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Dividends for Income and Total Returns
John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthiest Americans in history, loved receiving stock dividends. "Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure?" he once asked. "It's to see my dividends…
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Diversifying Your Portfolio with International Flair
Global economic growth is projected to drop from an estimated 6.1% rate in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022, as the world grapples with repercussions from the Russia-Ukraine war and ever-changing conditions wrought…
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Unpacking the Inflation Reduction Act: What’s in It?
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law on August 16, 2022, is a package of climate, energy, health-care, and tax legislation. It authorizes about $440 billion in new spending and will…
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How Life Insurance Could Help Mitigate Taxes in Retirement
Higher taxes could follow in the wake of soaring government spending on pandemic relief measures : a likelihood that shines a new light on the tax advantages of life insurance. Permanent life…
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What the Red-Hot Job Market Means for Workers
The COVID-19 pandemic kicked off a severe labor shortage : and quite possibly the most worker-friendly job market in many years. Unpredictable demand shifts exposed pre-existing mismatches between the knowledge and skills…
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Tech Sector Turmoil and the Bear Market
During the intensely volatile first 100 trading days of 2022, the stocks of companies in the S&P 500 index delivered their worst performance since 1970.¹ The S&P 500 continued to tumble, and…
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WEP and GPO Can Reduce Social Security Benefits
The windfall elimination provision (WEP) and the government pension offset (GPO) were intended to correct a perceived unfair advantage in calculating Social Security benefits for people who earned a pension in noncovered…
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A Wealth of Information: How to Read a Mutual Fund Prospectus
With more than 7,400 mutual funds to consider in the United States alone, some investors may feel overwhelmed by the thought of deciding which ones to select for their portfolios. At the…
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Life Insurance Living Benefits
When thinking about life insurance, you might focus on the death benefit that can be used for income replacement, business continuation, and estate preservation. But life insurance policies may include other provisions…
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Should You Consider Tapping the Equity in Your Home?
With home values skyrocketing recently, your home may be one of your largest assets. Using home equity to help finance other financial objectives is a strategy many people consider, but before doing…
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Sticker Shock Is No Joke for Car Buyers
The average price for a new vehicle reached $47,077 in December 2021, which amounts to a 14% price hike in just one year. Perhaps more startling, the average price paid for a…
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Inflation Protection for Investment Dollars
For the 12-month period ending in June 2022, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) : the most widely used measure of inflation : increased 9.1%, the fastest pace in…
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Uncle Sam Wants to Know About Your Gig Income
If you earn money through an app or online digital platform, you may be affected by a tax reporting change that took effect on January 1, 2022. A provision of the 2021…
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Is the U.S. Economy in a Recession?
In an early July poll, 58% of Americans said they thought the U.S. economy was in a recession, up from 53% in June and 48% in May.1 Yet many economic indicators, notably…
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How Long Should You Keep Financial Records?
With tax season in the rearview mirror, this might be a good time to organize your records. Here are some guidelines to help decide what to keep and what to discard. Use…
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Adjusting Your Tax Withholding
Now that you’ve seen last year’s tax results and can see where this year is heading, it may be a good time to consider adjustments to your income tax withholding. Getting It…
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Building Blocks for Financing College with Less Debt
Financing a college education with the least amount of debt involves putting together a variety of resources in the most favorable way for your family. It requires planning, savings discipline, an understanding…
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What’s Your Retirement Dream Elevator Pitch?
Imagine stepping into an elevator and realizing that you’re about to spend the 30-second ride with someone who could make your retirement dreams come true : if only you could explain them…
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Looking Back, Looking Forward
The month of January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was imagined as having two faces: one looking toward the past, the other looking toward the future. In a similar…
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If You Don’t Have a Will, You Probably Should
A 2021 Gallup poll found that only 46% of U.S. adults have a will : similar to the results of other Gallup polls over the last 30 years. It’s not surprising that…