Articles

Retirement

• What Does the Changing Pension Landscape Mean for Retirement?

  With the changing pension landscape, it is important to take charge of your own retirement security.

Tax Planning

• How Much Money Can I Put Into My IRA or Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan?

  IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans are subject to annual contribution limits set by the federal government.

Investing

• What Are Dividends?

  It is important to understand how dividends (taxable payments to shareholders) fit with your long-term goals.

• How Are Growth and Value Stocks Different?

  The labels growth and value reflect different approaches that can be used when making investment decisions.

• What Is Stock?

  Before investing in stocks, it is important to understand some of the basics and the risks involved in owning stocks.

• What Is Diversification?

  An important element to successful investing is to manage investment risk while maintaining the potential for growth.

• What Is a Bond?

  A bond is simply evidence of a debt from a government entity or a corporation and represents a long-term IOU.

• What Do Bond Ratings Mean?

  Bond ratings gauge a bond issuer’s financial ability to repay its promised principal and interest payments.

• What Is a Stock Index?

  Stock market indexes can be useful benchmarks for gauging the performance of an investment portfolio over time.

• What Is a Mutual Fund?

  A mutual fund is a collection of stocks, bonds, and other securities with certain benefits and risks.

• What Investment Risks Should I Know About?

  Understanding different types of investment risk can help investors manage their money more effectively.

• What Is Asset Allocation?

  Asset allocation is a method used to help manage investment risk; it does not guarantee a profit or protect against investment loss.

Cash Management

• How Do Money Market Mutual Funds Work?

  Money market funds can be a highly liquid and effective cash management tool.