While Uncle Sam gets all the press for its various bailouts, every year millions of taxpayers give the U.S. governmenet something of a bailout in the form of income tax overpayments. Over 70 percent of taxpayers get refunds each year, and according to USA TODAY, this year’s refunds are averaging over $3,000. That’s up over […]
Author Archive | Matt Bell
How Gender Impacts Investor Behavior
Who do you think tends to be better investors: men or women? The latest in a fairly large body of research on the topic sides with women. As reported by The New York Times, a Vanguard analysis of 2.7 million IRA investors found that women were less likely to sell their equity investments at last […]
Youth is Entrusted to the Young
There’s an old joke that youth is wasted on the young. Financially, it’s easy to back that up. According to tax information service CCH, for example, just 28 percent of workers younger than 25 are contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Of course, the best way to take advantage of the power of compound interest […]
Should You Cancel An Unused Credit Card?
A common question I get in workshops is, “Will it hurt my credit score if I close one of my credit card accounts?” The answer is “maybe.” But the reasons why or why not may surprise you. It is commonly thought that, especially when it comes to a card you’ve had for a long time, […]
Retirement Realities Sinking In
American workers are becoming more realistic about their prospects for retirement. The latest annual Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found that nearly 25 percent of all of today’s workers expect to retire at age 70 or older, the highest number expecting such a late retirement since the EBRI started its […]
The Easiest Step Toward Becoming Debt-Free
The personal finance press is filled with articles on getting out of debt. Here’s the latest example. The article has some helpful advice. However, like most I’ve read on the topic, it misses the single easiest step toward ditching the debt, which is to fix your payments. Here’s what I mean. Let’s say you have […]
The Good That Credit Cards Can Do
Some say that no one should have a credit card. They argue that charging purchases puts people on the path to financial ruin. To be sure, there are people who would be better off without credit cards. However, just because some people get into car accidents doesn’t mean no one should own a car. Used […]
Kids’ Media Use Growing Fast
Today’s’ young people ages 8 to 18 spend over 7 and a half hours a day using entertainment media such as televisions, computers, cell phones, and MP3 players. As reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation, daily media usage among young people has grown by over an hour in the past five years. Broken down into […]
Recession Lessons: Diversification Still Works
The Great Recession prompted many pundits to declare much of the conventional investment wisdom null and void. But not so fast. An analysis by brokerage house T. Rowe Price (see the article starting on page 15) makes a compelling case that a properly diversified portfolio, including stock market exposure, is still the best route to […]
Which Batteries Are Best
If you use a lot of batteries, you know how they can drain your wallet. So it pays to know which ones to buy for which devices. Consumer Reports (CR) recently put AA batteries to the test. For devices that need bursts of power such as digital cameras and frequently used toys, CR recommended taking […]