As a followup to my post earlier this week on Roth IRA income limits, I wanted to highlight how we typically make our Roth IRA contributions. For background, we’re in a relatively high (and variable) income tax bracket. Because of this, we flirt with the Roth income limits on an annual basis, and it’s hard [...]

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I recently wrote about Roth IRA contribution limits for 2012, which are unchanged from 2011. Today I want to talk about the current income limits for contributing to a Roth IRA. Here goes:
Married Filing Jointly: Contributions phase out from $173k-$183k
Single or Head of Household: Contributions phase out from $110k-$125k
Married Filing Separately, Living Apart: Contributions phase [...]

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With just a few days left before the New Year, I thought I’d put together a quick post on IRA contribution limits for 2012. As a reminder, contribution limits have been indexed to inflation since 2008, and can increase in $500 increments (as necessary). As you can see from the table below, however, nothing has [...]

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Earlier this week, I ran across an article about a new piece of legislation being promoted by two Georgia Congressmen who want to allow people to pull money out of their retirement accounts to pay down their mortgages.
Dubbed the Hardship Outlays to Protect Mortgage Equity (HOME) Act of 2011, the legislation would allow homeowners to [...]

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Everyone has seen how housing prices have taken a nosedive in most markets across America since the start of the 2008 recession. Almost $3 trillion worth of equity has disappeared, and homes are now worth significantly less than what their owners paid for them. This evaporation of equity has dealt a devastating blow to many [...]

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The American paradigm for decades was that you worked for an employer your entire life. Then at 65, you were feted at a retirement party, handed a gold watch by your boss, and sent off on a serene path into your Golden Years.
After 40 or 50 years savoring all the good things about work life [...]

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Earlier this week, a long-time commenter named Carlos (aka CharlieBoy) mentioned that he paid off his mortgage early. Having done the same thing myself, I was intrigued, so I sent him a note asking for details.
Within a few hours, Carlos sent a lengthy reply with tons of details. Today, I’ll be summarizing his story.
“My wife [...]

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I recently ran across some interesting data on the differences between men and women when it comes to investing for retirement. What follows is based on “How America Saves 2011,” which is Vanguard’s annual report on retirement plans.
And yes, I realize that it’s dangerous to generalize, but there are some interesting nuggets of wisdom in [...]

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In thinking about how much money you need for retirement, you need to consider both your age at retirement and how long you can reasonably expect to live. The earlier you retire or the longer you expect to live, the more you’ll need to ensure a comfortable retirement, so… Just how long do you expect [...]

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You’ve likely heard that, due to meager retirement savings, many working Americans will have to delay retirement. Unfortunately, according to a study by the Employee Benefits and Research Institute (EBRI), deferring retirement by a few years won’t be enough to ensure even a bare-bones retirement for millions of older Americans.
In fact, the study found that:
…the [...]

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