bond Markups Revealed
A new era in buying and selling municipal bonds started this week. FINRA, the securities industry self-regulatory agency announced it will require brokers who buy and sell municipal bonds to individual customers to reveal their “markup” or commissions, which are built into the price of the bond. Sales confirmations for bond purchases and sales will..
Mother’s Day: Help Mom with Finances (Dad, too!)
In the season of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, there’s more we should do than send a sentimental card or host a brunch. Adult children need to communicate with their parents about personal finances — without intruding on their privacy or demeaning their ability to continue their financial independence. The operative question is: “What if…?”..
Senior News: Medicare Cards & Healthcare Costs in Retirement
If you’re one of the 44 million Americans who are covered by Medicare, be on the lookout for your new Medicare card coming soon in the mail. It will no longer carry your Social Security number. Instead, it will carry a new 11 digit identifying “number” consisting of both numerals and letters. But it’s still..
How to Buy Treasury Bills (and earn more!)
Short term interest rates are rising – and that has the stock market in a tizzy. After all, who needs to take the risk in stocks if you can earn interest safely in an FDIC-insured bank account or in Treasury bills, which are IOUs directly from the government? But savvy investors need to make sure..
When Annuities Work
Annuities have gotten a bad name because of the high-pressure, “free-lunch”, sales tactics many agents use to sell fixed-index annuities linked to stock market gains. (Check my recent column on the subject.) But annuities do have some important uses in financial planning, so here are some basics. Every annuity is a contract with an insurance..
Think Twice About Fixed Index Annuities
It seems the hottest topic in financial advice these days is Fixed Indexed Annuities. The pitch promises asset protection on the downside, some stock market participation on the upside, and an eventual lifetime income stream – if you choose to attach a costly income rider. Insurance salespeople are aggressively selling these enticing products, often glossing..
Vote Proxy for Diversity
It’s proxy season. As America’s public companies send out their annual reports, and ask you to vote your shares in the way they recommend, you get a chance to voice your opinions. Individually, you might not have much of a voice in corporate governance. But collectively, shareholders can and do make a difference when they..
Financial Aid Award Letters
In the coming weeks, millions of college freshmen will know the joy of acceptance and the agony of money as they figure out whether they and their parents can afford the college of their choice. Financial aid packages will soon arrive along with acceptance letters. My first piece of advice: Don’t jump to conclusions by..
Investors Beware — Fiduciary Rule is Dead
Investors beware! An appellate court just ruled that the Fiduciary Rule is dead – before it was even fully implemented in an attempt to protect your retirement savings. A lot of people are after your money – especially if you are one of the millions of Americans who will be retiring and rolling over your..
Investigate Your 40l(k)
After nine years of a bull market, your 40l(k) retirement plan is likely your largest financial asset, perhaps even dwarfing the value of your home. Yet, while you pay attention to home repairs, you many not spend much time inspecting your retirement plan. For sure, you should be contributing the maximum to get your employer’s..
Don’t Get a Tax Refund
Everyone loves getting a tax refund. That’s strange, since a refund means you’re essentially getting back your own money. A tax refund is a result of overpaying your taxes to the government along the way, likely by having too much money withheld from your paycheck. Most of us consider a refund to be the lesser..
Plan for 2018 Taxes Now!
As you settle into the project of doing your 2017 taxes, it’s a good time to look ahead to the return you will file next year at this time. Some of the changes in the tax laws create opportunities for tax savings —if you start now. Next year’s tax return is likely to be easier..
The Dollar and Your Future
We live in dollars, spend in dollars, and make financial plans in dollars. But what will your dollars be worth in the future, when you plan on spending them? That’s not an idle question, even though we have few alternatives to using dollars for all our plans. Anyone over 40 can tell a story about..
Your Risk Appetite
The Stock Market is Getting Interesting! Just when you thought you had it all figured out -- hang in there and buy every dip -- the stock market has created some uncertainty. Ignore it at your peril. The rebound of the past two days may be a sign that the bull market continues -- or..
Acorns Online Financial Education
One of my favorite financial websites is Acorns.com. There you can register your credit and debit cards, so that all of your purchases are automatically rounded up a few cents to the nearest dollar. And when all those little cents reach $5, the money is automatically transferred from your registered checking account into an investment..
Long Term Care Insurance — The Latest
We’re all getting older. And it’s much better than the alternative. But the greatest fear of retirees is running out of money in their lifetime. And nothing can devastate financial plans like the need for costly long-term custodial care (LTC), either at home or in assisted living. According to Genworth’s annual cost of care survey,..
Bye, Bye Boomers– Millennials Now The Target
Sorry, boomers, but the world of banking and insurance isn’t so interested in you anymore. You’re getting too old to buy insurance and too conservative with your investments. And your time horizons are too short to be very profitable to the investment world. The financial services industry is aiming at millennials now. Many millennials —..
529 Plans Even Better Now
It’s time to take another look at 529 College Savings plans. The recent tax bill creates some changes in the uses of 529 college savings plan – and may even make them more attractive from a tax point of view. You cannot deduct 529 contributions on your Federal tax return. But, with state income taxes..
Next Step in Tax Advice
Many of you are going to need help with your taxes. It’s not just about the last-minute things you did to maximize deductions in 2017. It’s about setting yourself up with the appropriate plans for 2018, when you’ll lose some deductions and gain others. Without those deductions next year, you might even have to make..
